Mesothelioma is a cancer that affects the thin membrane protecting several of the body’s most important organs, including the lungs, abdomen and heart. Treatment for this disease may include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and immunotherapy.

What is the life expectancy of a person with mesothelioma?

The average mesothelioma life expectancy ranges from 12 to 21 months, but many people live much longer with the disease. Some patients have doubled or tripled their life expectancies by finding the right doctor for their diagnosis.

The best way to increase your life expectancy may be to explore treatment options with an experienced specialist.

Mesothelioma is a rare disease, and a general oncologist may not be equipped with the background or knowledge to successfully battle this disease. Our Patient Help Team is available to get you in touch with an experienced doctor.

Some important factors that affect a patient’s life expectancy include:

Location

The place where the disease originated is often the first factor in determining a person’s life expectancy. Those with peritoneal mesothelioma (located in the abdomen) often have the best life expectancy, which may be several years or more. Pleural mesothelioma (located in the lungs) carries a life expectancy of a year or two. Pericardial mesothelioma (the heart) has the poorest prognosis.

Cell Type

The type of cells making up a patient’s mesothelioma determines how fast their disease will spread. Sarcomatoid cells, which are rare, spread the fastest. Epithelioid cells, which are most common, spread the slowest. Biphasic cells consist of sarcomatoid and epithelioid cells, so the life expectancy varies.

Stage

The stage of a patient’s mesothelioma is a way of categorizing how advanced it is. Patient’s with less advanced mesothelioma have a better life expectancy. Early stage mesothelioma has a life expectancy closer to 21 months while late stage is closer to 12 months.

Life-Extending Treatment

Surgery

Surgery is the most effective way for mesothelioma patients to extend their life expectancy. There are surgical options for pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma. If your doctor says you aren’t eligible for surgical treatment, get a second opinion from another mesothelioma specialist.

There are two surgeries for patients with pleural mesothelioma:

Extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) and the pleurectomy with decortication (P/D). One study reported that treatment with the EPP increased the overall survival rate of patients to about 27.5 months. The (P/D) —a less invasive procedure for patients with pleural mesothelioma — has produced results similar to the EPP, extending the survival rate of pleural mesothelioma patients to about 20 months.

Cytoreductive surgery with heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) is the most effective surgical option for peritoneal mesothelioma. There are reports of patients increasing their life expectancy to greater than 7 years with this treatment.

Multimodal Therapy

Multimodal therapy is the combination of two or more treatment options, including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Overall, using more than one treatment has improved the life expectancy of patients with mesothelioma in any location.

According to a few recent studies, pleural mesothelioma patients who had an EPP combined with chemotherapy and radiation therapy experienced a median survival rate ranging from 13 to 23.9 months. Those who had a multimodal therapy combining P/D with chemotherapy and radiation therapy resulted in an even better survival rate of 30 months.

Cytoreduction with HIPEC is also a form of multimodal treatment. It’s a combination of surgery to remove tumors in the abdomen and heated chemotherapy applied directly to the abdominal cavity which kills microscopic cancer cells after the procedure.

Emerging Treatments

Emerging treatments are developed and tested in clinical trials by medical researchers, doctors who find better ways to treat patients. If you’ve been diagnosed with stage–three or stage–four mesothelioma, you may not qualify for traditional treatments, like the EPP or a P/D. You may, however, benefit from emerging treatments researchers are testing in clinical trials. Some of these treatments include immunotherapy, gene therapy and photodynamic therapy.