Numerous issues determine a mesothelioma patient's life expectancy once a diagnosis has been made. The stage of the disease, location and variety as well as the course of treatment and the patient's age and overall health can all play a significant part in determining how long the patient will survive.
Traditionally, mesothelioma patients have the worst prognosis of all cancer patients. The primary reason for this is the fact that mesothelioma latency period is long (i.e. usually measured in decades), and the symptoms are common to numerous other diseases that run the gamut from minor to life-threatening. for these reasons, mesothelioma is not usually diagnosed until the disease has reached an advanced stage, by which time little can be done other than attempts to make the patient more comfortable during his/her final days.
Mesothelioma types and location also significant in this regard. Epithelial mesothelioma tends to move more slowly, whereas sarcomatoid mesothelioma is more aggressive. Additionally, pleural mesothelioma and the very rare pericardial mesothelioma varieties that affect the respiratory system and heart respectively, tend to have more immediate effects. Those with the abdominal peritoneal type are known to have a slightly better mesothelioma prognosis. In some cases, such as those of Australian Paul Kraus and American Rhio O'Connor, patients with peritoneal mesothelioma have been able to live with the disease for a decade or more. Younger people (under age 65) who are in better health overall also have better mesothelioma survival rates.
In general however, the prognosis for a mesothelioma patient is not good. The most serious problem lies in the fact that by the later mesothelioma stages of the disease, cancer has spread - in some cases, to distant parts of the body. The average life expectancy of a mesothelioma patient following mesothelioma diagnosis is between four weeks and fourteen months.
Sources
Curran, D. et al. "Prognostic factors in patients with pleural mesothelioma: the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer experience." Journal of Clinical Oncology, 16, 145-52.
Posted in: Mesothelioma
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