Mesothelioma Cancer Resources

Types of Mesothelioma

There are two types of mesothelioma.

Pleural mesothelioma and peritoneal mesothelioma.

Pleural mesothelioma grows in the pleura, which is the tissue lining your lungs. Pleural mesothelioma is more common than peritoneal mesothelioma (which grows in the tissues lining the abdomen).

Approximately 80% of mesothelioma cases diagnosed are pleural mesothelioma. Peritoneal mesothelioma is far less common, being diagnosed maybe twice in every ten cases.

Cell Types

Mesothelioma is also grouped by how the cells look under a microscrope. When grouped in this way, there are three types of mesothelioma.

Epitheloid
Sarcomatoid or fibrous
Biphasic (mixed type)

Between 50% and 70% of diagnosed mesothelioma cases are the epitheloid type.

Between 7% and 20% of diagnosed mesothelioma cases are the sarcomatoid type.

Between 20% and 30% of diagnosed mesothelioma cases are the biphasic type - and has both epitheloid and sarcomatoid cells.

The different cell types that are found in mesothelioma can divide into other cancerous cell types called:

Clear cell
Small cell
Acinar cell
Tubopapillary cell

With so many cell types with the ability to develop mesothelioma it is very difficult to diagnose this disease.