Saturday, June 18, 2011

WHAT IS MESOTHELIOMA

Mesothelioma is a benign (not cancerous) or malignant (cancerous) tumor affecting the mesothelium, a membrane that covers most of the internal organs of the body. Most mesothelioma begin pleura (lining of the lungs) or peritoneum (membrane lining the abdomen). Benign mesothelioma can be called a fibroid, and mesothelioma cancer is also known as malignant mesothelioma. Mesothelioma can still be identified, depending on where it happens. For example, a malignant pleural mesothelioma, a cancer that starts in the lungs. Most people who develop mesothelioma worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles. Benign Mesothelioma does not seem to be no relationship between exposure to asbestos.

Understanding Mesothelioma

The mesothelium is a membrane that covers and protects most internal organs. It consists of two layers of cells: One layer immediately surrounds the organ, the other bag around it. The mesothelium produces a lubricating fluid that is released when these layers, so moving organs (such as the beating heart and the expanding and contracting states of the lungs) to glide easily against adjacent structures.

The mesothelium has different names depending on its location in the body. Peritoneum is the mesothelial tissue that covers most of the bodies into the abdominal cavity. Pleura is the membrane that surrounds the lungs and lines the wall cavity, the pericardium covers and protects the heart. Mesothelial tissue surrounding the male internal reproductive organs is called the tunica vaginalis testis, and tunica serosa uteri covers the internal reproductive organs in women.