Mesothelioma Stage 3

What Is Stage 3 Mesothelioma?

Stage 3 mesothelioma generally refers to mesothelioma that has spread deeper into the tissues surrounding the tumor’s original location and has usually reached the lymph nodes.

Depending on the type, mesothelioma may begin in the:

• Pleura: The lining of the lungs and chest
• Peritoneum: The lining of the abdomen
• Pericardium: The lining of the heart
• Tunica vaginalis: The membrane lining the testes

Stage 3 mesothelioma is the second most advanced of the four mesothelioma stages under the tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging system, which is the U.S. standard for measuring how far most types of cancer have progressed.

Pleural mesothelioma is the only type of mesothelioma with an official staging system, but peritoneal mesothelioma is sometimes referred to in stages as well.

Not enough is known about pericardial and testicular mesothelioma to properly stage them. Instead, doctors may refer to their progression as early or advanced.

How Stage 3 Mesothelioma Develops

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) state that mesothelioma may take anywhere from 20-50 years to develop. However, the disease progresses rapidly once symptoms appear.

As cancer cells multiply, they cause tumors to grow and spread. Eventually, these cells may travel through the lymph nodes and form new tumors in distant parts of the body. This process is called metastasis, and doctors try to prevent or control it through treatment.

While stage 3 mesothelioma has not metastasized, it has spread deeper into nearby tissues and reached the lymph nodes.

The TNM system divides stage 3 mesothelioma into two sub-sections depending on severity: 3A and 3B.

Stage 3 Mesothelioma TNM System Subtypes

As mesothelioma progresses from stage 2 to stage 3, most patients experience common mesothelioma symptoms.

Stage 3 Mesothelioma Symptoms

While early-stage mesothelioma is typically asymptomatic (showing no signs or symptoms), as the cancer spreads and tumors grow, stage 3 mesothelioma patients usually notice significant symptoms.

Common stage 3 mesothelioma symptoms include:

• Difficulty breathing
• Chest pain
• Unexplained weight loss
• Chronic fatigue
• Fever
• Sweating

This is when most mesothelioma victims go to their doctors and begin the process of identifying the source of their symptoms.

How to Identify Stage 3 Mesothelioma

At stage 3, mesothelioma is easier to identify. However, doctors may still initially confuse stage 3 mesothelioma symptoms for other conditions like viral pneumonia.

By reading the results of a chest X-ray or other imaging tests, doctors can identify abnormalities such as tumors, fluid buildup, and thickening of the lining of the lungs.

While these symptoms are strong indicators of mesothelioma, they may also be signs of other cancers and conditions. Asbestos is the main cause of mesothelioma, so it is critical for patients to tell their doctors about any history of asbestos exposure.

Stage 3 Mesothelioma Diagnosis

Because symptoms are far more noticeable during stage 3 mesothelioma, more patients are diagnosed during this stage.

When diagnosing mesothelioma, doctors may initially take images of the patient’s chest from multiple angles to identify the location of any tumors. However, a mesothelioma diagnosis cannot be confirmed without a biopsy.

During a biopsy, a tissue sample is removed from the tumor or surrounding fluid. By examining this sample under a microscope, a doctor can see if any of its cells are cancer cells.

Stage 3 Mesothelioma Prognosis

Doctors determine a patient’s prognosis using the stage of the disease at diagnosis along with other factors such as mesothelioma cell type and the patient’s overall health. A prognosis describes how a disease is expected to progress.

Stage 3 Mesothelioma Life Expectancy

Life expectancy is the average amount of time doctors expect a patient to live after diagnosis. For mesothelioma, life expectancy is often measured in months.

According to a mesothelioma review published in the West Virginia Medical Journal, the average survival time for malignant mesothelioma of all types is 6-13 months overall and 6-18 months with treatment.

Stage 3 patients can expect to live somewhere in the middle of this range.

Stage 3 Mesothelioma Survival Rate

The percentage of people with mesothelioma who survive for a certain amount of time (often measured in 1-, 3-, and 5-year increments after diagnosis) is known as the mesothelioma survival rate.

Stage 3 mesothelioma patients experience 1-year survival rates around 33-40% for pleural mesothelioma and roughly 41-55% for peritoneal mesothelioma. Survival rates are better for stage 3 patients who can still have their tumors surgically removed.

A patient’s remaining life expectancy may be greatly influenced by the stage of their mesothelioma after diagnosis. Stage 3 mesothelioma tumors are usually not resectable (surgically removable), preventing patients from undergoing the most effective treatment options for increasing their life expectancy.

However, even stage 3 patients who cannot receive surgery may benefit from chemotherapy and other treatments.

Stage 3 Mesothelioma Treatment

Stage 3 treatments may involve surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, or new treatments through clinical trials.

The optimal treatment approach for stage 3 patients whose mesothelioma has not spread too far to be surgically removed is a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.

Patients who cannot undergo surgery often receive chemotherapy alone.

Surgery

Stage 3 mesothelioma is often not able to be operated on because the tumor has spread too far for surgeons to effectively remove it. However, some stage 3 tumors may be able to be surgically removed so that no visible parts of the tumors remain.

By undergoing mesothelioma surgery, especially when paired with chemotherapy and/or radiation, patients may live for several more months or even years.

However, even stage 3 patients whose cancer is still fairly contained may not be good candidates for surgery.

Doctors may consider the following factors to decide if a patient can undergo surgery:

• Stage: Small, localized tumors are easier to surgically remove.
• Cell type: Only epithelioid and mixed/biphasic cell tumors are resectable.
• Location: If a tumor is too close to a vital organ, it may be too dangerous to surgically remove it.
• Patient health: Mesothelioma surgery can be risky and taxing on a patient’s body. Doctors will carefully consider a patient’s health to decide how likely they are to survive or properly recover from an operation.

If a patient is a good surgery candidate, they have a few options depending on their type of mesothelioma and their doctor’s recommendations.

Stage 3 mesothelioma surgery options may include:

• Extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) for pleural mesothelioma
• Pleurectomy with decortication (P/D) for pleural mesothelioma
• Cytoreduction with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) for peritoneal mesothelioma

After surgery, some cancer cells remain. For this reason, doctors usually treat patients with chemotherapy and/or radiation to destroy remaining cells.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy involves intravenous administration of drugs that destroy cancer cells. It is a popular standalone treatment option for stage 3 mesothelioma patients since most cannot undergo surgery.

Doctors may use chemotherapy on stage 3 mesothelioma patients to:

• Treat patients who cannot undergo surgery
• Stop cancer cells from spreading before, during, or after surgery
• Destroy cancer cells doctors cannot surgically remove

While mesothelioma chemotherapy and surgery may be an effective treatment combination for some stage 3 mesothelioma patients, a three-treatment approach of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation may lead to the best results for both pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma patients.

Radiation Therapy

During radiation therapy, doctors use high-energy rays to target the DNA of cancer cells, destroying them. For stage 3 mesothelioma patients able to undergo surgery, it may be used as part of a multi-treatment approach.

Radiation therapy may also be used with chemotherapy for many stage 3 patients. This combination may increase each therapy’s effectiveness at destroying cancer cells in the original tumor site and cells that may have spread to other parts of the body.

Radiation therapy may help treat stage 3 mesothelioma by:

• Killing cells that remain after surgery
• Making surgery easier by shrinking tumors beforehand
• Slowing the return of cancer after surgery

While a three-treatment approach may be the most helpful option for stage 3 mesothelioma patients who can undergo surgery, other treatment options are available for the many who are not able to receive standard treatment.

Other Treatment Options

For stage 3 mesothelioma patients who are not ideal candidates for standard treatments, experimental therapies through clinical trials may prove helpful.

Clinical trials test emerging treatments to improve those currently available for a certain condition.

Emerging mesothelioma treatments may include:

• Anti-angiogenesis
• Gene therapy
• Immunotherapy
• Photodynamic therapy

Patients should keep the stage of their mesothelioma in mind when searching for clinical trials since many restrict patients by cancer stage.

Improving Your Prognosis

Many factors that determine a patient’s prognosis are out of the patient’s control. However, patients can still take action to give themselves the best prognosis possible.

The following actions may improve a stage 3 mesothelioma prognosis:

• Seeking life-extending treatment: For many mesothelioma patients, life-extending treatments are simply not an option because their cancer is already too advanced. However, some stage 3 patients are still good candidates for such treatments.
• Eating well: Nutrition is essential for a strong immune system and a quick and complete recovery after invasive treatments like surgery and chemotherapy.
• Exercising: Exercise has several health benefits, including lowering stress, improving blood flow, and helping prevent secondary health issues like bedsores.
• Managing stress: Stress can negatively affect health by increasing blood pressure, causing sleep problems, and other issues. This may slow treatment recovery and decrease quality of life.
• Not smoking: Smoking negatively affects overall patient health and may even disqualify a patient from certain treatments. It may also increase the chance of another cancer diagnosis, such as lung cancer.

As new treatment methods continue to develop, mesothelioma patients at all stages can look forward to longer survival rates — and one day, perhaps, a cure.