Mesothelioma is rare cancer caused by asbestos exposure. It affects the mesothelial cells and accounts for fewer than 1% of all cancers, with about 3,000 new cases diagnosed annually (NIH.gov). Unfortunately, mesothelioma is aggressive cancer, and the prognosis is poor for most patients. Pleural mesothelioma is the most common type of the disease, comprising 80% of cases.
If you have been diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma, you probably are wondering what your life expectancy is. While this cannot be determined definitively, ample research has been conducted on this subject. Research generally shows that life expectancy with pleural mesothelioma, while low, is getting better as treatment and detection improve.
Below is more information about life expectancy and prognosis for pleural mesothelioma.
Pleural mesothelioma is caused by asbestos exposure. Diffuse tumors spread in the lining of the lungs and chest cavity. Pleural mesothelioma is the most common form of the disease and makes up 80% of all cases. (Mayoclinic.com)
It can take up to 50 years after exposure to asbestos for a person to develop pleural mesothelioma. Sadly, most patients are not diagnosed until they are in the last stages of the disease, and their life expectancy is usually measured in months.
SEE ALSO: Pleural Mesothelioma Cancer FAQ
Because early detection is crucial to extend life expectancy, you should be on guard for symptoms of pleural mesothelioma if you were exposed to asbestos.
Symptoms of pleural mesothelioma include:
There are several critical variables that determine your life expectancy with pleural mesothelioma: (Pennmedicine.org)
Survival rates give us an idea of what percentage of patients with the same type and stage of mesothelioma will still be alive after a certain time (five years, usually). This information does not tell you how long you will live, but it gives you a better idea of what to expect as your treatment progresses. (Cancer.org).
SEE ALSO: Pleural Thickening vs Mesothelioma Differences
The American Cancer Society uses information from the SEER database that is kept by the National Cancer Institute to give us statistics about survivability for many types of cancer.
The SEER database stores information about five-year relative survival rates for pleural mesothelioma in the US, based on how far cancer has spread. The database groups the diseases into these stages:
Five-year survival rates for pleural mesothelioma patients according to the SEER database are:
Understanding the Numbers
The pleural mesothelioma survival rate is usually four to 18 months after diagnosis, but there are a few patients who have lived with the disease for more than 10 years. The current five-year survival rate for all mesothelioma types is only 10 percent. But note this number is higher than a decade ago and much higher than 30 years ago. Treatment and understanding of the disease are improving, leading to longer life expectancy.
As noted above, early detection of pleural mesothelioma improves life expectancy. That is why millions of research dollars are spent on finding better ways to find the disease at Stage I or II.
For example, the Mesomark assay is a blood test that measures the Soluble Mesothelin-Related Peptides (SMRP) biomarker that is released into the blood when mesothelioma cells are growing. This biomarker can be high for years before you develop cancer symptoms. Early diagnosis of pleural mesothelioma can lead to a life expectancy that is years longer.
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