Asbestos related to lung cancer

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Asbestos related to lung cancer

Pleural Mesuralelioma vs. Lung Cancer

Although pleural mesothelioma and lung cancer are separate cancers, both can occur due to asbestos exposure. While both conditions mainly affect the lungs, there are vital differences between them.

Although malignant pleural mesothelioma affects the lungs, it is not considered a type of lung cancer, because it is formed in the layer around the lungs rather than in the lung tissue.

These cancers come from different locations, but cause the same symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest pain, fatigue and weight loss. Symptoms tend to appear late in the development of both cancers.

Although the medical team uses surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy to treat both conditions, the treatment plan is different, and what works for one cancer will not work for another. Photodynamic therapy has been used in both, but is more commonly used in lung cancer and is only experimental for pleural mesothelioma.

How is lung cancer and mesothelioma related?

This cancer shares a related staging system. The initial stage of both cancers is similar, but different in the late stages when the cancer spreads.

Stage 1 and 2:

Localized tumors, remaining in the place where they originally developed.

Stage 3:

These tumors develop locally, which means they have grown and spread to nearby organs and lymph nodes.

Stage 4:

Lung cancer spreads throughout the lungs and other body parts such as the brain, bones, liver and adrenal glands. Mesothelioma rarely spreads to distant locations, but can spread throughout the lungs or to the bones or brain.

The survival rate for these cancers is similar for the first year after diagnosis, but after that, lung cancer patients have a better chance of surviving in the long term.

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Doctors Use Similar Tools to Diagnose Both

Doctors use a similar diagnostic tool to identify this cancer, and specialist expertise is needed to distinguish chest cavity mesothelioma from lung cancer.

X-ray: This is often the first test to show tumor growth around the lungs.

CT or PET scan: Advanced imaging tests provide more detailed images of the inside of the chest and lungs.

Biopsy: Collecting a tissue sample of cancer with a long needle or a small operation is very important to diagnose cancer accurately.

Sputum cytology test: If the doctor suspects lung cancer, they can check the phlegm released by the patient.

Bronchoscopy: Another common procedure for diagnosing lung cancer is to insert the tube into the patient's throat into a large airway to check for abnormal growth.

The most accurate and definite method is to ask the pathologist to examine a biopsy sample to describe which cancer is present at the cellular level.

However, if patients have a history of possible exposure to asbestos, they should seek the opinion of a specialist in asbestos-related diseases. Pleural mesothelioma is sometimes misdiagnosed as lung cancer, because at the microscopic level, it can resemble adenocarcinoma, the most common type of non-small cell lung cancer. It can also resemble a sarcoma, a cancer that forms in soft tissue.

Asbestos Increases Lung Cancer Risk

When microscopic asbestos fibers are inhaled, they can become lodged in lung or pleural tissue, which is the lining of the lungs, and mineral fibers can cause cancer in both locations. Asbestos lodged in lung tissue causes lung cancer, while asbestos lodged in the pleural layer causes pleural mesothelioma.

All forms of asbestos, including amphibol and serpentine types, are known to cause lung cancer and pleural mesothelioma.

Amphibol forms from asbestos (including amocytes, crocidolite, tremolite and anthophyllite) are more carcinogenic than serpentine asbestos (chrysotile).

Regardless of the type of asbestos someone who is exposed, significantly less exposure to asbestos is needed to cause pleural mesothelioma than lung cancer.

In both cases, it usually takes years to expose asbestos to cause cancer to develop. The average latency period for pleural mesothelioma is 10 to 50 years, while the latency period for lung cancer is shorter, ie 10 to 20 years.

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Smoking Does Not Increase the Risk of Pleural Mesothelioma

Asbestos exposure alone can cause pleural mesothelioma and lung cancer, and smoking alone can cause lung cancer. However, smoking alone cannot cause pleural mesothelioma, and smoking does not increase the risk of pleural mesothelioma in those exposed to asbestos.

Studies have proven that the combination of smoking and exposure to asbestos can increase the risk of lung cancer fivefold.

Conversely, other studies have shown that smoking does not affect the risk of developing chest cavity mesothelioma.

Because the toxic combination of smoking and exposure to asbestos significantly increases the risk of lung cancer but not pleural mesothelioma, there are about twice as many cases of lung cancer associated with asbestos compared to pleural mesothelioma.

It should also be noted that the risk of lung cancer decreases after quitting smoking, but the risk of pleural mesothelioma only increases with age. The body cannot recover from asbestos exposure as can be done from smoking - because asbestos fibers can be trapped in body tissues indefinitely, sustained damage can last for decades. The risk of lung cancer can decrease over time and stop smoking, but the risk of mesothelioma inflammation only continues to increase.

Every Cancer Needs a Different Care Plan

Common treatment options for pleural mesothelioma and lung cancer similar to other cancers: Surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. However, medical professionals treat pleural mesothelioma and lung cancer with various types of surgery, chemotherapy drugs and radiation techniques because the two cancers have different forms.

Lung cancer tumors usually grow as an individual mass, which makes it easier to be removed by surgery and targeted by chemotherapy and radiation.

Mesothelioma develops as many interconnected small tumors that eventually combine the boundary between healthy tissue and cancer, making it more difficult to target.

A different combination of conventional treatments, known as multimodal therapy, is effective for every cancer, depending also on the tumor stage and overall health of the patient .

Operation

Surgery for lung cancer will try to remove part of the lung that is affected, the lobe or the entire lung. Pleural mesothelioma surgery can involve removing the pleural layer, part of the lungs or all the affected lungs. Certain palliative operations, such as pleurodesis, can provide pain relief in advanced cases of cancer.

Only certain chemotherapy drugs are effective in treating pleural mesothelioma and lung cancer, and even then, the dose will depend on which cancer the patient has and the stage of the tumor.

Cisplatin and pemetrexed are the most common chemotherapeutic agents used for pleural mesothelioma, whereas docetaxel, vinorelbine and paclitaxel are common for treating lung cancer. The chemotherapy drugs used for both cancers include cisplatin, carboplatin, pemetrexed and gemcitabine.