Compared to other cancers, Mesothelioma is a rare form. In almost all the cases, the cause lies in exposure to asbestos. Any person, who receives a cancer diagnosis, will automatically get a lot of questions on his mind. I remember when my wife got diagnosed with breast cancer; we both had millions of questions to ask. The same was true when I received my kidney cancer diagnosis just a few months later. Maybe the most important and burning one is about the survival rate and the general prognosis.

Someone who just got diagnosed with mesothelioma will likely worry about his life expectancy. The survival rate for this form of cancer - as with any other form of cancer - strongly depends on how early the disease got detected. Obviously, the earlier the diagnosis can be made, the better the chances of surviving mesothelioma.

However, if the disease has already progressed to an advanced stage, the treatment protocol will be definitely more aggressive, and the general prognosis will be less optimistic accordingly. Even though you might have heard of a few amazing and encouraging mesothelioma survivor stories, the general survival rate for this type of cancer is rather low, unfortunately. However, more and better treatments become available faster. Therefore, the survival rates have gotten progressively better over the past 10 years.

One of the main problems with mesothelioma is the fact, that the disease is quite often already advanced significantly before it is diagnosed.

How is that possible? Well, in the majority of the cases, the cancer victim who had been exposed to asbestos lived on for many years or even decades, before the first symptoms became noticeable. In other words, a person with mesothelioma might have developed the disease in his late twenties, and might not have received his diagnosis after he retired.

Secondly, the typically mesothelioma patient is 55 years of age or even older, which makes it more likely that he might also already suffered from other unrelated medical conditions.
But there is also positive news: there are many long time mesothelioma survivors out there, who had been living for ten years or longer after they got diagnosed. Nowadays, the treatments are by far more effective and have fewer side effects. Also, a change in life style and nutrition can have a very positive on a patient's quality of life.

A lot of mesothelioma survivors contribute a large part of their success to the fact that they implemented significant changes regarding their diets to eat and live healthier and therefore help their bodies in the fight with the disease.

Generally speaking, the healthier you live, the better chances you have as a mesothelioma survivor.