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Mesothelioma Lawyer
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How does a doctor diagnose mesothelioma?
Mesothelioma is difficult to treat effectively, with most treatments still offering no guarantee of effecting a cure or helping the patient go into remission. The good news is that medical science has the tools to accurately diagnose this form of cancer. If it is caught early, a patient’s prognosis is much brighter.
Diagnosis typically starts with an x-ray, either because the patient sought treatment for symptoms of mesothelioma or happened to get screened for something else. X-rays use high-energy beams to create a 2-dimensional image of a person’s body; the tones differentiate metal, bone and other types of tissue. It can show tumors and cancerous masses above a certain size, and show if the lungs are filled with fluid, a common sign of pleural mesothelioma and lung cancer. This step is not enough to reach a firm diagnosis. Next, more sophisticated imaging such as PET and CT scanning is used to create a 3-dimensional image of the body and obtain an accurate, high-definition rendering of where tumors are located. This can show doctors how many tumors there are and how extensively the cancer has spread.
How does a doctor diagnose mesothelioma?
Images aren’t always enough to diagnose what type of cancer a person has. That’s because of the nature of metastatic cancer cells. When a tumor first forms in one part of the body, cells break off, travel through the bloodstream and lymph channels and begins growing elsewhere. But they maintain their identity as, say, a mesothelial or lung cell, affecting how they grow and how they are best treated. A biopsy that obtains and examines a cell sample is thus a definitive step in diagnosing specific cancers.
How does a doctor diagnose mesothelioma?
If you or a loved one have been diagnosed with Mesothelioma or Lung Cancer resulting from asbestos exposure, you have important legal rights and may be entitled to a cash settlement. Please call us today to get the facts. Toll Free 1-866-777-2557 or fill our online contact form and a lawyer will get back to you within 24 hours to answer your questions. Operators are standing by. We want to help you, so please make the call today.