Diagnosing Mesothelioma
Diagnosing malignant mesothelioma can be difficult. Mesothelioma is often diagnosed as a lung cancer or initially as pneumonia. The following are several tests which a physician may have the patient undergo.
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CT Scans
A CT scan — also called CT, computerized tomography or CAT scan — is an X-ray technique that produces images of your internal organs that are more detailed than those produced by conventional X-ray exams. More…
PET Scans
A positron emission tomography scan ( PET scan ) is a unique type of imaging test that helps doctors see how the organs and tissues inside your body are actually functioning. More…
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Effusions/Cytology
Diagnosis of diseases based on examination of individual cells and small clusters of cells, called cytology or cytopathology, has become increasingly important in cancer diagnosis. More…
Tissue Biopsy
A biopsy is the removal of a small piece of tissue for laboratory examination. There are several different types of biopsies. More…
Criteria
There are several factors involved in diagnosing malignant mesothelioma. More…
Staging
When lung cancer is diagnosed, the doctors want to learn the stage of the disease. Staging is a process used by physicians to describe the extent of the disease or how advanced the cancer is. Staging assists the physician in determining the likely course of the cancer and how it may respond to different treatments (also known as the prognosis of the disease). More…
Mesomark
MESOMARK, a manual enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), works by identifying serum tumor markers called soluble mesothelin-related peptides (SMRP). These proteins are released into the bloodstream by malignant mesothelioma cells. FDI's mesothelioma assay is a two-step immunoassay that quantitates SMRP in human blood using a standard ELISA microplate sandwich assay format. More...
Discovery of New Biomarkers May Lead to Test for Early Detection of Mesothelioma (10/1/2010)
The biotech company Somalogic announced this week at the Fourth AACR International Conference on Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer Therapeutic Development a new technology that could allow doctors to identify mesothelioma in patients before they show visible symptoms. More...
Additional Information
Protein Test Shows Promise for Early Detection of Mesothelioma (4/4/2011)
NYU study shows protein biomarker test is believed to be the most accurate yet in detecting proteins secreted from tumors caused by exposure to asbestos. More...
A novel tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging system of diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma using outcome analysis of a multi-institutional database (12/3/2010)
Currently, no tumor-node-metastasis staging system exists for patients with diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma. This study’s proposed staging system resulted in significant stratification of survival by stage when applied to the current multi-institutional registry data More...
Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsies for Gene Expression Ratio-based Diagnostic and Predictive Tests in Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma. (12/3/2010)
This study postulated that the accuracy of fine needle aspiration biopsy diagnoses might be improved by the addition of molecular tests using a gene expression ratio-based algorithm and that prognostic tests could be similarly performed. Gene expression ratio algorithms performed well when applied to diagnosis and prognosis in mesothelioma and provides support for the development of additional tests. More...
An Analysis of the Utility of Handheld PET Probes for the Intraoperative Localization of Malignant Tissue (12/3/2010)
The intraoperative localization of suspicious lesions detected by PET scan remains a challenge. To solve this, two novel probes have been created to accurately detect the (18)F-FDG radiotracer intraoperatively. This novel tool could be used synergistically with a PET scan imaging to maximize tissue selection intraoperatively. More...
Caveolin-1 is a novel immunohistochemical marker to differentiate epithelioid mesothelioma from lung adenocarcinoma (7/30/2009)
There is difficulty in the accurate diagnosis of mesothelioma and its differentiation from lung adenocarcinoma. Mesothelioma shows a complex immunohistochemical profile. Therefore, the use of a immunohistochemical panel that includes both positive and negative mesothelial markers has become a general rule for its accurate diagnosis. More...
Mayo Researchers Discover Mechanism of Cell Type-Specific Signaling in Tumor Development (5/22/2009)
Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered the mechanisms behind two key checkpoints in cell growth and development — factors that may ultimately allow investigators to benchmark progression of tumor cells or stop them from further development. More...
Four-Gene Expression Ratio Test for Survival in Patients Undergoing Surgery for Mesothelioma (5/22/2009)
A four-gene expression ratio test prospectively distinguished mesothelioma patients who had a statistically significant longer overall survival from those who had shorter survival, according to researchers from the Brigham and Women's Hospital. More...
Another Study Links Nanotubes to Mesothelioma (5/22/2009)
Finding from a new study conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), serve to raise the alarm on the potential hazards related to how nanotube products interact with our bodies. More...
Serum mesothelin has a higher diagnostic utility than hyaluronic acid in malignant mesothelioma. (3/18/2009)
When comparing the diagnostic value of two potential mesothelioma markers, hyaluronic acid and serum mesothelin, serum mesothelin has a higher diagnostic utility than hyaluronic acid in malignant mesothelioma. More...
The Clinical Impact and Reliability of Pleural Fluid Mesothelin in Undiagnosed Pleural Effusions. (3/19/2009)
Serum mesothelin is a new biomarker for the diagnosis of mesothelioma. For undiagnosed pleural effusions, mesothelin provides additional diagnostic value over cytological examination. More...
Rosetta Genomics Announces Commercial Availability of Its Third MicroRNA-Based Diagnostic Test: miRview(TM) meso. (12/29/2008)
New mesothelioma test improves diagnosis— miRview™ meso is a microRNA-based molecular diagnostic test that differentiates malignant pleural mesothelioma from other carcinomas in the lung. Currently, there is no single diagnostic test that is entirely conclusive for either malignant mesothelioma or metastatic tumor, which often makes it difficult for physicians to make a complete diagnosis. Rosetta Genomics has already begun distributing the breakthrough test in Israel and Turkey. Through the duration of 2009, Rosetta Genomics expects to conduct about 2,000 miRviewTM meso tests in its laboratory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Rosetta Genomics press release) More...
Dr. Cameron has also commented on it: http://www.phlbi.org/articles/1086/