According to www.asbestos.com, a full 90% of fatal cases of lung cancer in the U.S. – the most common type of lethal cancer ─ can be attributed to smoking each year. Another 4% of those deaths are related to a link between lung cancer and asbestos exposure.

What is the Difference Between Mesothelioma and Lung Cancer?

There is a thin layer of tissue that covers the internal organs known as the mesothelium. It exists around the lungs and covers the chest wall, around the heart, the abdomen, and the testicles.

Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that develops within these tissues, most commonly around the lungs. Symptoms can include:

• Shortness of breath
• A swollen belly
• A cough
• Persistent fatigue
• Pain in the wall of the chest
• Weight loss

The majority of diagnosed cases of mesothelioma are asbestos exposure related. Researchers have come to believe that smaller 3 millimeter asbestos fibers are more likely to lodge in this tissue, bringing on this illness.

Five millimeter asbestos fibers are more likely to fester in lung tissue itself. Lung cancer and asbestos exposure make causation difficult to attribute if the patient was or is a smoker.

What is a Latency Period?

Both mesothelioma and asbestos-related lung cancer have a significant period between hazardous asbestos exposure and development of the twin diseases in common.

This time is known as a latency period and at minimum is ten years long. During this time, the asbestos fibers are constantly irritating tissue and stimulating inflammatory states. At the height of this process, which actually averages 30-35 years, tumors start to develop.

Smoking, Lung Cancer and Asbestos Exposure  

Difficulties in attributing causation in cases of lung cancer and asbestos exposure have developed when there is a secondary contributing cause such as a lengthy habit of smoking cigarettes.

In the late 1990s, the medical community established a set of rules known as the Helsinki Criteria to determine causation with lung cancer and asbestos exposure and other risk factors:

• Asbestos-related lung cancer can only develop at least 10 years after initial exposure to asbestos. This is the minimum latency period.
• There must be higher than normal presence of asbestos fibers in their lung tissue
• There must be a diagnosis of asbestosis – a scarring of the lungs which makes breathing very difficult and labored.
• Higher than normal exposure levels as measured by number of fibers per millimeter of air per year.

It is important to realize that even if all criteria are met, and a causal relationship is established between an individual’s lung cancer and asbestos exposure, that doesn’t mean that a smoking habit was not a contributing factor.

The toxins present in cigarette smoke could have further irritated the tissues already undergoing radical transformation by the embedded leftovers of the individual’s construction and manufacturing trade.

If you think you or a loved one have been harmed by asbestos exposure due to the negligence of an employer, consider getting a consultation with an attorney familiar with lung cancer and asbestos lawsuits.