Mesothelioma Causes

Exposure to asbestos fibers causes mesothelioma cancer. Mesothelioma can result A potentially dangerous exposure can result from very small fibers or dust particles at low exposure levels. Most such exposure would likely have occurred prior to the 1980s, but the latency period can be up to 40 years for most lung cancer to develop.

Many people have come into contact with asbestos fibers via their jobs, or occupational exposure. There is also a risk to the family members of those working in at-risk occupations; this exposure is called paraoccupational exposure. Likewise, people who live near sites likely to have asbestos around the facility are also at risk: refineries, power plants, factories, shipyards, steel mills and building demolition are types of work sites that can release asbestos fibers into the environment and contaminate nearby residential neighborhoods.

At Risk Job Locations:

-Asbestos product manufacturing (insulation, roofing, building, materials)
-Automotive repair (brakes & clutches)
-Construction/contractors
-Maritime
-Miners
-Offshore rust removals
-Oil refineries
-Power plants
-Railroads
-Sand or abrasive manufacturers
-Shipyards / ships / ship builders
-Steel mills
-Tile cutters

At Risk Occupations:

-Auto Mechanics
-Boiler makers
-Bricklayers
-Building Inspectors
-Carpenters
-Drywallers
-Electricians
-Floor Coverings
-Furnace Workers
-Glazers
-Grinders
-Hod carriers
-Insulators
-Iron workers
-Laborers
-Longshoremen
-Maintenance workers
-Merchant marines
-Millwrights
-Operating Engineers
-Painters
-Plasterers
-Plumbers
-Roofers
-Sand blasters
-Sheet metal workers
-Steam fitters
-Tile setters
-Welders
-U.S. Navy veterans
-Welders

Many occupations have an increased risk for developing lung cancer. For example, asbestos insulation workers have 92 times the risk of developing of lung cancer, and smelter workers have 3-8 times the risk of developing lung cancer. The risk of lung cancer is also increased in people who work in the manufacturing of certain industrial gases, pharmaceuticals, soaps and detergents, paints, inorganic pigments, plastics, and synthetic rubber. The risk of developing lung cancer is related to the amount of exposure to the cancer-causing agent. For example, the risk of lung cancer in humans is proportional to the number of cigarettes smoked. The risk of developing lung cancer is 8-20 times greater in smokers compared to people who have never smoked. A smaller, but real risk exists for cigar and pipe smokers. Some cancer causing agents react together to significantly worsen the risk of developing cancer. The combined exposure to asbestos and tobacco smoke clearly multiplies the risk of developing lung cancer. The risk of lung cancer is greater for those living in urban areas. This risk is approximately 1.2 to 2.3 times that of people living in rural areas. There is also an increased risk of lung cancer in smokers whose close relatives have had lung cancer. Scarring in the lungs from previous infections or injury can be associated with and increased risk of cancer.

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Mesothelioma Drug Therapy

Traditional Chemotherapy:

This traditional approach uses special anti-cancer (cytotoxic) medicines and chemicals to try to kill the malignant cells. Often, it is offered as an additional therapy alongside radical surgery and/or in combination with radiation therapy or immunotherapy, particularly when the cancer has spread beyond an operable area. Many drugs have been tried; however all have met with only limited success against malignant mesothelioma.

The chemotherapeutic agents can be administered either systemically (in the blood stream) or intrapleurally (in the pleural cavity itself.) These cytotoxic drugs are very potent and can have many severe side effects which you should discuss with your doctor.

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Mesothelioma Photodynamic Therapy

This treatment uses light to kill cancerous cells.

Initially, the patient receives a photosensitizer which collects in cancerous cells but not in healthy cells. (A photosensitizer is a drug which makes cells vulnerable (sensitive) to light of specific wavelengths.) After the cells have been sensitized, fiberoptic cables are placed in the body (usually through open-chest surgery) in order to focus light of just the right frequency on the tumor. This causes the photosensitizer to produce a toxic oxygen molecule which kills the cell.

Although this treatment is still in a very experimental stage for the treatment of mesothelioma, it has shown promising results in the treatment of other cancers.

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