The medical word “prognosis” describes an opinion as to the likely outcome of a particular illness. This description can be reasonably accurate when applied statistically to a large number of people, but can never be accurate when applied to an individual patient, therefore a prognosis for an individual patient of any illness is often given in percentage terms of likelihood, as nothing is ever certain.

Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer which typically affects approximately three in one million people. The usual cause of mesothelioma cancer is exposure to asbestos particles although it has been known to be caused by exposure to other chemicals as well. Studies show that the majority of doctors are more likely to be optimistic when giving a prognosis to an individual patient.

A prognosis for a patient known to be suffering from mesothelioma will depend on a number of factors. The disease is often difficult to diagnose at all until the later stages, simply because all of the symptoms of mesothelioma can also be indicative of other diseases or illnesses, and also because many of the symptoms don not necessarily appear until 20 to 30 years after the patient has been exposed to asbestos.

Screening methods can help to determine if an individual patient is likely to develop mesothelioma in later years, but in the majority of cases, these practices are far from precise. Whilst smoking has not been shown to cause mesothelioma, it can increase the likelihood of developing the disease in later life.

The treatment of mesothelioma includes radiation, surgery, immunology and chemotherapy, or a combination of any or all. For instance, a patient may first have surgery to remove the main tumor, then have chemotherapy and radiation targeted to what is left.

A mesothelioma prognosis can be helpful in determining which treatments are likely to be the most effective, and of course can also be used in litigation when seeking compensation, which in certain cases can be considerable (sometimes more than tens of millions of dollars).

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