What are the mediastinal masses?
Mediastinal masses are tumors that develop on the front of the chest, part of the human body from the membrane to the neck. Tumors that may grow in this area are associated with a handful of cancer. Tumors discovered in the mediastinal compartment are more likely to malignant than tumors found in other chest areas. The diagnosis generally requires a number of tests. Treatment depends on which cancer is the main cause. In this compartment, mediastinal masses may develop caused by one of the three types of cancer. The first is sarcoma. Sarcoma evolves when the tissue undergoes a malignant transformation into a tumor. There are many types of sarcomas depending on which tissue leads to a tumor. The condition is represented as chest pain and coughing due to growth tumor exerting pressure on the thoracic game and lungs. Thymoms in their early stages are not malignant, although in rare cases life can become life -threatening if the tumor compresses the veins entering the heart.
A series of cancer causes lymphomas, the final type of mediastinal masses. Lymphomas begin in the lymph nodes of the body. Cancer metastasizes to the mediastinal compartment. In addition to the symptoms described in the previous paragraph, a patient with lymphoma is experiencing a weight loss, fever and fatigue. Before most cases are diagnosed, cancer has already metastasized to a secondary place outside the chest.
diagnosis of mediastinal materials may require a number of tests: physical test, chest X -rays, blood work and biopsy. The last is a sample of tissue taken from matter through a minimally invasive surgery. By examining the sample, the doctor cdiagnostics a specific form of cancer. X -ray and blood work determine the cancer phase. With this information, the doctor can render treatment.
Depending on the tumor type, it may be for removal of the tumor and killed any remaining cancer cells. Since thymomes are rarely malignant, surgeonTumor removal is usually the only necessary treatment. Surgery is rarely used to treat lymphomas. Patients must rely on chemotherapy and radiation. In some patients, bone marrow transplantation is the best way of treatment.