Asbestos can contribute to Cancers of the Lung, Throat, Stomach, Colon-Rectum, Ovaries, and Mesothelium.

Being diagnosed with asbestos-related cancer is both a physically and an emotionally-crippling situation, especially for those who are unaware of what to expect for themselves or a loved one. 

One of the most important aspects of being diagnosed with a cancer caused by asbestos is understanding what the life expectancy typically is. The answer can change from person to person, but there are some key points that you should know.  

The Nature of Cancer Caused by Asbestos

Latency: After you’re exposed to asbestos, decades can pass before cancer appears.

One of the difficult parts of identifying asbestos cancer is the issue of latency. 

In many instances of cancer, it is easy to trace and even anticipate the inevitable diagnosis coming down the road. For example, someone who has smoked all their life can reasonably expect that the ongoing decline of lung health and its accompanying symptoms in their body can lead to lung or throat cancer. However, in the case of asbestos, there is no significant experience or sensation of asbestos exposure that easily links exposure to cancer. 

Knowing if you have been exposed to asbestos is difficult without an X-ray.

By way of comparison, smoking products that have been proven to cause cancer come with many sense perceptions when they are used, such as taste, smell, and sight. Asbestos, on the other hand, does not have these. For example:

  • Asbestos fibers are microscopic: to the human eye, asbestos exposure is invisible.
  • Asbestos fibers have no smell: to the human nose, asbestos exposure is scentless.
  • Asbestos fibers have no taste: to the human mouth, asbestos exposure is flavorless.

Despite these troubling points, these tiny asbestos fibers make their way into the human body by inhalation or ingestion, only to become lodged in various organs, where they remain. If we put these together, asbestos exposure is something that goes unnoticed. But that’s not all. 

Asbestos exposure symptoms will often take numerous decades to appear after exposure has taken place. In some cases, symptoms can take more than forty years to develop. This phenomenon is called the latency of asbestos exposure symptoms. 

Latency, along with the hidden nature of asbestos exposure, accounts for why many people are shocked at their asbestos-related diagnosis of cancer decades later. There was no vivid memory of exposure that they could account for, and there were years and years of absolutely no exposure symptoms. However, in the case of many people who eventually develop cancer from asbestos exposure, by the time symptoms begin to appear, they start showing up at an aggressive rate. 

Symptoms and Life Expectancy

The varieties of asbestos-related cancer consist of both symptoms and life expectancy. While the positive trend of medical research and treatment innovation continues to offer some level of hope and comfort for victims, there is still the grim reality that most forms of cancer caused by asbestos carry a low life expectancy, with others being terminal.

Time is a priceless factor in the diagnosis, treatment, and compensation options related to asbestos exposure, so it is important to speak with a healthcare professional if you believe you hae been exposed to asbestos and begin to experience symptoms. According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), there is no safe level of asbestos exposure. Asbestos exposure, even if it occurs one time, can still result in a cancer diagnosis decades later. It may take several instances of asbestos exposure for the tiny fibers to embed themselves in the lungs or other organs, or it could only take one time. Any frequency or intensity of exposure can be deadly down the road.

Especially since instances of asbestos exposure can take place entirely under the radar of our senses, it is important to pay attention to certain symptoms of exposure that accompany the various types of cancer attributed to asbestos. Some of these symptoms include the following:

  • Coughing
  • Shortness of breath
  • Chest tightness
  • Fluid inside the lungs
  • Pelvic Pain
  • Swollen abdomen
  • No appetite
  • Unexplained weight loss

It’s also important to identify some of the more common cancers attributed to asbestos exposure. While medical research continues to develop- and some case studies are stronger and more plentiful in certain categories compared to others- the main cancers include the following:

  • Mesothelioma
  • Lung Cancer
  • Ovarian Cancer
  • Laryngeal Cancer

Most Aggressive vs. Most Common Asbestos Cancers

While various types of cancer caused by asbestos can differ in intensity and may also accompany other illnesses, mesothelioma is considered the most aggressive and terminal form of asbestos-related cancer, with an average survival rate of one year after diagnosis. 

Mesothelioma involves cancer developed in the mesothelium, a protective layer of tissue that surrounds certain organs in the body, and almost all cases of mesothelioma are caused by asbestos exposure. 

While almost all instances of mesothelioma are caused by asbestos exposure, mesothelioma is not the most common type of cancer-related to asbestos exposure. Instead, most malignant asbestos illnesses are actually lung cancer. 

The life expectancy of lung cancer due to asbestos exposure can vary greatly from mesothelioma, and this is because it depends on the aggressive nature of lung cancer, as well as whether certain other lung diseases are happening at the same time. For example, non-malignant lung diseases related to asbestos include COPD, pleural plaques, and asbestosis.

While it can be crippling to receive a cancer diagnosis, there are options available to help you receive compensation, both to leave a legacy for loved ones and to receive medical treatment that can improve your quality of life. Asbestos-related cancer is fast and destructive, so receiving compensation needs to be as fast and easy as possible. 

Thankfully, this can be done without filing a lawsuit or going to court with another company. Even if you have been exposed secondarily to asbestos (as a spouse or child of another worker) you can still apply for compensation. This can be done through an asbestos trust fund. If you think you may have been exposed or have symptoms, speak to a healthcare professional.