In recent mesothelioma news, researchers suggest that a better scoring system is needed to determine the severity of mesothelioma lung cancer in patients.

Mesothelioma victims often do not get diagnosed until a latent stage of prognosis, due to how long it takes for this disease to show any symptoms.

According to a January 2016 study published in the European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, researchers of the University of Chicago found that tumor weight and volume of mesothelioma lung cancercould be used to determine a more accurate stage of prognosis.

Researchers examined data from 116 mesothelioma victims, who were undergoing treatment over a six-year period. In examining the patient data, the researchers found that the volume of the tumor was a strong indicator of T stage and mesothelioma survival odds.

Essentially, the greater the tumor volume, the worse survival odds for mesothelioma victims. The current scoring system for mesothelioma lung cancer, is based on the size of the tumors and whether or not they have spread from the lungs to other regions of the body.

While the current is method is crucial for diagnosing patients and getting prompt treatment, recent mesothelioma news suggest that tumor weight and volume should also be accounted. The diagnostic tools available, such as MRIs and CT scans, can determine the size of the tumors but cannot confirm density.

Mesothelioma Lung Cancer

There are approximately 3,000 mesothelioma lung cancer diagnoses per year in the United States, with the majority of the cases being from first hand asbestos exposure from on-site job environments.

Mesothelioma is a very rare form of lung cancer, which is specifically caused by inhaling or swallowing asbestos fibers. Mesothelioma victims can either be exposed directly or inhale the toxic material in a second hand manner by handling clothing of the exposed person.

Unlike typical lung cancer, mesothelioma attacks the mucus lining of the lungs and can take up to 50 years before the patients exhibit any symptoms. Mesothelioma lung cancer occurs when the victims inhale the asbestos fibers, in which they become embedded in the lung’s mucus lining.

Since it can take decades to fester into cancer cells, patients are often diagnosed at a latent stage of the disease. This makes the life expectancy of the mesothelioma victims shorten considerably, and gives little treatment options.

Asbestos was popularly used before the 1980s as an insulation material, for its fire and chemical resistant qualities. The height of its popularity occurred in World War II, with numerous U.S. Navy shipyards using asbestos for a variety of construction and manufacturing purposes.

However, asbestos-related injuries have been reported in a number of other manufacturing and construction occupations. Due to the latency of this disease, mesothelioma news only recently started gaining traction and developing into a massive litigation movement.

At this time, over 6,000 defendants are facing allegations of negligence for manufacturing or selling asbestos products before they were banned in the United States.