Incidence of Mesothelioma:

Although incidence rates of mesothelioma have increased in the past 20 years, mesothelioma is still a relatively rare cancer. The incidence rate is approximately one per 1,000,000. The highest incidence is found in Britain, Australia and Belgium: 30 per 1,000,000 per year. Incidence of malignant mesothelioma currently ranges from about 7 to 40 per 1,000,000 in industrialized nations.

Depending on exposure of asbestos during the past several decades, it has been estimated that incidence may have peaked at 15 per 1,000,000 in the United States in 2004. Incidence is expected to increase in other parts of the world. Mesothelioma occurs more often in men than in women and risk increases with age, but mesothelioma can appear in either men or women at any age. Approximately one fifth to one third of all mesotheliomas are peritoneal.

Between 1940 and 1979, approximately 27.5 million people were exposed to asbestos in US. Between 1973 and 1984, there has been a threefold increase in the diagnosis of pleural mesothelioma in males. From 1980 to the late 1990s, the death rate from mesothelioma in US increased from 2,000 per year to 3,000, with men four times more likely to get it than women. These rates may not be accurate, as it is possible that many cases of pleural mesothelioma are misdiagnosed as adenocarcinoma of the lung, which is very difficult to differentiate from mesothelioma.

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