Prevalence of Mesothelioma in Abbassia Chest Hospital from January 2006 to January 2011

Abstract

The pleural space is enclosed by the visceral pleura, which covers the lungs, and by the parietal pleura, which lines the chest wall, diaphragm, and mediastinum. mesothelial cells form a continuous layer over the whole of the visceral and parietal pleural surfaces. Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that is almost always caused by previous exposure to asbestos(Wang et al., 1985). Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles, or have been exposed to asbestos dust and fiber in other ways, such as by washing the clothes of a family member who worked with asbestos, or by home renovation using asbestos cement products. Unlike lung cancer, there is no association between mesothelioma and smoking (Muscat and Wyender, 1991). Malignant mesothelioma is a highly aggressive primary neoplasm of the pleural, peritoneal, and pericardial surfaces. It is a challenging disease in all aspects, from presentation and diagnosis to staging and treatment (Abdel-Rahman et al., 2007). The earliest description of primary pleural malignancy was reported before 1900, and several reports suggesting causal effects from asbestos were published in the first half of the 20th century (Roggli et al., 2004). Asbestos has been recognized in Egypt since a long time as ancient Egyptians were used it in mummification. Mesothelioma in Egypt is mainly attributed to environmental origin with increasing incidence of women and young adults (Gaafar and Aly El-Din, 2005). This present study was performed in abassia Chest Hospital retrospectively analyzing 600 cases admitted and diagnosed pathologically to be malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) between the periods 2006 to 2011. The data collected from file thatfull history taking, clinical examination, radiological examination (chest CXR and CT chest), biopsy taking and histopathological examination. The number of cases proved to be rising every year; from 85 (14.2%) in 2007 to 160 (26.6 %) in 2007. with higher incidence in males over females with M: F ratio2: 1. The number of cases above 40 years was 560cases representing (93.3%)while 40 cases (6.7%) were below 40 years. The mean age was 50 years and the range was from