Prognosis is a medical term that describes the likely outcome of a disease. Depending on the disease, a prognosis can be good or bad. A healthy person recovering from having his appendix out has an excellent prognosis; he will most likely recover completely and have no lingering problems.
The prognosis for cancer is very rarely that good. Cancer prognosis is often expressed in terms of what percent of patients live ten more years, or five more years, or one more year. Keep in mind that a prognosis is an estimate based on everything the doctors know about the patient and the cancer. It should not be viewed as absolute or final, but more like an idea about what is likely to happen.
Mesothelioma Prognosis
There are other staging systems. One called the Butchart System can be used. It is the oldest staging system for pleural mesothelioma:
Stage 1 – localized malignant mesothelioma, found in the pleura and can also be in the diaphragm.
Stage 2 – In addition to Stage 1, there may be tumor found on the other side, into the other organs in the chest, and into the chest lymph nodes.
Stage 3 – The mesothelioma has grown into the diaphragm and into the peritoneum (into the abdomen) and it may have gone to lymph nodes outside the chest.
Stage 4 – Metastatic mesothelioma spread to other parts of the body.
Another system, called the Brigham Staging system, is the newest of the three. It really approaches the cancer from the surgical point of view, so it is of limited use. Most of the time, mesotheliomas are not resectable.
Stage 1 – The mesothelioma can be removed and no lymph nodes are involved.
Stage 2 – The tumor can be removed, but the lymph nodes are involved.
Stage 3 – The tumor cannot be removed and it has penetrated the chest wall, abdominal cavity, heart, or other organs. Lymph nodes may or may not be involved.
Stage 4 – The tumor is not resectable and has metastasized to other parts of the body.