Skip to main content
  • COVID-19
    • COVID-19 vaccines and cancer
      • FAQs
      • FAQs in-language
      • SerOzNET Study
    • COVID-19 information for people affected by cancer
      • Managing your cancer care in the context of COVID-19
      • Looking after your mental wellbeing
      • Canada
      • Ireland
      • UK
      • USA
    • COVID-19 information for children and young people with cancer
    • Cancer Won’t Wait
    • Cancer and COVID-19 - what it means for our Mob
      • COVID-19 vaccines: Information for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people affected by cancer
      • Act early for our Mob's health
    • Guidance for health professionals
      • Diagnosis
      • Treatment
      • Surgery
      • Medical oncology
      • Radiation oncology
      • Primary care
      • Telehealth
      • Clinical trials
      • Follow-up care
      • Supportive and Palliative care
      • Cancer care for cancer patients with COVID-19
      • COVID-19 vaccines and cancer
      • Recovery
    • Research articles
      • Review articles
      • Data articles
      • Recommendations articles
      • Shared experience articles
      • COVID-19 vaccines and cancer articles
    • Cancer care in the time of COVID-19: A conceptual framework
    • Optimal cancer care during the COVID-19 pandemic: the Principles
    • The impact of COVID-19 on cancer services
    • COVID-19 Recovery: Implications for cancer care
      • Expanded use of telehealth
      • Changes to prevention and early detection
      • Virtual multidisciplinary team meetings
      • Modifications to treatment schedules
      • Hypofractionated radiotherapy
      • Oncology hospital in the home
      • Responsive patient support
      • Innovative care and hospital infrastructure models
      • Shared follow-up and survivorship care
      • Supportive and palliative care
      • Cancer research and clinical trials
      • Collaboration in the oncology sector and data sharing
      • Acknowledgements
  • About us
    • Organisational structure
    • Accountability and reporting
      • Annual reports
    • Who we work with
      • Roles & functions
      • Advisory Council
      • Advisory groups
      • Consumer engagement
      • Government cancer control organisations
    • Information publication scheme
      • Information publication scheme plan
      • Freedom of information act
        • The FOI request process
      • FOI disclosure log
    • Reconciliation action plan
    • Employment opportunities
  • News and media
    • News
    • Subscribe to our eNewsletter
  • Contact us
Cancer Australia
Choose Language
  • العربية
  • 简体中文
  • 繁體中文
  • Ελληνικά
  • हिन्दी
  • Italiano
  • 한국어
  • Español
  • Tagalog
  • Tiếng Việt
  • العربية
  • 简体中文
  • 繁體中文
  • Ελληνικά
  • हिन्दी
  • Italiano
  • 한국어
  • Español
  • Tagalog
  • Tiếng Việt
  • العربية
  • 简体中文
  • 繁體中文
  • Ελληνικά
  • हिन्दी
  • Italiano
  • 한국어
  • Español
  • Tagalog
  • Tiếng Việt
  • Home
  • Cancer types
  • Impacted by Cancer
  • Awareness
  • Research
  • Resources
  • Clinicians hub
  • Key initiatives
  • Home
  • Cancer types
    • Bladder cancer
    • Bowel cancer
    • Brain cancer
    • Breast cancer
    • Breast cancer in men
    • Breast cancer in young women
    • Cervical cancer
    • Children’s cancer
    • Endometrial cancer
    • Fallopian cancer
    • Gestational trophoblastic disease
    • Gynaecological cancers
    • Head and neck cancer
    • Kidney cancer
    • Leukaemia
    • Liver cancer
    • Lung cancer
    • Lymphoma
    • Melanoma
    • Mesothelioma cancer
    • Myeloma
    • Neuroendocrine tumours
    • Oesophageal cancer
    • Ovarian cancer
    • Pancreatic cancer
    • Prostate cancer
    • Sarcoma
    • Stomach cancer
    • Testicular cancer
    • Thyroid cancer
    • Unknown primary cancer
    • Uterine sarcoma
    • Vaginal cancer
    • Vulvar cancer
  • Impacted by Cancer
    • What is cancer
    • Physical changes
    • Treatment
    • Keeping healthy
    • Emotions
    • Family and relationships
    • Living with cancer
    • Lynch Syndrome
  • Awareness
    • Your cancer risk
    • Screening
    • Interactive body map
  • Research
    • Cancer Research in Australia
    • Data and statistics
    • Australian Clinical Trials
    • Support for cancer clinical trials
    • Grants and funding
  • Resources
    • Cancer Australia Publications
    • Clinical Practice Guidelines
    • Position statements
    • Resources in other languages
    • Cancer Australia websites
    • Cancer risk online assessment tools
    • Other tools and resources
    • Podcasts
    • Cancer support organisations
    • Glossary
  • Clinicians hub
    • GP guides and resources
    • Guidelines by cancer type
    • Optimal cancer care pathways
    • Working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
    • Multidisciplinary care
    • Psychosocial care
    • Follow-up care
    • Family cancer clinics
    • Cancer Learning
    • Consumer engagement
  • Key initiatives
    • For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
    • Australian Cancer Plan
    • Australian Brain Cancer Mission
    • Lung Cancer Screening
    • National Pancreatic Cancer Roadmap
    • Campaigns & events
    • Jeannie Ferris Recognition Award

Mesothelioma cancer

mesothelioma-mm cancer-types/mesothelioma-cancer/overview
    • Home
    • Types
    • Statistics
    • Risk factors
    • Symptoms
    • Diagnosis
    • Treatment
    • Finding support
    • Clinical trials
    • Health professionals
    • Home
    • Types
    • Statistics
    • Risk factors
    • Symptoms
    • Diagnosis
    • Treatment
    • Finding support
    • Clinical trials
    • Health professionals
  1. Home
  2. Diagnosis
Loading...

How is mesothelioma diagnosed?

  • Printer-friendly version
  • A|A

You might have a number of tests to investigate your symptoms and confirm a diagnosis of mesothelioma, including:

  • medical history and physical examination – a physical exam can pick up a pleural effusion, which is often the earliest sign of asbestos-related disease
  • biopsy, where a small sample of tissue is taken from the pleura surrounding the lungs for examination under a microscope 
  • chest X-ray – this can pick up an abnormal thickening of the pleura or a pleural effusion
  • computed tomography (CT) scan of the chest, which uses a series of X-rays to make a detailed picture of the chest – this can show the exact location of the cancer, its size and how far it has spread
  • thoracentesis, a type of biopsy that removes a sample of fluid from the pleural cavity (the space between the two layers of pleura surrounding the lungs) for testing – this is done under local anaesthetic
  • blood tests – these can show whether levels of certain substances (such as soluble mesothelin-related peptides) are higher than normal; this is often the case in people with mesothelioma.

A biopsy of the pleural tissue is often done using a small cut in the chest into which a thorascope is inserted. A thorascope is a thin, tube-like instrument that has a light and a camera for viewing, as well as a tool to remove the tissue sample. This procedure – called thoracoscopic biopsy – is done under general anaesthetic in an operating theatre.

If mesothelioma is diagnosed, pulmonary function tests might be used to see how well your lungs are working. This can be important if surgery to remove part of a lung might be used to treat the cancer. Pulmonary function tests involve breathing in and out through a tube connected to a machine.

Stages of mesothelioma

If you are diagnosed with mesothelioma, you might have more tests to determine the stage of the disease and whether the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. Knowing the stage of the disease helps your medical team plan the best treatment for you.

Mesothelioma is divided into four stages:

  • Stage I (localised) – cancer has not spread from the pleura where it started
  • Stage II (advanced) – cancer has spread into the lung tissue and/or the diaphragm (the muscle at the bottom of the chest cavity that is used for breathing) and has involved the lymph nodes at the root of the lung, but not to distant sites
  • Stage III (advanced) – cancer has spread further, including possibly to deeper lymph nodes between the lungs or in the neck, but has not spread to distant sites
  • Stage IV (advanced) – cancer has spread to distant organs

Tests to determine the stage of mesothelioma can include:

  • chest and abdominal CT scan
  • chest magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which uses a magnet and radio waves to make images of parts of the body
  • positron emission tomography (PET) scan, which takes pictures of areas of the body after a radioactive sugar has been injected into the blood – cancer cells take up the sugar more intensely than other cells and can be seen in the images
  • thoracoscopic biopsy
  • laparoscopy, where a laparoscope (a thin, lighted tube with a lens for viewing and tools to remove samples of tissue) is inserted through a small cut in the abdomen
  • Last Updated
  • References
  • Relevant Links
updated: 20 October 2020 - 3:32pm

National Comprehensive Cancer Network (2016). Malignant pleural mesothelioma, version 1.2016.

National Cancer Institute (2016). Malignant mesothelioma treatment (PDQ®): patient version.

American Cancer Society (2016). Malignant mesothelioma.

Optimal cancer care pathways
Cancer Council
Australian Cancer Research Foundation
American Cancer Society

Related information

What is cancer?
What is cancer?

Cancer is a disease of the cells, which are the body’s basic building blocks.

Treatment and side effects
Treatment and side effects

The treatment that your doctors recommend will depend on the type of cancer you have, how advanced it is, and other personal factors.

Living with cancer
Living with cancer

A diagnosis of cancer marks the beginning of a journey full of emotional, psychological, physical and practical challenges.

Life after cancer
Life after cancer

While looking forward to finishing their cancer treatment and getting on with life, for some people, the end of treatment can also be a confusing or worrying time.

A-Z List of Cancer Types

Information on more than 70 types of cancer

  • Bladder cancer
  • Bowel cancer
  • Brain cancer
  • Breast cancer
  • Breast cancer in men
  • Breast cancer in young women
  • Cervical cancer
  • Children's Cancer
  • Endometrial cancer
  • Fallopian cancer
  • Gestational trophoblastic disease
  • Gynaecological cancers
  • Head and neck cancer
  • Kidney cancer
  • Leukaemia
  • Liver cancer
  • Lung cancer
  • Lymphoma
  • Melanoma of the skin
  • Mesothelioma cancer
  • Myeloma
  • Neuroendocrine tumours
  • Oesophageal cancer
  • Ovarian cancer
  • Pancreatic cancer
  • Prostate cancer
  • Sarcoma
  • Stomach cancer
  • Testicular cancer
  • Thyroid cancer
  • Unknown primary
  • Uterine sarcoma
  • Vaginal cancer
  • Vulval cancer

About Cancer Australia

Cancer Australia was established by the Australian Government in 2006 to benefit all Australians affected by cancer, and their families and carers. Cancer Australia aims to reduce the impact of cancer, address disparities and improve outcomes for people affected by cancer by leading and coordinating national, evidence-based interventions across the continuum of care.

If you would like an interpreter to help you understand any information on this website, please call TIS National on 131 450 and ask them to call Cancer Australia on 02 9357 9400. Our business hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

Freecall 1800 624 973
+61 2 9357 9400

Locked Bag 3, Strawberry Hills
NSW 2012

Navigation

  • Cancer types
  • Impacted by Cancer
  • Awareness
  • Research
  • Resources
  • Clinicians hub
  • Key initiatives

Contact us

* Denotes mandatory fields
 

By submitting this form, you accept the Cancer Australia privacy policy.

  • Contact Us
  • Copyright
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy policy
  • Sitemap
Copyright © 2023 - Cancer Australia