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Women and Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a rare cancer primarily linked with asbestos exposure, and it is overwhelmingly a male disease. This is largely because most asbestos exposures occur in blue-collar jobs, traditionally male-dominated work settings. Although the cancer affects three to four times the number of men than women, women do get it.

Most women who develop the fatal disease had secondary or environmental exposure to asbestos. However, some have had direct contact with the mineral while on the job, and a select few have developed the disease without any known exposure.

Women who are diagnosed with mesothelioma find themselves in unique circumstances. On average, women tend to have a slightly better prognosis than men. This is because treatments can be more effective for women. However, because of the nature of the disease, it is usually significantly easier for men to prove which company or companies are responsible for their asbestos exposure. This means that women are at a disadvantage legally.

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Diagnosing Mesothelioma in Women

The specific mesothelioma diagnosis is given based on where the cancer originally developed. Most women who develop the cancer are diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma, which affects the lining of the lungs. In men, pleural mesothelioma occurs five times more frequently than peritoneal mesothelioma, which develops in the abdominal lining. In women, this ratio is skewed. Pleural mesothelioma occurs only twice as frequently in women as peritoneal mesothelioma. Pericardial mesothelioma, the third most common type, develops in the lining of the heart. These three types of mesothelioma are almost always associated with prior asbestos exposure.

Learn more about diagnosing mesothelioma

In exceptionally rare cases, some individuals have developed mesothelioma without ever coming into contact with asbestos. These patients are often young women who develop very specific types of the cancer. Well-differentiated papillary mesothelioma (WDPM), for example, is usually found in women in their 30s and does not have a strong connection to asbestos exposure. Although it mostly occurs in the peritoneum, it has been diagnosed in other areas such as the pleura. Those diagnosed with this cancer usually have a better prognosis than average mesothelioma patients. WDPM patients have life expectancies ranging from three years to more than 10 years.

Similarly, deciduoid peritoneal mesothelioma is most often found in young women with no known asbestos exposure. This form of mesothelioma is extremely rare, and only 13 cases have ever been documented. Of these 13 cases, however, five patients were women under the age of 25. Little is known about these rare diagnoses because so few cases have ever been diagnosed.

Asbestos Exposure for Women

Asbestos exposure occurs in three primary ways - at work, in the environment or through secondary contact. Most women with mesothelioma were exposed either in a secondary way or by the environment, but some have had direct occupational exposure. Although statistical data are not readily available, on-the-job exposure is commonly believed to affect significantly more men than women.

Occupational Exposure

Most mesothelioma patients can trace their exposure back to blue-collar work, jobs such as factory workers, insulators, mechanics and similar industrial occupations. Because asbestos exposure usually occurs in these male-dominated occupations, patients tend to be older men.

Women who experienced job-related exposure usually worked in positions that were not as labor-intensive. For example, there have been reported cases of male and female school teachers who developed mesothelioma. They were found to have worked for a number of years in school buildings containing asbestos. Some interior decorators were exposed to asbestos from spray-on asbestos materials. Even bakers have developed mesothelioma because of asbestos in and around ovens.

Environmental Exposure

One study aimed to show the effects of environmental exposure on women. In the study, doctors analyzed statistics from an Australian asbestos mining town. Between 1943 and 1992, nearly 3,000 women and girls had lived in the town. Through 2004, malignant pleural mesothelioma accounted for 8 percent of all deaths in the group of women.

Secondary Exposure

Like environmental exposure, secondary asbestos exposure can have deadly effects. Barbara Fitt and daughter Evelyn Power both died of mesothelioma after experiencing second-hand asbestos exposure. Fitt's husband, John Power, worked in the asbestos industry in England for decades. When he came home, his clothing would be white with dust. In 1993, after 25 years in the industry, John Power died of mesothelioma. Barbara and Evelyn, who were exposed to asbestos when they scrubbed Power's work clothing, also contracted the disease. They died of mesothelioma in 1996 and 2004, respectively.

Mesothelioma Treatment for Women

Depending on your diagnosis, women face the same treatment options as men: chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery. If the cancer has not substantially progressed beyond a certain area, surgery can be a curative treatment. If the prognosis is poor and you are struggling to deal with your symptoms, however, surgery may be palliative.

Learn more about treatment for mesothelioma

One recent study found that women generally live longer after surgery than men. Doctors studied 702 cases of malignant pleural mesothelioma, all of which had the cancerous lung surgically removed. The cases were separated based on the type of cells that made up the patients' tumors. Epithelial tumors tend to be made up of uniform cells, while nonepithelialtumors usually have more inconsistent and randomized cell patters. The distinction was made in the study because epithelial and nonepithelial tumors can react differently to treatments.

The study found that women with epithelial tumors lived significantly longer than men with similar tumors. The median life span for women after surgery was about 27 months, compared to about 16 months for men. Men and women with nonepithelial tumors, on the other hand, had roughly equivalent outcomes after surgery. Both genders had a median life span of about nine to 10 months.

Mesothelioma Liability and Women

Because most women have had secondary exposure, they are faced with a unique set of challenges. They are not eligible for workers' compensation since the exposure did not occur at work. Often, it is difficult to even prove that a certain company is responsible for the secondary exposure.

In Mary Adams' case, proving responsibility still wasn't enough to ensure compensation. Her husband Clayton worked for Goodyear as a pipefitter in Ohio for 10 years. Mary cleaned her husband's asbestos-laden clothing and breathed in asbestos dust. This exposure led to her 2007 malignant mesothelioma diagnosis.

She and her husband sued Goodyear only months before her death, claiming the company was negligent in allowing asbestos to be carried off the premise. Goodyear cited the Ohio statute which states that property owners are not liable for asbestos-related illnesses unless the asbestos exposure occurred on the premises. With this statute, the case was thrown out, a ruling which held in the court of appeals.

In other states, it may be easier to collect compensation for your illness. In fact, some mesothelioma cases result in multi-million-dollar awards and settlements. The outcome of each lawsuit is dependent upon each case's specific circumstances.

Learn more about mesothelioma compensation

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