Mesothelioma is a cancer that affects the thin tissue that lines the lungs, abdomen, and other organs. It is most commonly caused by exposure to asbestos. Unfortunately, there is no cure for mesothelioma, and patients with late-stage mesothelioma usually have a lower chance of long-term survival than those diagnosed earlier. However, there are treatments available that can help prolong life expectancy.
Testicular mesothelioma is the rarest type of this cancer, with only about 100 cases documented in the medical literature.As with the pericardial type, testicular mesothelioma may not be defined as stage 4, but is recognized as an advanced disease in most cases. Lannie Chitwood was one such patient who lived 10 years with stage 4 pleural mesothelioma after receiving treatment at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, including experimental chemotherapy. If you are looking for support for mesothelioma, contact our patient advocates at (85) 404-4592.Despite this, veterans with stage 4 mesothelioma can still receive certain treatments and financial compensation from the VA. There could also be more compensation available from manufacturers of asbestos-based products through legal action.The usual prognosis for stage 4 mesothelioma is poor.
In this late stage, cancer is not curable and life expectancy is short. This does not mean that treatment is meaningless; the right treatment options can prolong a patient's life and help them feel more comfortable with the time they have left.Stage 4 mesothelioma has spread or metastasized to organs and structures in the body far from where the tumor first appeared. If you were diagnosed with stage four mesothelioma, your disease may have spread too much for curative treatment. However, you can receive palliative treatment and participate in clinical trials in which researchers try new treatments that may improve your prognosis.About 50 out of 100 people (about 50%) will survive cancer for 1 year or more after diagnosis.
Statistics for stage 2 mesothelioma do not take into account the age of people with mesothelioma. If you are not healthy enough to have a major operation, the treatment will be the same as for unresectable mesothelioma (discussed below). According to the most widely used unofficial staging system, stage 4 peritoneal mesothelioma involves the spread of the tumor.Veterans can also receive treatment for mesothelioma through the VA Health Care System or receive medical care from civilian doctors. Unfortunately, several cases of stage 4 mesothelioma do not produce symptoms that clearly indicate a diagnosis of mesothelioma.Although it is rare for people diagnosed with stage 4 to become survivors of mesothelioma, treatment may begin immediately.
Patients with stage 4 mesothelioma are often not ideal candidates for the most commonly applied treatments. Veterans diagnosed with stage 4 mesothelioma may qualify for free or low-cost treatment and financial payments from the U.As mesothelioma progresses from stage 3 to stage 4, large, spreading tumors cause patients to experience the most severe symptoms of mesothelioma. Unfortunately, many patients with mesothelioma are diagnosed during stage 4 because that is when symptoms are most prominent.Ultimately, a diagnosis of mesothelioma, like almost all cancers, can only be confirmed by biopsy. The other types of mesothelioma do not have formal staging systems at this time, but doctors may classify them as local or advanced.Once the diagnosis of stage 4 mesothelioma is confirmed, doctors can develop a cancer treatment plan to help the patient live with less pain, destroy tumors, and possibly improve their life expectancy.The life expectancy of advanced-stage mesothelioma cancer depends largely on how well the tumor grows and how well you respond to treatments.
