Pleural Mesothelioma Symptoms Can Take Decades to Develop

Have You Been Diagnosed with Mesothelioma?

Please contact us using the short form provided.

Learn more about mesothelioma treatment >>

Mesothelioma Diagnosis

Pleural Mesothelioma Diagnosis Can Be Complex

Pleural mesothelioma typically takes decades to develop. You may not observe actual mesothelioma symptoms until many years after your first exposure to asbestos. This makes pleural mesothelioma diagnosis a difficult process.

Patients with pleural mesothelioma first experience general difficulty in breathing (dyspnea) and as well as pain in the lower back or at the side of the chest. Other mesothelioma symptoms may include hoarseness, difficulty swallowing (dysphagia), or sweating and fevers. An increase in waist size or abdominal pain may be a symptom of the growth of cancer cells in the stomach area and peritoneal mesothelioma (cancer of the abdomen or stomach). Both peritoneal and pleural mesothelioma patients may have poor appetites and become gaunt and thin.

Your doctor may begin your pleural mesothelioma diagnosis by analyzing your mesothelioma symptoms, which could also be signs of other cancerous or non-cancerous diseases. Even if you currently have no mesothelioma symptoms, however, it is important to tell your doctor if you have had any significant exposure to asbestos. This will help your doctor carefully monitor your health over the years, being on the look-out for asbestos diseases such as asbestosis as well as for peritoneal and pleural mesothelioma.

If you do have mesothelioma symptoms, your physician will ask for details about your exposure to asbestos and perform a complete medical examination before making a mesothelioma diagnosis. You may be asked to provide fluid and tissue samples. Imaging is also a common part of the diagnostic process. Imaging tests include x–rays, CT scans, MRI scans, and positron emission tomography or PET. Doctors use both sampling and imaging techniques to make the mesothelioma diagnosis process easier and to help distinguish pleural mesothelioma from other diseases such as lung cancer.