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The National Cancer Institute states that, “Malignant mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer, is a disease in which malignant cells are found in the lining of the chest or abdomen.”
Asbestos and asbestos-containing materials are responsible for causing asbestos-related diseased. Two of the most dangerous forms of asbestos disease are mesothelioma and asbestosis. However, the most dangerous is considered to be mesothelioma. Diagnosis of mesothelioma can be very difficult, because its symptoms typically may not appear for decades after initial exposure.
Pleural mesothelioma develops in the lining of the lung called the pleura or pleural membrane. Pleural Mesothelioma is one of the most common types of Mesothelioma, a rare cancer that develops in the cells that makes up the mesothelium, a membrane that covers most of the body’s organs and cavities.
Mesothelioma is an asbestos related cancer caused by exposure to asbestos over a long period of time. Symptoms for mesothelioma may not become apparent for decades after the initial exposure to asbestos. Thus it is usually not detected until the late stages after serious side effects begin to present themselves.
The survival rate for mesothelioma patients about twenty years ago was less than one year from the time of diagnosis, but with early detection and aggressive treatment mesothelioma patients are living longer that predicted. With new developments and ongoing research mesothelioma sufferers are gaining more hope about their treatment and longer life expectance.