Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer that can strike in three different areas of the body: the lungs and chest, abdomen, or around the heart. This is a cancer that strikes the mesothelium which is a lining that covers and protects the body's organs.

While this might seem to be an unfortunate event for some patients, scientists have realized that most cases do not appear until anywhere from twenty to fifty years after the initial exposure - meaning that steps could have been taken to prevent the disease from taking hold.

Most studies have concluded that mesothelioma is caused by asbestos exposure in mines, shipping yards, mills, and even some Navy ships. And what's more distressing is the fact that the exposure doesn't have to be significant or long term - even the smallest interaction with asbestos can cause mesothelioma.

To add more complications to this cancer, the mesothelioma does not respond to treatment as other cancers do. This means that the conventional treatments of chemotherapy and radiation do not appear to reduce the spread of mesothelioma.

As for the symptoms that patients should look out for - there are none that are apparent. Many patients will find out that they have mesothelioma when they see their doctors for a chronic cough or common cold or flu symptoms. And at that point, the mesothelioma has generally become too far spread to be effectively treated.

The three types of mesothelioma include pleural, pericardial, and peritoneal. The pleural form affects the lungs and chest cavity and is the most common form of mesothelioma. The pericardial form affects the lining and sac of the heart, but only affects about five to ten patients for every hundred. And peritoneal can affect the stomach and the lining of the intestines.

All of these various kinds of mesothelioma are generally diagnosed by first evaluating the patient's history to determine if the patient was even in contact with asbestos. Once the physical exam is completed, the physician can then order x-rays of the abdomen to spot any growths in the lungs, chest, or abdomen. But while the x-rays may be able to detect growths, a biopsy will need to be done as well to prove the existence of a cancer.

Some physicians will also order MRIs or CT scans to further rule out any other possibilities for the symptoms and the growths.

Treatments include surgery, chemotherapy or radiation therapy, but they can be used concurrently or as the stages of the disease progresses. Further studies are being done to find any more effective means of treatment, such as gene therapy, immunotherapy, interferon, radiofrequency ablation, angiogenesis, and photodynamic. However, the overall long term effects of these therapies are still being studied.

Mesothelioma is a disease that kills silently and quickly, but with prevention and early detection, patients may be able to live longer. It's just a matter of research and time.