Prognosis with Stage 2 Mesothelioma
As there is no current known cure for mesothelioma, treatment options in all stages are generally targeted at making patients comfortable and extending quality of life as much as possible. This kind of treatment is known as palliative care. The stages of mesothelioma do help doctors to determine what regimen of mesothelioma therapy is appropriate for which patients.
Stage 2 mesothelioma is the second earliest stage of the disease, with only stage 1 mesothelioma preceding it. Stage 3 mesothelioma and stage 4 mesothelioma cases are more progressive and serious.
The prognosis, or outlook, generally means how long and how comfortably a patient can expect to live. While there are no guarantees, the right combination of palliative stage 2 mesothelioma treatments can improve the prognosis of a patient.
Stage 2 Mesothelioma: What are mesothelioma stages?
The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) TNM staging system is the most commonly used system by mesothelioma doctors. The letters indicate three separate pieces of information, defined by ACS as follows:
- T indicates the extent of spread of the main (primary) tumor.
- N describes how much the cancer has spread to nearby (regional) lymph nodes. Lymph nodes are small bean-shaped collections of immune system cells to which cancers often spread first.
- M indicates whether the cancer has spread (metastasized) to other organs of the body. (The most common sites are the pleura on the other side of the body, the lungs, and the peritoneum.)
Numbers or letters appear after T, N, and M to provide more details about each of these factors. Higher numbers mean the cancer is more advanced.
Stage 2 Mesothelioma: What is Stage 2 Mesothelioma?
ACS states that stage 2 mesothelioma is when the cancer is in the pleura lining the chest wall on one side of the chest. It also involves the pleura coating the diaphragm, the mediastinum, and the lung. Stage 2 mesothelioma cancer has also grown into the diaphragm or the lung itself (T2).
Stage 2 mesothelioma has still not spread to the lymph nodes (N0) or to distant sites (M0).
Stage 2 Mesothelioma: Legal Options
If you or a loved one are undergoing stage 2 mesothelioma treatments and think that the diagnosis has been caused by asbestos exposure, there may be legal action you can take. Speak to a mesothelioma attorney at Sokolove Law today.