What are the key statistics about mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma is fairly rare. There are an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 new cases per year of mesothelioma in the United States, but this figure appears to be increasing.
 
The average age at diagnosis is 50 to 70 years old. The disease affects men 3 to 5 times more often than women. Mesothelioma is less common in African Americans than in white Americans.
 
Mesothelioma is a serious disease. By the time the symptoms appear and cancer is diagnosed, the disease is often advanced. The average survival time is about one year. However, if the cancer is found early and treated aggressively, almost half of the patients whose cancer is found early reach the two-year mark, and about 20% survive five years. 
 
The 5-year survival rate refers to the percent of patients who live at least 5 years after their cancer is diagnosed. Many of these patients live much longer than 5 years after diagnosis, and 5-year rates are used to produce a standard way of discussing prognosis. Five-year relative survival rates exclude from the calculations patients dying of other diseases, and are considered to be a more accurate way to describe the prognosis for patients with a particular type and stage of cancer. Of course, 5-year survival rates are based on patients diagnosed and initially treated more than 5 years ago. Improvements in treatment often result in a more favorable outlook for recently diagnosed patients. 

• It is estimated that 27.5 million Americans were exposed to asbestos between 1940 and 1979. 

• The first known asbestos lawsuit was in 1929 in New Jersey. 

• About 4,000 People die from Mesothelioma every year, the rare cancer caused by asbestos exposure. 

• It is estimated that 27.5 million Americans were exposed to asbestos between 1940 and 1979. 

• Mesothelioma has a latency period of 20 to 50 years after the first exposure to asbestos. 

• It is estimated that there will be about 250,000 cases of Mesothelioma before 2020. 

• There are currently about 3000 new cases of Mesothelioma diagnosed per year, mostly in men over the age of 40. 

• Many asbestos-containing products remain in buildings, ships, industrial facilities and other environments where the fibers can become airborne. 

• During the 20th century, some 30 million tons of asbestos were used in industrial sites, homes, schools, shipyards and commercial buildings in the U. S. 

• The name Asbestos was given to this mineral by the Ancient Greeks. The word “Asbestos” literally means inextinguishable. 

• In the mid 1920s, an English doctor made the first diagnosis of asbestosis, and this was followed by a study which showed that 25% of English asbestos workers showed signs of a related lung disease. 

• Through 2003, more than 700,000 People have filed claims against more than 6,000 Asbestos companies. These same companies knew of the dangers for many years before ever warning the public of those risks. 

• It is thought that around eight million people in the United States have been exposed to asbestos over the past half a century, and many more cases - are expected to be reported in the next 25 years. 

• The National Institute of Health in 1978 estimated that eight to eleven million U.S. workers had been exposed to asbestos by that date. In fact, by 1970, it is estimated that some 25 million tons of asbestos were used in the U.S. 

• Mesothelioma is a disease that is almost 100% preventable; the only known cause is via exposure to the deadly mineral Asbestos . It comes from inhaling the particles of dust as the asbestos degrades; eating away at the lining of your lungs and developing into a deadly cancer.