Mesothelioma Histology

Cancer specialists can uncover important microscopic features of your disease with the science of histology. These features play an important role in diagnosis, treatment and your life expectancy.

Histology is a branch of biology and medicine that involves the study of the cells and tissues of animals and plants. Samples of tissue are stained on a slide and observed under a microscope to study the structure and composition of each cell. Because mesothelioma histology involves the study of cancerous mesothelial cells, it is considered a branch of histopathology, which is the study of diseased cells. When diseased cancer cells multiply in the body instead of dying off, they can develop into a mass of tissue that is known as a tumor. Trained medical doctors, usually board-certified pathologists, examine the tumor tissue under a microscope and classify cells by type.
                                      

Histopathology is within the larger field of pathology, which studies the nature, cause and effect of diseases. Pathologists are highly trained medical professionals who examine tissue samples to get an accurate diagnosis, and they’re assisted by histotechnicians and histopathologists, who help with tissue staining to identify diseased cells.

There are several types of mesothelioma cancer cells. Each cellular type responds to different treatments and affects the individual patient's prognosis, so an accurate diagnosis of cancer cell type is essential to develop an effective treatment plan. After treatment is administered, studying tissue samples can also provide insight on the effectiveness of chemotherapy drugs and other treatments.

                                            

Histology also helps prevent mesothelioma misdiagnosis. For example, peritoneal cancer in women and ovarian cancer can be difficult to differentiate without analyzing the cell type through histopathology. If patients are pursuing legal action against an asbestos-producing company that may have caused their cancer, a misdiagnosis can also negatively affect their chances of obtaining compensation.