Why is Mesothelioma So Deadly?

Mesothelioma, cancer of the mesothelium, is caused by exposure to asbestos. The disease can take decades to appear or to develop to the point that it is detectable. Once it forms, it takes time for the disease to be diagnosed and then treated. So why, exactly, is it so deadly?

One of the biggest problems with the disease is that it takes what seems like forever, to those who have been exposed to asbestos, to show up in tests. The disease usually takes around 20 years to develop but has been known to wait around 40 years to develop. What this means is that a person who knows he or she has been exposed to asbestos can wait a long time before a test shows anything either abnormal or serious.

This long period of inactivity means that individuals who do not know that they have been exposed to asbestos may ignore early signs and symptoms of the disease and explain them away as bronchitis or something else that will go away with time. This means that by the time they go see a doctor because they feel awful and can't breathe very well, the disease has progressed to the later stages.

Like all cancer, there is something very important in treatment about catching the disease early and getting treatment started as soon as possible. When a cancer is detected early and then treated early, the chances that it will be cured and the person's life saved go up drastically. The later cancer is detected in a person, the lower, usually, his or her chances of survival are.

Part of this is due to cancer's very aggressive nature. The unregulated growth of cancerous cells can quickly take over. Worse, in cancers located near major blood supplies or other fluid systems within the body, these cells can break away from the pack and end up halfway across the body and start a new colony.

Because most mesothelioma patients wait to see a doctor until they are having serious problems, they put themselves at risk and lower the chances that there is any hope for treatment. By the time most people go to see the doctor, the cancer has gotten to the point that it is inoperable. Chemotherapy and radiation can only do so much to kill cancer.