Mesothelioma: Deadly Cancer Caused by Exposure to Asbestos
Mesothelioma is an aggressive, deadly form of cancer that targets the soft tissue surrounding most of the body’s internal organs. Exposure to the toxic substance asbestos, which was widely used in thousands of construction materials, insulation, and other products for many decades, is the leading known cause of mesothelioma. People exposed to asbestos, most often directly on the job and for long periods of time, are at an increased risk of developing mesothelioma around the lungs, liver, and heart.
About 2,000 new cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed each year in the United States and about 80% of those cases are in people who have worked with asbestos in the construction, automotive repair, or other industries. Asbestos was used in the United States until the 1970s because of its flame-retardant qualities in home insulation, pipes, car brake pads, and other products. There have been cases of family members of workers who had been exposed to asbestos developing mesothelioma when the worker brought the fibers home in their clothing and exposed the family.
Despite traditional cancer treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery, the prognosis for mesothelioma is not good and the cancer is most often fatal.
Linked to Asbestos Exposure
Workers in asbestos manufacturing, construction, and other industrial careers where the product is commonly used are most at risk of developing the cancer known as mesothelioma. When tiny asbestos fibers are inhaled into the lungs, the fibers can build up and become embedded in the lung tissue and in the soft linings of the lungs, liver, heart, and other organs. Once there, the asbestos fibers can allow cancerous cells to grow and spread throughout the body, resulting in mesothelioma. It can take up to 30 years after the exposure to asbestos for mesothelioma to develop.
Asbestosis Can Lead to Mesothelioma
Many victims of mesothelioma first develop a less-serious condition called asbestosis, a non-cancerous chronic lung disease that causes shortness of breath and difficulty breathing, particularly during exercise or physical exertion. Asbestosis can result from shorter and less direct exposure to asbestos than is required to produce mesothelioma, and many people who develop asbestosis eventually are diagnosed with the more serious mesothelioma cancer.
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