Pleural mesothelioma is the most common type of malignant mesothelioma and affects the section of the mesothelium called the pleura. This is where the cancer affects the lungs and the protective lining and cavity of the lungs. The disease can grow quickly and enlarge the pleural space, causing it to fill with fluid. This fluid leads to the discomfort or pain associated with first detection of the disease. It is thought that pleural mesothelioma is caused by the inhaling of fibrous materials, including asbestos. These fibers lodge in the pleura and, over time, cause damage to the tissue layer and cancer erupts.

As a result, pleural mesothelioma is often confused with other types of diseases, such as lung cancer and viral pneumonia. Lung cancer can be caused by asbestos (asbestos lung cancer), though it differs from pleural mesothelioma in that it is a malignancy of the lung tissue itself, as opposed to pleural mesothelioma which is a malignancy of the tissue casing of the lungs. Viral pneumonia shares certain symptomatic similarities with pleural mesothelioma and is often misdiagnosed as such.

You can get all the types of Mesothelioma details on this blog.

Tags: Mesothelioma Cancer, Pleural Mesothelioma, Types of Mesothelioma

This entry was posted on Friday, July 24th, 2009 at 1:16 am and is filed under Asbestos Cancer Mesothelioma, Cancer Mesothelioma, Malignant Mesothelioma, Pleural Mesothelioma, Types of Mesothelioma. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.