Asbestos-related lung cancer is a disease that affects many Americans, especially after having been exposed to asbestos and asbestos products in their place of employment.

Asbestos-related lung cancer can occur in a couple different forms. If it affects the outer tissue lining of the respiratory organs, it is known as mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma is a cancer uniquely linked to asbestos exposure and it can affect the pleura or lining of the lungs or peritoneum, the lining of the abdomen.

With standard asbestos-related lung cancer, there may be asbestos exposure combined with other contributing factors such as a lifetime smoking habit.

Another asbestos-related disorder is known as asbestosis. Asbestosis is widespread scarring of the lungs caused by exposure to asbestos. When diagnosed with just asbestosis, an occupational victim has not yet had the misfortune of his exposure lead to malignant cancer.

What is Asbestos?

According to medicinenet.com, asbestos occurs naturally in the earth and is available for mining in various sizes and shapes.

There are three commonly known types of asbestos that are identified by color: white asbestos, also known as chrysotile; brown asbestos, also known as amosite; and blue asbestos, also known as crocidolite. All three types are linked to asbestos-related lung cancer including mesothelioma and the non-malignant asbestosis.

Chrysotile, one of the serpentine or curly types of asbestos fibers, are the least among them in terms of carcinogenic rating, however.

Regardless of the type of asbestos a patient has been around and inhaled, it takes a lot less exposure to eventually create pleural mesothelioma than asbestos-related lung cancer. Genetic factors may play a part in this unsolved puzzle.

Asbestos was added to a good number of construction materials and mechanical engine parts up until the late 1980s because of its insulation capabilities and fire retardant qualities.

Asbestos is still found in older homes and buildings as part of roof shingles, floor tiles, pipe insulation and paints. Although our consumption of it has decreased remarkably over the past several decades as its danger has become known, it would be difficult in everyday life not to encounter materials made with it.

Asbestos fibers only become dangerous, however, when material is compromised or disturbed and the fibers become airborne.

Most individuals diagnosed with asbestos-related lung cancer or mesothelioma have been exposed between 10 and 40 years prior. This long period of disease development is known as the latency period and is one of the reasons we are likely to see diagnoses of this nature for some time to come.

Both mesothelioma and asbestos-related lung cancer can begin with some of the same symptoms which include rapid unexplained weight loss, fatigue, difficulty breathing and chest pain. The symptoms generally don’t show up until much later, making a timely diagnosis and treatment difficult.

CAT scans and PET scans are both used as diagnostic tools, but a sputum cytology test is an additional tool used to help ascertain if lung cancer is present.  With this tool, a sample of a patient’s spit is examined under a microscope.

Treatments for both types of cancer are determined based upon the individual and the stage at diagnosis. Often it includes surgical intervention, chemotherapy and radiation.