Unsafe Products M esothelioma Malignant mesothelioma is a cancer of the linings of the chest cavity, or surrounding the organs of the abdomen. Asbestos causes mesothelioma. Cigarette smoking does not cause the development of malignant mesothelioma. A person with mesothelioma got the disease from asbestos, regardless of whether they were a smoker.
Malignant mesothelioma is uncommon and often difficult to diagnose.
All forms of asbestos are capable of causing it. Because mesothelioma can take years to develop into diagnosable disease, and because almost all workers did not know at the time of exposure that asbestos could cause disease, the patient is often unable to pinpoint the period of exposure at first. However, today, with careful review of work history information and the use of cross-references from testimony given in earlier years and stored in data compilations, the picture of asbestos exposure can usually be reconstructed. As mentioned above, diagnosing mesothelioma can be difficult. However, the continuation of symptoms and the development of other symptoms such as loss of weight and appetite, tightness or pain in the chest, or difficulty in breathing, usually lead to the correct diagnosis.