A Rare Type of Malignant Mesothelioma Reported by Japanese Doctors

Although malignant pleural mesothelioma is a rare and incurable cancer caused by exposure to asbestos, the disease is similar to many other types of cancer in the composition of tumor cells. However, in the Journal of Thoracic Imaging, Japanese researchers reported a rare case of mesothelioma even after treating a patient whose tumors had mesothelioma tissue resembled that found in cartilage and bone. 

Often called "asbestos cancer" mesothelioma is a cancer of mesothelial cells caused by inhaling asbestos fibers that lodge in the thin membrane that covers and surrounds the lungs. The cases of mesothelioma will continue to grow in Japan, and between 2,500 and 3,000 new cases are diagnosed each year in the United States. 

The male 69-year-old building contractor had been exposed to asbestos for 48 years and was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma by CT scan and a biopsy of tissue. The man underwent extrapleural pneumonectomy, complex surgery involved the removal of the affected lung and the right parietal pleura and visceral pleura associated with the lung lining. 

The surgeons found the tumor had compressed the right lung, and I could feel hardened calcifications in the tumor and pleural tissue. Despite the removal of tumors and cancerous tissues, the spread of mesothelioma and the patient died 19 months after surgery. 

Symptoms of mesothelioma may not appear until 50 years after initial exposure to asbestos. However, after the onset of symptoms, mesothelioma can rapidly progress to cause life-threatening complications. The average survival time of mesothelioma varies 4-18 months after diagnosis. 

Japanese researchers, and other researchers hypothesized that cells of the mesothelium, the lining of the lungs, have multipotency-in other words, the potential to become any of several types of mature cells, including bone.

What is Mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma or known as malignant mesothelioma, is a uncommon form of carcinoma that progress from the protective lining that covers mostly of our body's internal organs, known as the mesothelium. It is commonly cause by asbestos exposure.

The tissue that lines your internal organs like lungs, stomach, and heart is the mesothelium. Mesothelioma is a form of cancer of that tissue. This type of cancer is a rare one but a very serious type. It commonly begins in the respiratory area (pleura the outer lining of the lungs), but there are other cases that it starts in the peritoneum; the outer lining of the abdomen or other internal organs.

Many people who develop malignant mesothelmia is usually seen on people who inhaled asbestos and glass particles or they have been exposed to asbestos fiber and dust in any ways. You can also get this type of cancer by only washing clothes of a person who was exposed to asbestos or glass can put person at risk for developing malignant mesothelioma. There is no connection between mesothelioma and smoking, not like lung cancer, but smoking can really increase the risk for asbestos-induced cancer.

The disease can take a long time up to 30 to 50 years, being around asbestos and acquiring the disease. Treatment includes surgery, radiation, chemotherapy or all three.


For those who were exposed to asbestos always utilize attorneys to collect damages for diseases related to asbestos, including mesothelioma. Reimbursement through asbestos funds or lawsuit is an essential issue in mesothelioma.