Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare, aggressive lung disease that is closely associated with a person's previous exposure to asbestos fibers. The disease is hard to diagnose and has been resisting traditional treatment options ever since it was first identified as a separate type of lung cancer.

Asbestos was in widespread use in industry for decades, and mesothelioma has a very long latency period---it can take up to 50 years to appear in its victims. Many cases are just beginning to appear among those who worked in those industries. That's why the number of cases of MPM is expected to continue to increase all around the world for the next 30 to 40 years.

Doctors all over the world are putting increasing energy and research dollars into finding better mesothelioma treatments. A recent study focused on several new biomarkers (natural substances within the body and its systems) that are proving useful in helping to diagnose malignant mesothelioma sooner. Staff from the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) and the faculty from the Department of Oncology at a public hospital in Marseilles, France, banded together to report on the current status of scientific information for malignant pleural mesothelioma.

A lot of information is available on diagnosing the disease once symptoms have begun. Unfortunately mesothelioma, like other lung cancers, is often only suspected in its later stages when symptoms become more severe. At that point, doctors are less able to treat it in ways that might extend the patient's life. The report says that predictive (early-stage) biomarkers would be much more valuable for purposes of helping patients. Early-stage treatments have so far been more effective at prolonging survival times, though not as yet changing the long-term prognosis for this devastating disease.

The authors urge researchers to begin doing more large-scale studies aimed at validating the value of various MPM biomarkers. They suggest that research efforts focus on finding biomarkers that will predict how well chemotherapy will work with mesothelioma. And they urge that researchers, rather than investigating theoretical ideas, should start doing clinical trials that focus on translating information into practical applications that will make a difference for patients.

If you have mesothelioma, you're already living with the devastation of losing your life or that of a loved. It may be worth finding out whether you became a victim of this disease because of corporate misconduct. Many employers deliberately concealed their knowledge of the dangers of exposure to asbestos fibers from their workers who lived and breathed it in every day of their working lives. And because even a very small dose of asbestos can trigger asbestosis or mesothelioma, the families of asbestos workers may also be at risk. Asbestos dust brought home on a worker's clothes can be just as deadly to family members who breathe it.

Please visit our website for mesothelioma information for information on resources and support and for information about your legal rights.