Malignant mesothelioma is a very rare form of cancer.
The prognosis in this disease is difficult to diagnose, due to the great variabilty in the time before diagnosis and the rate of disease progression. The first indication of Mesothelioma is often by a simple chest X-Ray. For more clarification or confirmation, a biopsy or removal operation may be needed. However, due to the relative rarity of this disease, exact survival information based upon stage is limited. A proposed staging system based upon thoracic surgery principals and clinical data is shown below.