Mesothelioma

It Can Take Decades Before Symptoms Appear

Mesothelioma can take anywhere from 20 to 50 years after asbestos exposure before symptoms appear. It's the main reason the majority of patients are diagnosed later in life. Approximately 75 percent of cases are men who were exposed to asbestos while serving in the military or working certain blue-collar jobs.

High-risk occupations for asbestos exposure include:

Construction Workers

Industrial Workers

Firefighters

Navy Veterans & Shipyard Workers

Asbestos use has dropped significantly in recent decades, but the toxic mineral is still prevalent in older buildings. Jobs that may disturb asbestos-containing construction materials continue to put workers at risk.

Non-occupational mesothelioma risk factors include renovating a home or building constructed before 1980, washing the clothes of someone in a high-risk occupation, and living near abandoned asbestos mines or areas where asbestos occurs naturally in the environment.

How Is Mesothelioma Diagnosed?

Doctors use several methods to test for malignant mesothelioma, but only a biopsy can truly confirm a diagnosis. This usually comes after a series of other tests and scans once symptoms arise.

Mesothelioma Clinical Trials and Emerging Treatments

Aside from conventional treatments, many mesothelioma patients turn to clinical trials to extend survival. These experimental studies are small and controlled opportunities for scientists to test new drugs, therapies and different combinations of treatments.

Clinical trials often become an option for patients whose traditional treatments were unsuccessful or for those not eligible for surgery.

“The therapy has given me a new window. It’s like getting my life back.”

—

Mesothelioma survivor Walter Merth on participating in a Keytruda clinical trial.

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is a promising cancer treatment only available to mesothelioma patients through clinical trials. Checkpoint inhibitors, such as pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and avelumab (Bavencio), have shown encouraging results in multicenter trials testing the drugs in combination with surgery and chemotherapy regimens. In May 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved pembrolizumab as a first-line treatment of metastatic non-small cell lung cancer, making approval for mesothelioma a possibility in the near future.

Penn Medicine Abramson Cancer Center

Photodynamic Therapy

Photodynamic therapy uses light energy to kill cancer cells. A 2016 clinical trial at the Penn Medicine Abramson Cancer Center nearly doubled survival for pleural mesothelioma patients who received intraoperative photodynamic therapy (PDT) and chemotherapy following a P/D procedure.

Cryotherapy

The process of killing tumor cells by exposing them to extreme cold — known as cryotherapy — is a viable treatment option for mesothelioma patients in the few places that offer the procedure. Unlike many treatments, cryotherapy causes few side effects. In May 2015, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, opened the only ongoing cryotherapy clinical trial for mesothelioma in the U.S.

How Does Mesothelioma Affect Veterans?

Get Help Filing a VA Claim

Veterans Department Director Aaron Munz uses his experience to help fellow veterans understand VA benefits claims.

See If You Qualify

Because asbestos use in the military was rampant from 1940 to 1980, veterans from all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces who served during those years are now at high risk of developing mesothelioma and other asbestos-related conditions. Job duties known for high rates of harmful exposures include pipefitting, mechanical work, equipment maintenance and shipyard work.

Veterans diagnosed with mesothelioma or other asbestos-related diseases have the option to pursue VA benefits, including VA health care and VA Disability Compensation.

While this is often the only way for veterans to receive compensation from the government, veterans exposed to asbestos before or after military service may be eligible to file a lawsuit or pursue an asbestos bankruptcy trust.