Mesothelioma Facts

• Mesothelioma is fairly rare. In the United States, there are an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 new cases of mesothelioma each year.
• The number of cases of mesotheliomas in the United States has increased from the 1970s to the 1990s and then it has stabilized. It may now be decreasing due to decreased exposure to asbestos in the workplace.
• The rate of mesothelioma is approximately four times higher in men than women.
• In Europe, the rate of mesothelioma continues to increase.
• Mesothelioma is rare in people under the age 55. The number of cases increases as people age. Approximately 3 out of 4 people with mesothelioma are over 65 years old.
• Mesothelioma is more common in whites and Hispanics than in African Americans or Asian Americans. There were 17,191 deaths of white Americans, 710 deaths of African Americans, and 182 deaths of all other races during 1999 - 2005.
• The latency period between first exposure to asbestos and clinical disease usually is 20 to 40 years.
• Although asbestos is no longer mined in the United States, the mineral is still imported. A substantial amount of asbestos remaining in buildings eventually will be removed, either during remediation or demolition.
• Although many countries have banned some forms of asbestos, there are approximately 5,000 products that still contain asbestos.
• Each year more than 1.3 million people in the construction trade are exposed to asbestos.
• As many as 8 million people in the United States have already been exposed to asbestos.
• Asbestos exposure accounts for 70 to 80% of all cases of mesothelioma.
• Exposure to asbestos increases the likelihood of developing mesothelioma cancer by seven times.
• Mesothelioma affects men 3 to 5 times more than than women. More men have been exposed to asbestos than women.
• One study of asbestos insulation workers reports a mesothelioma death rate up to 344 times higher than the general population.
• Because mesothelioma is usually far advanced when it is diagnosed, most mesothelioma victims die within 12 to 18 months of diagnosis.
• If mesothelioma is diagnosed early and treated aggressively, the patient may live between 2 and 5 years.
• There is no cure for mesothelioma.
• There are estimates that by 2030 asbestos will have caused 60,000 cases of mesothelioma and approximately 250,000 other cancers that result in death.
• According to mesothelioma statistics, 43,000 to 230,000 people have died from an asbestos-related cancer.
• It is estimated that in the United States 2,552 new cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed each year. This is 212 per month, 49 per week, and 6 per day.
• The death rate in the United States for Mesothelioma is 2,370 victims per year. This is 197 per month, 45 per week, and 6 per day.
• Some sources estimate that 10 million people may die throughout the world from mesothelioma before asbestos is banned.
• From 1999 through 2005, a total of 18,068 deaths of persons with malignant mesothelioma were reported in the United States, increasing from 2,482 deaths in 1999 to 2,704 in 2005. However, the annual death rate was stable (14.1 per million in 1999 and 14.0 in 2005). 14,591 (80.8%) occurred among males and 17,180 (95.1%) among whites.
• From 1999 through 2005, mesothelioma deaths were classified as mesothelioma of pleura (1,572; 8.7%), peritoneum (657; 3.6%), other anatomical site (2,605; 14.4%), and unspecified anatomical site (13,454; 74.5%).
• From 1999 through 2005, mortality increased with age, with the greatest number of decedents aged 75 years or older; 311 deaths (1.7%) occurred in persons aged 44 years or younger.
• The percentages for mesothelioma diagnosis for men and women per anatomical site are:
  
  Men - pleura 90.2%, abdominal cavity 8.3%, heart and other 0.4%, genital region 0.7%
  Women - pleura 71.1%, abdominal cavity 24.3%, heart 1.6%, genital and other 1.5%
• The six states with the highest rate of death from mesothelioma are:
  
  
  • Maine (22.2 per million residents)
  • Wyoming (22.2 per million residents)
  • West Virginia (21.0 per million residents)
  • Pennsylvania (20.8 per million residents)
  • New Jersey (20.2 per million residents)
  • Washington (20.1 per million residents)
• From 1999 through 2005, the death rate for males was 4.5 times that for females (23.2 versus 5.1 per million).
• Asbestos use peaked at 803,000 metric tons in 1973 and then declined to approximately 1,700 metric tons in 2007.