The Best Vegetable Chopper Guide: How to Use, Clean, and Pick the Right One!

Are you tired of spending extra time chopping vegetables by hand? Whether you're a home cook or someone who enjoys meal prepping, finding the best vegetable chopper can make your kitchen experience much easier and faster! In this guide, we’ll explore the answers to your most common questions, such as how to use a vegetable chopper, how to clean one, and what is the best vegetable chopper for your needs.

Why You Need a Vegetable Chopper

A vegetable chopper is more than just a kitchen gadget; it's a time-saving essential. With a good vegetable chopper, you can quickly dice, slice, or chop vegetables with minimal effort. Not only does it save time, but it also ensures uniform cuts, which is crucial for even cooking. Whether you're making salads, soups, or stir-frying veggies, having the best vegetable chopper can simplify your cooking process.

How to Use a Vegetable Chopper: Step-by-Step Guide

Wondering how to use a vegetable chopper? Here’s a simple, easy-to-follow guide:

1. Prepare the Vegetables: Start by washing your vegetables thoroughly. Peel any skins if necessary (like with potatoes or carrots).

2. Cut into Smaller Pieces: If your vegetable chopper has a small cutting area, slice your vegetables into smaller chunks before chopping. This prevents jams and ensures smooth operation.

3. Place the Vegetables in the Chopper: Open the vegetable chopper and place the vegetables inside the designated cutting area.

4. Press or Rotate the Handle: Depending on the type of chopper you have, either press down or rotate the handle. This will push the vegetables through the blades, creating uniform cuts.

5. Collect Your Chopped Veggies: Once done, simply open the chopper and collect your perfectly chopped vegetables.

It’s really that easy! Whether you're using an OXO vegetable chopper or another brand, the process remains almost the same.

How to Clean a Vegetable Chopper: Keep It Hygienic!

Now that you've used your vegetable chopper, it’s important to clean it properly to avoid any food buildup or contamination. Let’s walk through the steps for how to clean a vegetable chopper:

1. Disassemble the Chopper: Most vegetable choppers are easy to disassemble. Remove the blades and the container.

2. Rinse Immediately: After chopping, rinse the blades and container right away under running water. This helps prevent any vegetable bits from hardening on the blades.

3. Use a Brush for the Blades: For tougher debris stuck on the blades, use a cleaning brush or toothbrush to scrub it off.

4. Soak if Necessary: If the residue is stubborn, soak the chopper parts in warm soapy water for about 10 minutes.

5. Dry Thoroughly: After washing, ensure that all parts are completely dry before reassembling and storing your chopper.

For those who own the OXO vegetable chopper, the same steps apply. These steps ensure your chopper stays sharp, clean, and safe to use.

What is the Best Vegetable Chopper?

Now, to answer the burning question: What is the best vegetable chopper? There are many options available, but the best choice for you depends on your cooking needs and preferences. If you’re looking for durability and performance, the OXO Good Grips Vegetable Chopper is a popular choice. It’s well-known for its ergonomic design, sharp blades, and ease of cleaning.

Another great option is the Mueller Austria Vegetable Chopper, which offers versatile cutting options and a large capacity. Both of these models have excellent reviews and are perfect for home use.

FAQs

How to Clean OXO Vegetable Chopper?

Cleaning the OXO vegetable chopper follows the same steps as mentioned earlier. Disassemble, rinse, and use a brush for the blades. You can also put it in the dishwasher (top rack only) for a quick and efficient clean.

How to Use a Vegetable Chopper?

To use the vegetable chopper, simply place your vegetables inside and either press or rotate the handle to achieve perfectly chopped pieces. It's straightforward, and most choppers are designed for easy use.

What Makes a Vegetable Chopper the Best?

The best vegetable chopper should be durable, easy to clean, and efficient at cutting vegetables evenly. Look for features like sharp stainless steel blades, ergonomic designs, and ease of disassembly for cleaning.

Conclusion: Get Chopping!

A vegetable chopper can be your best friend in the kitchen. It saves time, cuts down on prep work, and makes cooking a breeze. Whether you're using an OXO vegetable chopper or another model, following proper cleaning and usage tips will ensure your chopper lasts a long time. So go ahead, grab the best vegetable chopper, and enjoy effortless cooking!

Now that you know how to use and clean a vegetable chopper, it’s time to make your choice and start chopping those veggies with ease!

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New in Malignant Mesothelioma Research and Treatment. Health Care Solutions

New in Malignant Mesothelioma Research and Treatment. Health Care Solutions

There is always research going on in the area of mesothelioma. Scientists are looking for better ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat mesothelioma. Despite recent progress, much remains to be learned about the best way to treat these cancers.

Causes and prevention

Some research is focused on learning exactly how asbestos changes mesothelial cells and their DNA to cause these cancers. Understanding how these fibers produce cancer might help us develop ways to prevent those changes.

The role of asbestos in increasing the risk of mesothelioma is a definite public health concern. Researchers are learning more about which asbestos fibers can cause cancer, how they cause it, and what levels of exposure might be considered safe. Now that the dangers of asbestos are known, we can limit or stop exposure in homes, public buildings, and the workplace. Unfortunately, regulations protecting workers from asbestos exposure are much less stringent in some countries than in others.

Research is also under way to clarify the role (if any) of SV40, a virus that has been linked to mesothelioma in some studies.

Treatment

Mesothelioma remains a difficult cancer to treat, and doctors are constantly trying to improve on current approaches. The exact roles of surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy in the treatment of mesothelioma are still being studied. Combinations of these treatments are now being tested and may provide the most promising option for some patients. Newer types of treatment now being studied may give patients and their doctors even more options.

Chemotherapy

Some chemotherapy drugs can shrink or slow the growth of mesotheliomas, but in most cases the effects last for a limited time. Studies are underway to test newer chemotherapy drugs.

Photodynamic therapy

Another technique now being studied is photodynamic therapy (PDT). For this treatment, a light-activated drug is injected into a vein. The drug spreads throughout the body and tends to collect in cancer cells. A few days later (usually in the operating room, just after surgery), a special red light on the end of a tube is placed into the chest. The light causes a chemical change that activates the drug and kills the cancer cells. Since the drug is only active in the areas exposed to the special light, this approach might cause fewer side effects than using drugs that spread throughout the body. Several clinical trials are now studying the use of PDT for mesothelioma. To find out more about PDT, see Photodynamic Therapy.

Targeted drugs

In general, chemo drugs have a limited effect against mesothelioma. As researchers have learned more about the changes in cells that cause cancer, they have developed newer drugs that target these changes. Targeted drugs work differently from standard chemo drugs. They sometimes work when chemo drugs don’t, and they often have different (and less severe) side effects.

Sunitinib (Sutent) is an example of a targeted drug that has shown promise in some studies.

Other new drugs have different targets. For example, some new drugs target mesothelin, a protein found in high levels in mesothelioma cells. To learn more about targeted therapy drugs, see Targeted Therapy.

Other newer forms of treatment

Because standard treatments often have limited usefulness against mesothelioma, researchers are studying other new types of treatment as well.

Gene therapy: A newer type of treatment being tested on mesothelioma is gene therapy, which attempts to add new genes to cancer cells to make them easier to kill. One approach to gene therapy uses special viruses that have been modified in the lab. The virus is injected into the pleural space and infects the mesothelioma cells. When this infection occurs, the virus injects the desired gene into the cells. In one version of this approach, the virus carries a gene that helps turn on the immune system to attack the cancer cells. Early studies of this approach have found it may shrink or slow the growth of mesothelioma in some people, but more research is needed to confirm this.

Immunotherapy: Other new treatments called cancer vaccines are also aimed at getting the immune system to attack the cancer. In one approach, immune cells are removed from a patient’s blood and treated in the lab to get them to react to tumor cells. The immune cells are then given back to the patient as blood transfusions, where it is hoped they will cause the body’s immune system to attack the cancer. This approach is now being studied in clinical trials.

Another form of immunotherapy being studied is a drug called tremelimumab, which targets a certain immune cells and takes the brakes off the immune system.

Virus therapies: Researchers are also studying the use of specially designed viruses to treat mesothelioma. These viruses can be put into the pleural space, where the hope is that they can either infect and kill the cancer cells directly, or cause the immune system to attack the cancer cells. These approaches are still in the early phases of clinical trials.

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How Is Malignant Mesothelioma Diagnosed?

Mesothelioma is most often diagnosed after a person goes to a doctor because of symptoms they are having. If there is a reason to suspect you might have mesothelioma, your doctor will examine you and use one or more tests to find out. Symptoms might suggest that the problem could be mesothelioma, but tests will be needed to confirm the diagnosis.

Medical history and physical exam

If you have any signs or symptoms that suggest you might have mesothelioma, your doctor will want to get your medical history to learn about your symptoms and possible risk factors, especially asbestos exposure.

A physical exam can provide information about possible signs of mesothelioma and other health problems. Pleural mesothelioma can cause fluid to build up around the lungs in the chest (called a pleural effusion). In cases of peritoneal mesothelioma, fluid can build up in the abdomen (called ascites). In pericardial mesothelioma, fluid builds up in the sac around the heart (called a pericardial effusion). Rarely, mesothelioma can develop in the groin and look like a hernia. All of these might be found during a physical exam, such as when the doctor listens to these areas with a stethoscope or taps on the chest or abdomen.

If mesothelioma is a possibility, tests will be needed to make sure. These might include imaging tests, blood tests, and other procedures.

Imaging tests

Imaging tests use x-rays, radioactive particles, sound waves, or magnetic fields to create pictures of the inside of your body. Imaging tests might be done for a number of reasons, such as:

• To look at suspicious areas that might be cancer
• To learn how far cancer has spread
• To help determine if treatment is working

People thought to have mesothelioma may have one or more of these tests.

Chest x-ray

This is often the first test done if someone has symptoms such as a constant cough or shortness of breath. Findings that might suggest mesothelioma include an abnormal thickening of the pleura, calcium deposits on the pleura, fluid in the space between the lungs and the chest wall, or changes in the lungs themselves as a result of asbestos exposure.

Computed tomography (CT) scan

The CT scan uses x-rays to make detailed cross-sectional images of your body. Instead of taking one picture, like a regular x-ray, a CT scanner takes many pictures as it rotates around you while you are lying on a narrow table. A computer then combines these into images of slices of the body.

CT scans are often used to help look for mesothelioma and to determine the exact location of the cancer. They can also help determine the stage (extent) of the cancer. For example, they can show if the cancer has spread to other organs. This can help determine if surgery might be a treatment option. Finally, CT scans can also be used to learn if treatment such as chemotherapy is shrinking or slowing the growth of the cancer.

A CT scanner has been described as a large donut, with a narrow table that slides in and out of the middle opening. You will need to lie still on the table while the scan is being done. CT scans take longer than regular x-rays, and you might feel a bit confined by the ring while the pictures are being taken.

Before the test, you might have to drink a liquid called oral contrast. This helps outline the intestine so that certain areas are not mistaken for tumors. You might also need an IV (intravenous) line through which a different kind of contrast is injected. This helps better outline structures in your body. The injection can cause some flushing (redness and warm feeling). Some people are allergic and get hives or, rarely, more serious reactions like trouble breathing and low blood pressure. Be sure to tell the doctor if you have any allergies (especially to iodine or shellfish) or have ever had a reaction to any contrast material used for x-rays.

Echocardiogram

This test uses sound waves to look at the heart. It may be done if your doctor suspects that you have fluid around your heart (a pericardial effusion). This test can also tell how well the heart is working. For the most common version of this test, you lie on a table while a technician moves an instrument called a transducer over the skin on your chest. A gel is often put on the skin first.

Positron emission tomography (PET) scan

For a PET scan, a radioactive substance (usually a type of sugar related to glucose, known as FDG) is injected into the blood. The amount of radioactivity used is very low. Because cancer cells grow quickly, they absorb more of the sugar than most other cells. After waiting about an hour, you lie on a table in the PET scanner for about 30 minutes while a special camera creates a picture of areas of radioactivity in the body.

The picture from a PET scan is not as detailed as a CT or MRI scan, but it can provide helpful information about whether abnormal areas seen on these tests are likely to be cancerous or not. For example, it can give the doctor a better idea of whether a thickening of the pleura or peritoneum seen on a CT scan is more likely cancer or merely scar tissue. If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, your doctor may use this test to see if the cancer has spread to lymph nodes or other parts of the body. A PET scan can also be useful if your doctor thinks the cancer may have spread but doesn’t know where.

Some machines can do both a PET and CT scan at the same time (PET/CT scan). This lets the doctor compare areas of higher radioactivity on the PET scan with the more detailed appearance of that area on the CT.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan

Like CT scans, MRI scans make detailed images of the body’s soft tissues. But MRI scans use radio waves and strong magnets instead of x-rays. A contrast material called gadolinium is often injected into a vein before the scan to better show details. This contrast is different than the one used for CT scans, so being allergic to one doesn’t mean you are allergic to the other.

MRI scans can sometimes help show the exact location and extent of a tumor since they provide very detailed images of soft tissues. For mesotheliomas, they may be useful in looking at the diaphragm (the thin band of muscle below the lungs that helps us breathe), a possible site of cancer spread.

MRI scans take longer than CT scans – often up to an hour. You may have to lie inside a narrow tube, which can upset people with a fear of enclosed spaces. Special, more open MRI machines may be an option in some cases. The MRI machine makes buzzing and clicking noises that you might find disturbing. Some places will give you earplugs to help block this out.

Blood tests

Blood levels of certain substances are often higher in people with mesothelioma:

• Osteopontin
• Soluble mesothelin-related peptides (SMRPs), detected with the MesoMark® test

Mesothelioma can’t be diagnosed with these blood tests alone, but high levels of these substances can make the diagnosis more likely. These tests are not routinely used in most doctors’ offices because of their limited value.

Tests of fluid and tissue samples

Symptoms and test results may strongly suggest that a person has mesothelioma, but the actual diagnosis is made by removing cells from an abnormal area and looking at them under a microscope. This is known as a biopsy. It can be done in different ways, depending on the situation.

Removing fluid for testing

If there is a buildup of fluid in part of the body that might be due to mesothelioma, a sample of this fluid can be removed by inserting a thin, hollow needle through the skin and into the fluid. Numbing medicine is used on the skin before the needle is inserted. This may be done in a doctor’s office or in the hospital. Sometimes ultrasound (or an echocardiogram) is used to guide the needle. These tests use sound waves to see inside the body.

This procedure has different names depending on where the fluid is:

• Thoracentesis removes fluid from the chest.
• Paracentesis removes fluid from the abdomen.
• Pericardiocentesis removes fluid from the sac around the heart.

The fluid is then tested for its chemical makeup and is looked at under a microscope to see if it contains cancer cells. If cancer cells are found, special tests might be done to see if the cancer is a mesothelioma, a lung cancer, or another type of cancer.

Even if no cancer cells are found in the fluid, a person might still have cancer. In many cases, doctors need to get an actual sample of the mesothelium (the pleura, peritoneum, or pericardium) to determine if a person has mesothelioma.

Needle biopsies

Suspected tumors in the chest are sometimes sampled by needle biopsy. A long, hollow needle is passed through the skin in the chest between the ribs and into the pleura. Imaging tests such as CT scans are used to guide the needle into the tumor so that small samples can be removed to be looked at under the microscope. This is often done using just numbing medicine.

Needle biopsy can also be used to get samples of the lymph nodes in the space between the lungs to see if the cancer has spread there (see “Endobronchial ultrasound needle biopsy”).

Needle biopsies do not require a surgical incision or overnight hospital stay. But the downside is that sometimes the samples removed are not big enough to make an accurate diagnosis. This is especially true for mesothelioma. A more invasive biopsy method may be needed.

There is a slight chance that the needle could put a small hole in the lung during the biopsy. This can cause air to build up in the space between the lung and the chest wall (known as a pneumothorax). A small pneumothorax might not cause any symptoms. It may only be seen on an x-ray done after the biopsy, and it will often go away on its own. But a larger pneumothorax can make part of a lung collapse and might need to be treated. The treatment is placement of a small tube (a catheter) through the skin and into the space between the lungs. The tube is used to suck the air out in order to re-expand the lung and is left in place for a short time.

Endoscopic biopsies

Endoscopic biopsy is commonly used to diagnose mesothelioma. An endoscope is a thin, tube-like instrument used to look inside the body. It has a light and a lens (or tiny video camera) on the end for viewing and often has a tool to remove tissue samples. Endoscopes have different names depending on the part of the body where they’re used.

Thoracoscopy: This procedure uses an endoscope called a thoracoscope to look at areas inside the chest. It can be used to look at the pleura and take tissue samples for biopsies.

Thoracoscopy is done in the operating room while you are under general anesthesia (in a deep sleep). The doctor inserts the thoracoscope through one or more small cuts made in the chest wall to look at the space between the lungs and the chest wall. This lets the doctor see possible areas of cancer and remove small pieces of tissue to look at under the microscope. The doctor can also sample lymph nodes and fluid and see if a tumor is growing into nearby tissues or organs.

Thoracoscopy can also be used as part of a procedure to keep fluid from building up in the chest. This is called pleurodesis and is discussed in Palliative Procedures Used for Malignant Mesothelioma.

Laparoscopy: For this test, the doctor uses an endoscope called a laparoscope to look inside the abdomen and biopsy any peritoneal tumors. This is done in the operating room while you are under general anesthesia (in a deep sleep). The laparoscope is inserted into the abdomen through small cuts on the front of the abdomen.

Mediastinoscopy: If imaging tests such as a CT scan suggest that the cancer might have spread to the lymph nodes between the lungs, the doctor may want to sample some of them to see if they really contain cancer. The area between the lungs is called the mediastinum, and looking at it with an endoscope is called mediastinoscopy. This is done in an operating room while you are under general anesthesia (in a deep sleep).

A small cut is made in the front of the neck above the breastbone (sternum) and a thin, hollow, lighted tube (called a mediastinoscope) is inserted behind the sternum. Special instruments can be passed through this tube to take tissue samples from the lymph nodes along the windpipe and the major bronchial tube areas.

Lung cancers often spread to lymph nodes, but mesotheliomas do this less often. Testing the lymph nodes can help show whether a cancer is still localized or if it has started to spread, which might affect treatment options. It can also sometimes help tell lung cancers from mesotheliomas.Patients with mesothelioma don’t need to have bronchoscopy to see if tumors are in their airways (because that isn’t where tumors from mesothelioma are found). Instead, bronchoscopy may be used to biopsy lymph nodes near the lungs (instead of using mediastinoscopy).

Endobronchial ultrasound needle biopsy: For this test, a bronchoscope (a long, thin, flexible, fiber-optic tube) with an ultrasound device at its tip is passed down the throat and into the windpipe. The ultrasound lets the doctor see the nearby lymph nodes. A hollow needle is then passed down the bronchoscope and through the airway wall into the nodes to take biopsy samples. This procedure may be done with either general anesthesia (where you are asleep), or with numbing medicine (local anesthesia) and light sedation.

Open surgical biopsy

Sometimes, endoscopic biopsies aren’t enough to make a diagnosis, so more invasive procedures are needed. By making an incision in the chest (thoracotomy) or an incision in the abdomen (laparotomy) the surgeon can remove a larger sample of tumor or, sometimes, remove the entire tumor.

Testing the samples in the lab

No matter how they’re obtained, all biopsy and fluid samples are sent to the pathology lab. There, a doctor will look at them under a microscope and test them to find out if they contain cancer cells (and if so, what type of cancer it is).

It’s often hard to diagnose mesothelioma by looking at cells from fluid samples. It can even be hard to diagnose mesothelioma with tissue from small needle biopsies. Under the microscope, mesothelioma can often look like other types of cancer. For example, pleural mesothelioma can resemble some types of lung cancer, and peritoneal mesothelioma in women may look like some cancers of the ovaries.

For this reason, special lab tests are often done to help tell mesothelioma from some other cancers. To learn about some of the tests that might be done on tissue samples, see Testing Biopsy and Cytology Specimens for Cancer.

If mesothelioma is diagnosed, the doctor will also determine what type of mesothelioma it is, based on the patterns of cells seen in the microscope. Most mesotheliomas are classified as either epithelioid, sarcomatoid, or mixed/biphasic.

Pulmonary function tests

If mesothelioma has been diagnosed, pulmonary function tests (PFTs) may be done to see how well your lungs are working. This is especially important if surgery might be an option to treat the cancer. Surgery often requires removing part or all of a lung, so it’s important to know how well the lungs are working to start with. These tests can give the surgeon an idea of whether surgery may be an option, and if so, how much lung can safely be removed safely.

There are a few different types of PFTs, but they all basically have you breathe in and out through a tube connected to a machine that measures your lung function.

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Signs and Symptoms of Mesothelioma

Many of the early symptoms of mesothelioma are more likely to be caused by other conditions, so at first people may ignore them or mistake them for common, minor ailments. Most people with mesothelioma have symptoms for at least a few months before they are diagnosed.

Symptoms of pleural mesothelioma (mesothelioma of the chest) can include:

• Pain in the side of the chest or lower back
• Shortness of breath
• Cough
• Fever
• Excessive sweating
• Fatigue
• Weight loss (without trying)
• Trouble swallowing (feeling like food gets stuck)
• Hoarseness
• Swelling of the face and arms

Symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma can include:

• Abdominal (belly) pain
• Swelling or fluid in the abdomen
• Weight loss (without trying)
• Nausea and vomiting
• Constipation

These symptoms can be caused by mesothelioma, but more often they are caused by other conditions. Still, if you have any of these problems (especially if you have been exposed to asbestos), it’s important to see your doctor right away so the cause can be found and treated, if needed.

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What Is Malignant Mesothelioma?

Malignant mesothelioma is a cancer that starts in cells in the linings of certain parts of the body, especially in the linings of the chest or abdomen.





Cancer starts when cells start to grow out of control. Cells in nearly any part of the body can become cancer. To learn more about how cancers start and spread, see What Is Cancer?

The mesothelioma 

a layer of specialized cells called mesothelial cells lines the inside of the chest, the abdomen, and the space around your heart. These cells also cover the outer surface of most of your internal organs. The lining formed by these cells is called the mesothelium.

The mesothelium helps protect your organs by making a special lubricating fluid that allows organs to move against each other. For example, this fluid makes it easier for your lungs to move (expand and contract) inside the chest when you breathe. The mesothelium has different names in different parts of the body:

• The pleura coats the lungs and space in the chest containing the lungs.
• The peritoneum lines the inside of the abdomen and many of the organs in the abdomen.
• The pericardium covers the heart and creates the space that holds the heart in the chest.
• The tunica vaginalis lines the testicles.

Mesothelial tumors can start in any of these linings. These tumors can be non-cancerous (benign) or cancerous (malignant).

Malignant mesothelioma

A cancerous tumor of the mesothelium is called a malignant mesothelioma, although this is often shortened to just mesothelioma. Mesotheliomas can start in 4 main areas in the body.

• Pleural mesotheliomas start in the chest. About 3 out of 4 mesotheliomas are pleural mesotheliomas.
• Peritoneal mesotheliomas begin in the abdomen. They make up most of the remaining cases.
• Pericardial mesotheliomas start in the covering around the heart and are very rare.
• Mesotheliomas of the tunica vaginalis are very rare tumors that start in the covering layer of the testicles.

Malignant mesotheliomas can also be classified into 3 main types based on how the cancer cells are arranged:




About half of mesotheliomas are epithelioid. This type tends to have a better outlook (prognosis) than the other types.
About 10% of mesotheliomas are sarcomatoid (fibrous).
Mixed (biphasic) mesotheliomas have both epithelioid and sarcomatoid areas. They make up the remaining 30% to 40% of mesotheliomas.

Benign tumors of the mesothelium

Benign (non-cancerous) tumors can also start in the mesothelium. These tumors are typically removed by surgery, and there is often no need for additional treatment.

Localized fibrous tumor of the pleura

This type of benign tumor can form in the pleura surrounding the lungs. It used to be called benign fibrous mesothelioma, but doctors now know that this tumor actually does not start in mesothelial cells. This disease is usually benign, but about 1 in 10 are cancerous. A similar condition that starts in the peritoneum is called solitary fibrous tumor of the peritoneum.

Adenomatoid mesothelioma

This benign tumor can develop in the mesothelium of certain reproductive organs. In men, it often starts in the epididymis (ducts that carry sperm cells out of the testicle). In women, this tumor can begin in the fallopian tubes (tubes that carry eggs from the ovaries to the uterus).

Benign cystic mesothelioma

This rare non-cancerous tumor often begins in the peritoneum.

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What Happens After Treatment for Malignant Mesothelioma?

For some people with mesothelioma, treatment may remove or destroy the cancer. Completing treatment can be both stressful and exciting. You may be relieved to finish treatment, but find it hard not to worry about the cancer coming back. (When cancer comes back after treatment, it is called recurrence.) This is a very common concern in people who have had cancer.



It may take a while before your fears lessen. But it may help to know that many cancer survivors have learned to live with this uncertainty and are leading full lives. See Understanding Cancer Recurrence for more about this.

For many people, the mesothelioma may never go away completely. These people may get regular treatments with chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or other therapies to help keep the cancer under control and help relieve symptoms from it. Learning to live with cancer that doesn’t go away can be difficult and very stressful. It has its own type of uncertainty. See Managing Cancer as a Chronic Illness talks more about this.

Follow-up care

If you have completed treatment, your doctors will still want to watch you closely. It’s very important to keep all follow-up appointments. During these visits, your doctors will ask about symptoms, examine you, and may order blood tests (such as the osteopontin or MesoMark tests) or imaging tests such as CT scans or PET scans. There is no widely agreed upon follow-up schedule for people with mesothelioma. Your doctor will most likely want to see you fairly often (at least every few months or so) at first. The time between visits may be extended if there are no problems.

Follow-up is needed to check for signs of cancer recurrence or spread, as well as possible side effects of certain treatments. This is a good time for you to ask your health care team any questions you might have and to discuss any concerns.

Almost any cancer treatment can have side effects. Some can last for weeks or months, but others can be permanent. Don’t hesitate to tell your cancer care team about any symptoms or side effects that bother you so they can help you manage them.

If the cancer does come back, further treatment will depend on where the cancer is, what treatments you’ve had before, and your health. For more on how recurrent cancer is treated, see Treatment of Mesothelioma Based on the Extent of the Cancer. For more general information on dealing with a recurrence, see Coping With Cancer Recurrence.

Seeing a new doctor

At some point after your treatment, you may be seeing a new doctor who doesn’t know anything about your medical history. It’s important to be able to give your new doctor the details of your diagnosis and treatment. Gathering these details soon after treatment may be easier than trying to get them at some point in the future. Make sure you have the following information handy (and always keep copies for yourself):

• A copy of your pathology report(s) from any biopsies or surgeries
• Copies of imaging tests (such as x-rays or CT or MRI scans), which can usually be stored digitally (on a DVD, etc.)
• If you had surgery, a copy of your operative report(s)
• If you stayed in the hospital, a copy of the discharge summary that the doctor wrote when you were sent home
• If you had radiation therapy, a summary of the type and dose of radiation and when and where it was given
• If you had chemotherapy, a list of your drugs, drug doses, and when you took them
• The names and contact information of the doctors who treated your cancer

It’s also very important to keep health insurance. Tests and doctor visits cost a lot, and even though no one wants to think of their cancer coming back, this could happen. For more information, see Understanding Health Insurance.

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