Mesothelioma Facts

Mesothelioma facts and figures may be shocking when you look at them all together. Consider the following mesothelioma facts:

  • An estimated 2,000 - 3,000 new cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed each year in the U.S.
  • Approximately 3/4 of these cases are pleural mesothelioma, which occurs in the chest.
  • Most people who get mesothelioma have worked in jobs where they breathed in asbestos fibers at some point in their lives.
  • Mesothelioma can take 25 - 40 years to develop after the initial asbestos exposure.
  • Mesothelioma affects men 3 - 5 times more often than women.
  • Three-fourths of people with mesothelioma are over age 65.
  • The disease only metastasizes, or spreads outside the initial cancer area, in 5% of cases.
  • The average survival time after a person has been diagnosed with mesothelioma is one year.
  • The Environmental Workers Group (EWG) estimates that between 1979 and 2001, at least 43,000 Americans died from mesothelioma and an often-fatal non-cancer disease of the lungs called asbestosis.
  • The truth about asbestos has been known and mostly hidden from the American public since the early 20th Century.
  • Up to 8 million Americans may have been exposed to asbestos.
  • The use of asbestos has not been banned in the United States.

Many of these mesothelioma facts and figures may be surprising. If you or a loved one has been affected by this disease, you may wish to contact a mesothelioma lawyer today.

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