Mesothelioma (cancer of the mesothelium) is a disease in which cells of the mesothelium become abnormal and divide without control or order. They can invade and damage nearby tissues and organs. Cancer cells can also spread (metastasize) from their original site to other parts of the body. Most cases of mesothelioma begin in the pleura or peritoneum.
The mesothelium is a membrane that covers and protects most of the internal organs of the body. It is composed of two layers of cells: one layer immediately surrounds the organ; the other forms a sac around it. The mesothelium produces a lubricating fluid that is released between these layers, allowing moving organs (such as the beating heart and the expanding and contracting lungs) to glide easily against adjacent structures.
The mesothelium has different names, depending on its location in the body. The pleura is the membrane that surrounds the lungs and lines the wall of the chest cavity. The peritoneum is the mesothelial tissue that covers most of the organs in the abdominal cavity. The pericardium covers and protects the heart. The mesothelial tissue surrounding the male internal reproductive organs is called the tunica vaginalis testis. The tunica serosa uteri covers the internal reproductive organs in women.
The most prevalent form of this asbestos cancer is pleural mesothelioma, which arises in the pleura (the lining of the lungs and chest cavity). Peritoneal mesothelioma affects the lining of the abdominal wall, the peritoneum. Pericardial mesothelioma affects the pericardium, the lining of the heart.
These cancers mainly result due to exposure to asbestos. Typically the period of time between exposure to asbestos and visible onset of the disease is long. Thus many people who were exposed to asbestos decades ago are currently developing the disease. Opportunities to prevent these cancer illnesses were missed when the asbestos industry hid facts about the dangers of asbestos. Through numerous legal actions it has been proven that the asbestos industry was negligent for decades in hiding the serious dangers that result from asbestos exposure.
Although reported incidence rates have increased in the past 20 years, mesothelioma is still a relatively rare cancer. About 3,000 new cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed in the United States each year. Mesothelioma occurs more often in men than in women and risk increases with age, but this disease can appear in either men or women at any age.
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