Mesothelioma information

Cough
Shortness of breath,
Difficulty breathing
pleural effusions (fluid in the chest cavity)
pain in the chest and abdominal regions
loss of appetite and weight loss

This tumor most commonly occurs in middle-aged or elderly men with an occupational history of asbestos exposure. The early symptoms are often minor and slowly progressive; this often results in the patients presenting late. The median time from the first symptom to presentation is around six months.

The two commonest presenting symptoms are chest pain and dyspnoea. The chest pain usually starts as a vague ache on the affected side which gradually becomes more severe but is often rather diffuse and poorly localized and uncommonly associated with local tenderness. The increasing breathlessness is usually due to a pleural effusion rather than pulmonary constriction, at least in the early stages. Other common symptoms are cough tiredness, anorexia and weight loss.
The commonest clinical finding at presentation is a pleural effusion and, as the tumor progresses, then it is the evidence of marked loss of lung volume on the affected side. Sometime commonly if thoracoscopy or repeated inter-costal tube drainage has been used for small nodules or a larger mass may be felt in the chest wall.

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