Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that attacks the mesothelium, or protective lining, of the body’s organs. While this disease is incredibly rare, it’s prognosis is grim—many patients die within a year of diagnosis. However, actual survival rates depend on a number factors, including age, sex, race, and the location of the cancer. Here is a look at how these different variables can potentially affect a prognosis. It’s important to keep in mind that survival rates deal only in trends, though—there’s no guarantee that an individual’s own personal battle with this disease will be identical to these statistical findings.
Age
The age of mesothelioma patients has a significant impact on their expected survival rates. Current statistics indicate that about half of patients under the age of 50 will live for a year after their diagnosis. On the other hand, patients over the age of 75 only have a 33% chance of living for a year. Younger patients have a better prognosis than older ones, but even their rates are discouraging—only 20% will survive more than a decade.
The reason for these discrepancies has to do with the different treatments available for mesothelioma. Some incredibly invasive but effective procedures pose a high risk of complications for older patients, and therefore many doctors will not recommend them. However, younger patients are more likely to be able to endure these procedures, which means that they are more commonly used on this demographic.
Sex
On average, mesothelioma survival rates for women are higher than those for men, especially when looking at pleural mesothelioma—a specific subset of the disease that affects the lining of the lungs. According to the latest research, about 13.4% of women diagnosed with mesothelioma will survive for five years or more, while only 4.5% of men diagnosed will live that long. Additionally, men are much more likely to develop mesothelioma in the first place. This is due to the fact that most people contract the disease in workplaces that are generally staffed with male employees, such as construction sites.
Race
While race does not play a major role in survival rates, there are some minor discrepancies worth noting. For example, five-year survival rates are at roughly 7.6% for white patients, while black patients have a rate of about 12.3%. However, these are just estimations—there is very little race-based mesothelioma research conducted.
Cancer Location
The location of mesothelioma in the body can also affect survival rates. While the prognosis for survival drops steadily with all forms of this disease, some are bleaker than others. For example, about 50% of people dealing with peritoneal (abdominal) mesothelioma will live for at least five years. On the other hand, only about 10% of people with pleural (lung) mesothelioma will survive that long. There are other forms of mesothelioma as well, but they are so rare compared to these two that there is very little information about individual survival rates for them.
