One of the difficulties doctors have with diagnosing mesothelioma is distinguishing the cancerous cells from the non-cancerous cells. Mesothelioma has a very long period of latency, oftentimes decades before the symptoms are apparent.
If doctors could find a way to differentiate the cancerous cells in the tissue surrounding the lungs (pleural tissue), they would be able to diagnose cancerous pleural mesothelioma sooner.
When a doctor suspects pleural mesothelioma, the option to determine this for sure would be to take a sample of this tissue and test it for cancer. However it is very difficult to determine which cells are actually cancerous and which cells just appear to be cancerous.
A recent study that was published in the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics shows that there are specific micro-RNA strands that the cancerous pleural mesothelioma cells contain, but non-cancerous cells don’t contain.
Using this information may lead to a faster and more accurate diagnosis of pleural mesothelioma patients in the future.
Mesothelioma is caused by the inhalation of asbestos fibers and, during the early and mid-1900s hundreds of thousands of Americans were wrongfully exposed to them.
If you or someone you love are suffering from mesothelioma, please contact the Law Office of Brown | Kiely, LLP today. We serve clients in Baltimore, Maryland and the surrounding areas. Call us today at (410) 625-9330.
