Key Statistics About Mesothelioma
Mesothelioma is a relatively rare cancer, the incidence is approximately one per 1,000,000. For comparison, populations with high levels of smoking can have a lung cancer incidence of over 1,000 per 1,000,000. In industrialized Western nations, Incidence of malignant mesothelioma currently ranges from about 7 to 40 per 1,000,000, depending on the amount of asbestos exposure of the populations during the past several decades. Recent reports show that an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 new cases per year of mesothelioma are diagnosed in the United States each year. Approximately one fifth to one third of all mesotheliomas are peritoneal.
The first diagnosis of mesothelioma on average occurs between 50 - 70 years of age. Men 4 times more likely to acquire mesothelioma than women. The disease is also more common in white Americans than it is in African Americans .
As mesothelioma is disease that is difficult to detect in its early stages, often the disease is advanced at its first diagnosis. Accordingly, the average survival period using current treament protocols is a little over one year. When fortunate enough to find the cancer early and treat it aggressively, chances increase significantly of reaching the two year survival point. Approximately 20% or patients diagnosed with mesothelioma are able to achieve a five year survival rate.
Those who live at least five years after their cancer is diagnosed have a good chance to continue living a productive life for many additional years. As treatment therapies continue to advance for mesothelioma, we can expect survival rates to continue to improve as well for those recently diagnosed.
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