Lung cancer and mesothelioma are as different from one another as chalk and cheese. Lung cancer is caused by a multitude of reasons and smoking is one of them. But mesothelioma lung cancer is caused exclusively by exposure to asbestos particles. The disease covers the protective layer of the pleural cavity, the mesothelium. Unfortunately, the cancer has a long gestation period and symptoms come up only after the infection spreads all over. This results in many deaths that could have been avoided.

The cancer is comparatively rare and as such, most of our cancer hospitals and doctors lack the requisite means and knowledge for treatment. In the United States, less than 3000 mesothelioma cases are diagnosed yearly. This cancer is considered as an occupational danger because it is the workers of factories or asbestos mines who usually get affected.

The particles of asbestos settles down in the mesothelium and destroy its cells. The cancerous cells spreads and the situation become very acute for the patient in a few years. The total inexistence of any notable symptoms till the final stages of infection further compounds the matter and causes many avoidable deaths.

Mesothelioma lung cancer can be cured if detected and treated in the initial stages. But most cases of this cancer are discovered many decades after asbestos infection had taken place when harsh warning signs come up. The cancer has four stages. Patients in the first stage have better chances of survival. Even those in stage two can hope for the better since traditional treatments like surgery, chemotherapy and radiation are sufficient to prolong the life of the affected. But chemotherapy, which is a tactic to prevent spread and recurrence of cancerous cells, is fraught with side effects. Radiation therapy destroys the cancerous cells through high-energy beams.

The next two levels, the third and fourth stages are highly dangerous and entail very little hope of survival. Medical practitioners generally use only palliative treatment, that is, the treatment of the symptoms, to provide the patient a comfortable life as long as he lives. Mesothelioma lung cancer patients are legally entitled to file litigations for monetary compensation also. If the outcome is positive, the money awarded can be of immense help to meet all treatment and household expenses of the patient.