1. Skip to header
  2. Skip to main
  3. Skip to content
  4. Skip to sidebar
  5. Skip to footer
Posted on Thursday, Aug 27, 2009

New Test for Early Diagnosis of Mesothelioma

Researchers at Oxford University announced that they have developed an improved diagnostic test for early detection of malignant mesothelioma. Mesothelioma, an incurable cancer caused by asbestos exposure and affecting the lungs, is often difficult to diagnose and to distinguish from lung cancer.

Using a more sensitive pleural fluid cytology test to evaluate the fluid that builds up around the lungs, researchers determined that a protein known as meothelin is higher in mesothelioma patients than in those with other diseases. Mesothelioma patients had up to a 10 times higher concentration of the protein than did patients with other conditions.

Mesothelioma is typically diagnosed when the patient is in the late stages of the illness resulting in a survival time of 4 – 12 months. The anticipation is that this test will limit invasive diagnostic tests and will increase patient survival time once mesothelioma is diagnosed.

More articles by

Nancy Meredith is a blog and web content writer with more than 20 years of professional experience in the Information Technology industry. She has been writing about Mesothelioma for 4 years. Follow Nancy on Google+