Asbestos Lung Mesothelioma - Facts, Info, Treatment

Asbestos Lung Mesothelioma is a form of rare cancer that manifests itself in little oily cells which then build a sac like structure completely around the lungs. The incubation period can be anywhere from ten years all the way up to fifty years or more. On average, patients diagnosed with the disease remain asymptomatic for a few decades. In the last ten years this disease has cropped up more often than usual due to the working conditions of the country's labor force in the 50's, 60's and 70's. Asbestos used to fall like snow in some job sites, and no one thought the better of it until it was discovered to cause malignant cancers of the lungs.

Even though Asbestos Lung Mesothelioma is widely considered a "lung" cancer, the affected area that the cancer attacks is the tissue that supports the lung and the structures around it. Many times the sac that forms around the lung can put tremendous pressure on the lung itself, then the patient has difficulty breathing, which usually prompts the initial visit that leads to diagnosis.

According to the National Cancer Institute of America, there are a few thousand cases of ALM diagnosed every year in the United States alone. When you read about people getting Mesothelioma from asbestos, this form of the disease is the likely culprit, it accounts for more than three-quarters of all asbestos related lawsuits. Due to the insidious nature of the disease, it is generally considered incurable. Most patients are diagnosed long after they have endured prolonged exposure to asbestos materials for years on end. By that time, the cancer has metastasized (spread to other areas of the body), and surgery isn't possible, and radiation is rarely successful. Generally patients live one to two years after diagnosis.

Funded cancer research projects have been working for years on early detection and intervention methods for Mesothelioma asbestos lung cancer, so that diagnosed patients may have a chance at beating the disease. New breakthroughs in genetic research, and stem cell research have given doctors some hope that one day this just might be a problem of the past.