Mesothelioma Statistics

• Pleural mesothelioma represents between 70 and 90% of all diagnosed cases, with peritoneal mesothelioma accounting for between 19 and 30%.
• Only a small percentage (between 2 and 10%) of those exposed to asbestos over a prolonged period of time will be diagnosed with mesothelioma.
• Women are far less likely to be diagnosed with mesothelioma but have longer survival rates. Men are diagnosed 4.6 times more frequently than women.
• When patients younger than 45 are compared, diagnosis rates are similar between men and women.
• The mesothelioma rate in the U.S. increased through the 1990s when it finally began to level off and even decrease a little.
• The highest rates of incidence of mesothelioma in the U.S. are in Washington, Alaska, West Virginia, New Jersey, and Maine.
• The total numbers of cases are highest in California, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, and New York.
• Mesothelioma rates are higher in white and Hispanic than African and Asian Americans.
• Mesothelioma is most common in older adults. Seventy-two is the average ate of diagnosis for pleural mesothelioma.
• The five-year relative survival rate for mesothelioma localized to the pleural tissue is 20 percent. This drops to 12 and eight percent for regional and distant mesotheliomas.
• Multimodality treatment approaches have proven to be most effective in fighting mesothelioma, and have provided those patients who have received it with a median survival of 29 months.