It’s often stated that cancer is the number two cause of death in the United States. It trails just behind heart disease, which leads to complications like strokes and heart attacks.
But the problem with saying something like this is that “cancer” covers a lot of different types of diseases. It’s not just one singular issue. You could have cancer in many different places on your body, there are many different types and they all have different levels of aggression or various mortality rates. This is not a one-size-fits-all situation.
As such, if you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma or if a loved one has, you may be wondering just how common it is. Perhaps you haven’t even been diagnosed yet, but you’re worried that you may have been exposed to asbestos and you know that can lead to mesothelioma in the future. How often does this happen?
It is a relatively rare type of cancer
On a grand scale, mesothelioma is fairly rare. But it still happens with some frequency. For example, there are roughly 3,000 new cases annually. That doesn’t seem like that much when you look at the population of the United States as a whole, but it does feel fairly common when you think about how there are roughly 9 or 10 new cases every single day, on average. Mesothelioma may not be as common as skin cancer or something of this nature, it is a serious concern.
Additionally, it is worth noting that mesothelioma has a significant delay period. For example, someone who is exposed to asbestos in their 30s may not develop mesothelioma until their 60s or 70s. So they technically do not count into the cancer statistics until this point in their life, despite the fact that they were impacted by asbestos far earlier.
Finally, although mesothelioma may be relatively rare, it is known as a very aggressive type of cancer. The mortality rate is high and treatments need to be aggressive to give you the best chance of survival. That’s why it’s important to recognize this early, to find out about all of your medical options and then to look into the legal options you may have to cover these costs.