Mesothelioma Death

Mesothelioma death rates seem to be increasing currently, and might reach a maximum in 2016 according to some sources.

Mesothelioma is a rare cancer, usually caused by exposure to asbestos. While treatment can extend the life of patients, the prognosis is usually poor for the disease.

Recovery from the disease is rare with median survival times typically being about nine months from presentation and the five-year survival rate typically being about 10%. A few people do survive for more than two decades after having the disease. Some patients have survived more than five years after having radical surgery plus radiation and chemo therapy but it has been shown that radiation therapy on its own is not very effective.

Death from mesothelioma is usual within a year and a half of knowing that one has the disease. This is not because the disease progresses rapidly but because it is so difficult to diagnose the disease accurately until the late stages, because all the obvious symptoms can be caused by other less dangerous conditions.

More than 18,000 people died in the US from the disease in the years between 1999 and 2005. The majority of the people who died were aged between 50 and 75, and were mostly male although the incidence of the disease in females is increasing more rapidly than in males.

There are various methods of screening for the disease, but no generally agreed screening standards yet. The screening methods used can improve the chances of survival.

Mesothelioma death is usually due to exposure to asbestos at the workplace, although can be from secondary exposure such as when washing the clothes of someone who works with asbestos. Jobs which bring people into contact with asbestos including boiler making, lagging, carpentry, joinery, pipe-fitting, plumbing, shipbuilding, joinery, electrical work, brake and clutch work, and even management, teaching and other professions.