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Mesothelioma
 What
are the key statistics about
mesothelioma?
Mesothelioma
is fairly rare. There are an estimated
2,000 to 3,000 new cases per year of
mesothelioma in the United States, but
this figure appears to be
increasing.
The
average age at diagnosis is 50 to 70 years
old. The disease affects men 3 to 5 times
more often than women. Mesothelioma is
less common in African Americans than in
white Americans.
Mesothelioma
is a serious disease. By the time the
symptoms appear and cancer is diagnosed,
the disease is often advanced. The average
survival time is about one year. However,
if the cancer is found early and treated
aggressively, almost half of the patients
whose cancer is found early reach the
two-year mark, and about 20% survive five
years.
The
5-year survival rate refers to the percent
of patients who live at least 5 years
after their cancer is diagnosed. Many of
these patients live much longer than 5
years after diagnosis, and 5-year rates
are used to produce a standard way of
discussing prognosis. Five-year relative
survival rates exclude from the
calculations patients dying of other
diseases, and are considered to be a more
accurate way to describe the prognosis for
patients with a particular type and stage
of cancer. Of course, 5-year survival
rates are based on patients diagnosed and
initially treated more than 5 years ago.
Improvements in treatment often result in
a more favorable outlook for recently
diagnosed patients.
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