Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer that is associated with exposure to asbestos. The disease is a brutal form of cancer because it is very hard to discover and often only is diagnosed in the very late stages. At that point, treatment is often very difficult for a host of reasons. To give you an idea of how difficult, we cover one maddening complication in this article.

Mesothelioma is the cancer of the mesothelium from which it derives its name. The mesothelium is a lining found in the chest and abdomen that acts more or less as a protective sheath for organs such as the heart and lungs. While cancer of the lungs can be easily identified, the same cannot be said for identifying it in the thin lining surrounding them. This is what makes Mesothelioma so deadly. It usually only discovered very late, often after it has grown for 20, 30, 40 years or more.

The cancer is most often found around the Mesothelioma lining of the lungs. To diagnose it, the physicians usually must take a biopsy of the material in the area. This is done by creating a small incision and then inserting the relevant medical tool. A small amount of material is then snipped off, extracted and sent to the pathology office for examination under a microscope. It sounds simple, but here is where the difficulty in dealing with Mesothelioma rears its head. (more…)

The vast majority of Mesothelioma cases are caused by exposure to asbestos in the workplace or at home. This is a common statement put forth about the cancer, but you’ll note it doesn’t state that all cases are caused by asbestos exposure. There are instances where asbestos is not involved. One that is garnering attention is whether the SV-40 Virus might cause it.

SV-40 stands for Simiun Virus 40, which is to say it is derived from monkeys. How did this virus become a concern to humans? Well, polio was once a huge health problem. A vaccine was developed for it that has largely eradicated the disease. Oh, there was one small problem. The vaccine was grown on monkey kidneys. Some of the monkeys had contracted SV-40. While not impacting the effectiveness of the vaccine, the virus did travel along with it into some human hosts. (more…)