Benign vs. Malignant Mesothelioma
As with most forms of cancer, mesothelioma may be classified as either malignant or benign. Benign tumors are completely surgically resectable because they are non-cancerous and unable to spread. On the other hand, malignant mesothelioma is cancerous, highly aggressive and hard to treat. While asbestos has been definitively linked to malignant mesothelioma, benign mesothelioma often results from other disorders such as infectious pleuritis, hepatic cirrhosis or systemic lupus erythematosus.
Because a patient may present both benign and malignant mesothelioma tumors simultaneously, a doctor must be able to differentiate between the two before beginning treatment. One of the most important criteria for determining if a tumor is malignant or benign is the presence of stromal invasion. Since benign tumors do not metastasize, if the tumor has spread to local glands, cells and connective tissue, the tumor is considered to be malignant.
A doctor can consider the probability of malignancy based on how deep in the pleura the cellular proliferation appears. Benign cells typically conglomerate at a relatively shallow depth, while malignant cells can appear as far as the fat or muscle areas of the chest wall or inside of the lung parenchyma.
Total cell enlargement – as opposed to just the enlargement of the cell’s nucleus – is another indicator of malignancy. Large aggregations of cells that feature nuclear irregularity and hyperchromasia (an elevated level of the DNA protein chromatin) almost always imply a malignant diagnosis. Reactive (benign) lesions involve linear cells that typically lack papillae, a dome-shaped structure on the cell surface.
As with most forms of cancer, mesothelioma may be classified as either malignant or benign. Benign tumors are completely surgically resectable because they are non-cancerous and unable to spread. On the other hand, malignant mesothelioma is cancerous, highly aggressive and hard to treat. While asbestos has been definitively linked to malignant mesothelioma, benign mesothelioma often results from other disorders such as infectious pleuritis, hepatic cirrhosis or systemic lupus erythematosus.
Because a patient may present both benign and malignant mesothelioma tumors simultaneously, a doctor must be able to differentiate between the two before beginning treatment. One of the most important criteria for determining if a tumor is malignant or benign is the presence of stromal invasion. Since benign tumors do not metastasize, if the tumor has spread to local glands, cells and connective tissue, the tumor is considered to be malignant.
A doctor can consider the probability of malignancy based on how deep in the pleura the cellular proliferation appears. Benign cells typically conglomerate at a relatively shallow depth, while malignant cells can appear as far as the fat or muscle areas of the chest wall or inside of the lung parenchyma.
Total cell enlargement – as opposed to just the enlargement of the cell’s nucleus – is another indicator of malignancy. Large aggregations of cells that feature nuclear irregularity and hyperchromasia (an elevated level of the DNA protein chromatin) almost always imply a malignant diagnosis. Reactive (benign) lesions involve linear cells that typically lack papillae, a dome-shaped structure on the cell surface.
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