What is the importance of the stage assigned to my mesothelioma?

Doctors use the staging of the disease in order to determine the most efficient treatment. Stage 1 cancer can be treated surgically while for a more advanced mesothelioma (stage 2, 3 or 4) a surgical intervention might not be an option anymore.

The mesothelioma staging system is the following:

Stage I: there are tumors on one side of the pleura but the cancer is minimal. The tumors have spread to the outer lining of the lungs but have not spread to the lymph nodes.

Stage II: tumors appear on one side of the pleura and spread to the diaphragm, outer lung lining or even the lung itself.

Stage III: the tumors grow on one side of the pleura and spread to the chest’s fatty parts, the first layer of the chest wall, the heart’s outer layer and any lymph nodes located on the same side of the body as the primary tumor.

Stage IV: mesothelioma appears on one side of the pleura and spreads to the chest wall, the pleura on the other side of the chest, the diaphragm, the spine, blood vessels, other organs of the body, nerves leading to the arms and lymph nodes located on the opposite side of the body.

Comments from doctors

There are four stages of mesothelioma labeled from 1 to 4. The bigger the number, the fewer options of treatment and chances of survival the patient has.
Why is this staging system important? Because this way we know how advanced the disease is and what treatment options are still available.
Doctors use the cancer staging system in order to decide whether a patient is likely to undergo a surgical intervention or not.

We wanted a resource where people who are looking for better help can find it, because one of the issues that I have found is that the diagnosis takes a little bit, some people don’t know if they are diagnosed or not. This is something that it is important enough, that is why I wanted to put the information together.