Like any cancer, a doctor needs to be very accurate when making a diagnosis if a person comes in complaining of symptoms that could be mesothelioma. One of the most important things for the doctor to be aware of is if the person has ever been exposed to asbestos or if the person suspects he or she might have been exposed to asbestos at some point. This is the most important piece to diagnosing mesothelioma early.

Once the doctor knows that his or her patient has been exposed to asbestos or thinks he or she might have been exposed to asbestos, the doctor can begin ordering the various tests to confirm suspicions or to confirm that the person really just has asthma (better to be safe than sorry!).

The first thing to do for diagnosing mesothelioma is get the individual's complete medical history. This should include information on whether the patient was ever exposed to asbestos or if family members were exposed or diagnosed. There is an increasing trend towards the children or spouses of individuals who were exposed to asbestos being exposed by doing the laundry. If there is a family history of asbestos exposure and mesothelioma, that can help the doctor figure out what is going on.

The doctor will probably order chest x-rays next. These will show if a person has a variety of other signs of asbestos exposure, like scarring. A chest x-ray may also reveal that the person merely has pneumonia and will end the mystery.

If nothing shows up, a Computerized Tomography or CT scan could be necessary. The other option is a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan. These scans will show if there are suspicious looking blobs or dots in the lungs. If there are and the dots look suspicious, the doctor will most likely order a biopsy. A biopsy is a procedure that removes a tiny piece of a suspicious blob for testing. The testing will reveal whether the blob is benign (not harmful) or malignant (mean). If the blob is benign, chances are good that the patient doesn't have mesothelioma but still should be watched because benign tumors have been known to become malignant. If the blob, or tumor, is malignant, then it is pretty much confirmed that the patient has mesothelioma.

Once a diagnosis has been made, the doctor will be able to determine in what stage the cancer is and also where it has taken up residence in the lungs. A doctor will also perform tests to determine if the cancer cells have spread to any other portion of the body.



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