Stage 2 Mesothelioma Prognosis
The staging process is very critical to determine the prognosis of mesothelioma. For a proper prognosis it is very important to have an early diagnosis as well as proper treatment. As mesothelioma is commonly diagnosed only at an advanced stage, the survival rate is quite less as in the Stage 4; the disease is spread to many parts of the body and has distant organ metastasis. It is usually not possible to treat the disease at this stage resulting in poor prognosis. The treatment is commonly restricted to only pain management and supportive care.
Staging for Mesothelioma Prognosis
To find out the extent of mesothelioma and its nature, oncologists take the help of staging system. This helps them to plan a course of treatment depending on the stage of mesothelioma. This staging helps them to find out the extent at which the cancer has advanced. The staging is dependent on four primary aspects of the tumor:
- It is only in one organ and is small
- Has grown and has spread to nearing tissue
- Has spread to adjacent areas
- Has spread to distant parts of the body or has “metastasized”
How to do Stage 2 Mesothelioma Prognosis work?
Stage 2 mesothelioma is considered to be advanced level as it has spread to at least one adjacent organ. As in the case of pleural mesothelioma, it has spread from the pleural membrane to the lungs or diaphragm. The various systems to follow for Stage 2 mesothelioma prognosis are:
- Mesothelioma Stage 2 – Butchart System is used to finding out the stage of the cancer especially the pleural mesothelioma. It deduces the stage depending on the size of the primary tumor. Through this system, Stage 2 pleural mesothelioma has spread from original locaiton in the pleural membrane of one lung to the pleural membrane in the other lung or to the esophagus or the pericardial membrane. It could have affected the lymph nodes as well.
- Mesothelioma Stage 2 – TNM System also finds out the stage of mesothelioma based on the size of the tumor, its presence in the lymph nodes and whether it has spread to distant locations. In the case of Stage 2, the pleural mesothelioma has spread from its origin to nearby lymph nodes on the same side of the body. It might have spread to the lung, the diaphragm or the pericardial membrane of the heart.
- Mesothelioma Stage 2 – Brigham System is quite recent as compared to the other two systems and focuses on staging mesothelioma based on whether the primary tumors can be removed through surgery and if it has spread to the lymph nodes. In Stage 2, the mesothelioma can be still removed through surgery and the cancer has spread to at least one grouping of lymph nodes.
Treatment Options for Stage 2 Mesothelioma
As Stage 2 mesothelioma is more advanced stage than Stage 1, the treatment options are more restricted and the prognosis is not very fruitful as compared to Stage 1. The reason for this is that the cancer has spread from its original location to nearby organs and lymph nodes are also affected which might lead to further metastasis to distant locations. This could be possible even if the primary tumors are removed through surgery. In this stage, surgery is followed by mesothelioma chemotherapy or radiation therapy to kill all the cancerous cells.
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