Individuals between the age group of 50 and 70 years are more likely to get the disease due to the long latency period. However, a survey conducted in 2007 revealed that the disease affects more people between the age group of 30 to 40. Based on industry and occupation, statistics indicate that people working in industries such as construction, railroad, shipyard, manufacturing and automobile industries are likely to be exposed to asbestos, with the construction industry having about 1.3 million people being exposed to asbestos.

The statistics on the study of mesothelioma also indicates that the life expectancy of people with the disease to be at least one year. However, with early detection and aggressive mesothelioma treatment, the life expectancy may increase up to two to five years. Studies also indicate mesothelioma can be a silent killer as the symptoms associate with the disease lies inactive in the body for very long periods ranging between ten to fifty years. As symptoms are likely to appear only in the later stages of the disease, this reduces the survival chances of the patient.

Mesothelioma Survival Rates

The disease is hard to detect as symptoms take the form of a simple upset stomach or simple breathlessness. As result, the disease is already in an advanced stage when finally diagnosed. This leaves them with just over a year left to live at this stage in spite of getting the best treatment possible.

 Even though mesothelioma statistics have shown that it has been active over the past 100 years, records of the average survival rate of patients dates back to just 20 years. The study also revealed that the survival period for this type of cancer is within one to five years following a diagnosis. For those diagnosed between 1998 and 2002, the survival chance for these individuals is about 9%. Some of the factors that affects mesothelioma survival rate are:

 * The early detection of the disease
 * The complexity of the disease
 * Size of the tumor
 * If the tumor can be removed via surgery
 * The quantity of fluid in the chest or abdomen
 * The age and general health of the patient
 * The type of cancer cells

For the pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma, the survival rate is under a year. However, mesothelioma specialists believe that the survival period is longer despite findings derived via clinical trails. According to various medical literatures, the average survival rate is between 4 to 18 months. The survival rate for people diagnosed and treated in the earlier stages of the disease is not very clear and the timeframe can differ from person to person.

 Mesothelioma Research

Extensive Mesothelioma research is undertaken by many organizations. Various companies using asbestos are also initiating their own research. This is because more and more people diagnosed with the disease are seeking compensation, and has resulted in these companies paying out huge amounts of money. The National Institute of Cancer is also conducting continuous mesothelioma research on the cause, symptoms, diagnosis as well as the cure and treatment of the disease.

Due the increase in demand for representation of patients seeking compensation, many law firms are also conducting their own research to understand more about the disease. Drug companies, research groups, and government organizations with the hope of bringing about a cure for the disease as well ways of increasing the survival rate among the patients usually provide funding for ongoing research. 

Since there is presently no known definitive cure for mesothelioma, the goal of the presently available intensive treatment for mesothelioma patients is to help prolong their life expectancy or improve the patient's overall quality of life. What are the factors that determine a Mesothelioma Patient's Life Expectancy? This type of cancer is a rare cancer caused by asbestos exposure. The life expectancy of a mesothelioma patient is affected by numerous factors including:

Latency period - The asbestos fibers that cause mesothelioma over time can lay dormant in the body for up to 50 years before causing any significant symptom or sign in the patient. This long period of latency often results in a late diagnosis. Most of the time the diagnosis is not made until the tumor has reached an advanced stage, making mesothelioma treatment difficult and sometimes ineffective. Mesothelioma patients diagnosed in later stages will typically receive palliative treatments rather than curative, which serve to make the patient more comfortable and increase their quality of life rather than cure the disease.

Age at the time of Diagnosis- Research has shown that the average age of a mesothelioma patient is 60. If fact, more than 75 percent of mesothelioma cases diagnosed in the United States occur in men age 55 or older. However, some researchers believe the average age is dropping due to the influx of cases from secondary exposure. When an older person develops mesothelioma cancer, the presence of other health- age related problems may lead to certain challenges during treatment as their treatment might require modifications. These might include mesothelioma cancer disease, additional lung ailments, and high blood pressure. Advanced age and the presence of other diseases can significantly affect and reduce patient's life span.

TheType of Mesothelioma - There are three common types of mesothelioma that mesothelioma victims usually develop. The commonest form is pleural mesothelioma, which affects the lining of the lungs. Other forms of the disease include peritoneal and pericardial mesothelioma, which affect the lining of the abdomen and heart. Since pleural mesothelioma affects the most mesothelioma patients, more knowledge and research about this form of the cancer is available to utilize when detailing a treatment plan, often making the life expectancy for pleural mesothelioma patients longer.

Smoking - Smoking greatly decreases the life span of people diagnosed with mesothelioma. Anyone diagnosed with mesothelioma should quit smoking immediately. Improving Life Expectancy

Those dedicated to researching mesothelioma are constantly testing new ways to improve the life expectancy of patients withthe disease. This is carried out mainly through clinical trials, which test new drugs and treatments. Many promising alternatives to traditional treatments have been developed from clinical trials and patients often benefit from participating. Tests for early detection of mesothelioma are also being developed, which may result in more effective treatment of the disease.

Mesothelioma life expectancy at the time of diagnosis will traditionally be announced at being somewhere between a few months to only a year or two. Statistically speaking, mesothelioma life expectancy is frighteningly short. However, the mesothelioma life expectancy rate is a mere average, mean or median of mesothelioma patients with wildly different independent variables. Many of these mesothelioma patients have lived years past their expected date of death estimate.

Mesothelioma treatment and mesothelioma treatment options for these patients differed. Physicians for some patients may have been more experienced than physicians for the less fortunate. Not all patients follow through with chemotherapy or cancer treatment plans upon hearing the low mesothelioma life expectancy statistics, and many are not in shape to handle surgery. Others fight to live for just one more day.

Survival stories that can affect mesothelioma life expectancy rates range from the rarer cases of a young woman being cured  or having no remittance for decades, to the extremes on the other side, an 80+ year old gentleman with lifetime asbestos exposure, smoking heavily and suffering from numerous pre-existing diseases who dies a month after diagnosis. Others die during surgery. Most mesothelioma patient circumstances are somewhere in between. Many mesothelioma sufferers and their life expectancy statistics go unrecorded. Mesothelioma life expectancy will depend on your individual variables, your medical treatment, and your perseverance and outlook.

Mesothelioma life expectancy diagnosis will always depend on how early or late the disease was discovered. Because mesothelioma has been largely unrecognized in the past, the bulk of mesothelioma life expectancy statistics are mesothelioma patients who were diagnosed late in the disease. A greater awareness of the disease exists in the medical community, and although the majority of physicians do not have experience treating mesothelioma, most are aware of the potential presence of mesothelioma if a patient has been exposed to asbestos, and can refer a potential mesothelioma patient to a specialist.

Early detection and early treatment leads to longer life expectancy. Individuals who have been exposed to asbestos can be pro-active in diagnosing and treating mesothelioma and other asbestos-caused diseases. Patients can monitor their health and mesothelioma symptoms and begin early detection X-ray and CT scan tests. Mesothelioma patients can research mesothelioma treatment options available in clinical trials and discuss these with their physician. A physician can not be aware of every clinical trial that exists, and a mesothelioma patients own research could add years on to mesothelioma life expectancy.

Statistics for mesothelioma life expectancy will logically improve rather than become worse. Clinical trials on mesothelioma treatment options are increasing with an urgency to halt the disease. Many clinical trial participants live years past the initial diagnosis due to innovative mesothelioma treatment. Others may have participated in a mesothelioma clinical trial that was not as successful, but their participation has cleared the way to successful mesothelioma treatment for others. Chemotherapy and drug combinations have been proven to lengthen mesothelioma life expectancy. Imaging and radiation technology has made significant advances.

Mesothelioma life expectancy can pass the low mesothelioma life expectancy rates of the past. 

Nobody in the statistics of mesothelioma has the identical combination of the physical, emotional, and environmental variables that you do. Medicine advances, it does not go backwards. Mesothelioma treatment and mesothelioma treatment options for your early stage or advanced malignant stage mesothelioma will be up to you. There is a strong chance that you can defy mesothelioma life expectancy statistics. Research. Stay alert to new mesothelioma treatment options. And look at yourself, not statistics.