Stage 1 Mesothelioma Cancer, Symptoms, Treatments, Prognosis

Stage 1 Mesothelioma Cancer

Stage one of mesothelioma cancer is the first of four stages in the disease. Stage 1 is the beginning stage and typically, the cancer has not yet begun to spread or grow. If patients are fortunate enough to catch the disease at this stage, the prognosis is extremely good and removing the cancer entirely is probable. However, since symptoms during this stage of the disease are rare, it’s often difficult to get an early diagnosis.

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Stage 1 Symptoms

As previously mentioned, symptoms of mesothelioma are rare to non-existent during this stage. Yet, there are indications that patients should be wary of that may help doctors get an early diagnosis. For example, if you’ve been exposed to asbestos and experience any sort of chest, abdominal, or lung pain at all, you should immediately consult with your physician. Bringing your complete medical and work history, including the time periods in which you were exposed to asbestos will greatly increase your chances of getting an early diagnosis.

Other signs that usually come much later after Stage 1 consist of severe difficulty in breath, extreme pain in the chest and/or abdomen, weight loss, fatigue, lethargy, skin rashes, coughing, wheezing, and pleural effusions.

Stage 1 Treatments

Surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy are all effective treatments for Stage 1 malignant mesothelioma. Most mesothelioma doctors recommend that the patient use a combination of two treatments for best results. For example, surgery followed by chemotherapy may make the success rate of the patient much higher. Combining two effective treatments is most commonly known is multimodal therapy.

Multimodal therapy is more effective than a single type of mesothelioma treatmentbecause, after surgery, there is a chance that some cancerous cells may linger behind. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy can be used to help eliminate any remaining cancerous cells.

If you’re in Stage 1 and your overall health isn’t quite good enough or if the tumor is in a dangerous area in the body, you may not be eligible for surgery. In instances such as these, chemotherapy and radiation therapy may be used in combination instead.

Stage 1 Prognosis

Since mesothelioma is in it earliest stages of development during Stage 1, the prognosis for victims is favorable. However, the younger the patient and the better the health of the patient, the chances of survival increases. Young and healthy patients respond the best to treatment, making their prognosis stronger than any other group.

Be aware, however, that you’ll need a personal assessment from your own physician in order to determine what’s best for you and what treatments will prolong your survival rate. Even in its earliest stages, each case of mesothelioma is different and your situation may not be the same as another victim in the same stage.