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Mesothelioma
Incidence:
Although reported incidence rates have
increased in the past 20 years, mesothelioma is still a
relatively rare cancer. The incidence is approximately one per
1,000,000. For comparison, populations with high levels of
smoking can have a lung cancer incidence of over 1,000 per
1,000,000. Incidence of malignant mesothelioma currently ranges
from about 7 to 40 per 1,000,000 in industrialized Western
nations, depending on the amount of asbestos exposure of the
populations during the past several decades.[5] It has been
estimated that incidence may have peaked at 15 per 1,000,000 in
the United States in 2004. Incidence is expected to continue
increasing in other parts of the world. Mesothelioma occurs more
often in men than in women and risk increases with age, but this
disease can appear in either men or women at any age.
Approximately one fifth to one third of all mesotheliomas are
peritoneal.
Between 1940 and 1979, approximately 27.5 million people were
occupationally exposed to asbestos in the United States [4].
Between 1973 and 1984, there has been a threefold increase in
the diagnosis of pleural mesothelioma in Caucasian males. From
1980 to the late 1990s, the death rate from mesothelioma in the
USA increased from 2,000 per year to 3,000, with men four times
more likely to acquire it than women. These rates may not be
accurate, since it is possible that many cases of mesothelioma
are misdiagnosed as adenocarcinoma of the lung, which is
difficult to differentiate from mesothelioma.
Others Information:
- What is the mesothelium?
- How common is mesothelioma?
-
What
are the risk factors for mesothelioma?
- What are the symptoms of mesothelioma?
- How is mesothelioma diagnosed?
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