Mesothelioma Cancer - Key Statistics

Mesothelioma is a relatively uncommon disease and also one of the most dangerous types of cancer. In the United States of America an estimated 2500 to 3000 new cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed each year. In the United States the incidence of the disease increased from 1970 to 1990 and then stabilized. In the European countries, the rate of mesothelioma is still increasing.
Mesothelioma has a long latency period (i.e. it takes a long time to develop after the individual is exposed to asbestos) and the first diagnosis of mesothelioma occurs between the 50 to 70 age brackets. The incidence of the disease increases with age. Mesothelioma is rare in people under age 55. In fact a high proportion of individuals diagnosed with mesothelioma are over 65 years. Approximately, men are affected 5 times more than women. This may also arise from the fact that men are more usually found in factories that use asbestos material.
Mesothelioma is difficult to detect in its early stages. Unfortunately the disease is usually well advanced at its first diagnosis. Current treatments are not so effective in treating the disease where the average survival period is little as over one year. However as in other types of cancer, if mesothelioma is found early and treated aggressively, the chances increase significantly that patient can reach the two year survival point. Moreover, an increasing proportion of patients diagnosed with mesothelioma are able to achieve a five year survival rate.
Those individuals that live past the five year point after the diagnosis have a good chance to continue to live for many additional years. Treatment therapies continue to improve and increase and so we can expect survival rate to continue to improve.