Average Life Expectancy With Mesothelioma

What is the life expectancy of a person with mesothelioma?

The average life expectancy for mesothelioma is 12 to 21 months, but many people live much longer with the disease. Some patients have doubled or tripled their life expectancy 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 have the knowledge necessary to successfully fight this disease. Our patient support team is available to put you in touch with an experienced physician.

Some important factors that affect a patient's life expectancy include

Place: The place of origin of the disease is often the first factor that determines a person's life expectancy. People with peritoneal mesothelioma (located in the abdomen) often have the best life expectancy, which can be several years or more. Pleural mesothelioma (located in the lungs) has a life expectancy of a year or two. Pericardial mesothelioma (located in the heart) has the worst prognosis.

Cell type: 

The type of cells that make up a patient's mesothelioma determines how quickly the disease spreads. Sarcomatoid cells, which are rare, spread the fastest. Epithelial cells, which are the most common, spread the slowest. Biphasic cells consist of sarcomatoid cells and epithelioid cells, so life expectancy varies.

Stage: 

The stage of a patient's mesothelioma is one way to classify its progress. Patients with less advanced mesothelioma have a longer life expectancy. Early stage mesothelioma has a life expectancy closer to 21 months, while advanced mesothelioma is closer to 12 months.

Explanation of factors

There are a few factors that greatly influence life expectancy; you can limit the influence of these factors on your life expectancy by seeking care from an experienced physician.

Stage of mesothelioma

The stage of your disease describes how far mesothelioma has travelled since it started. The further the disease has spread, the more advanced it is and the more advanced its stage. A patient's life expectancy is longer in the early stages. The patient also has more effective treatment options in the early stages of the disease.

Doctors diagnose pleural mesothelioma in stages 1 to 4 of the disease, with stage 4 being the most advanced. There is currently no accepted classification system for peritoneal mesothelioma, so doctors diagnose these patients as having localized or advanced mesothelioma.

The following list explains how physicians diagnose the stage of pleural mesothelioma:

Stage 1: The cancer is localized at the point of origin.

Stage 2: The cancer has spread to the lung itself, part of the diaphragm and nearby lymph nodes.

Stage 3: The cancer has spread to one side of the chest, into the chest wall, esophagus and other lymph nodes.

Stage 4: The cancer has spread to both sides of the chest, affecting other organs, blood and bone cells.

Although the stage of your disease can help determine your life expectancy, it is important to remember that current statistics are based on the average life span of mesothelioma patients. These averages include patients who have not received treatment from a specialist; therefore, your life expectancy could be much better with the right treatment.

According to the American Cancer Society, some life expectancies based on the stage of mesothelioma are:

Patients with stage 1 or 2 pleural mesothelioma have an average life expectancy of 19 to 21 months.

Patients with stage 3 or 4 pleural mesothelioma have an average life expectancy of up to 16 months.

Patients with peritoneal mesothelioma who receive surgical treatment often have a life expectancy of more than 5 years.

Mesothelioma diagnosed at an early stage responds better to curative treatments, such as surgery or chemotherapy. In fact, with the right treatment, the life expectancy of a patient diagnosed with stage 1 mesothelioma can range from 30 to 40 months, more than twice the average life expectancy of all patients.

Cell type:

The type of mesothelioma cells has a huge impact on your life expectancy. There are three types of cells: epithelioid, sarcomatoid and biphasic. Each cell type behaves - and responds to treatment - differently. Doctors determine the cell type of a tumour when they diagnose you. Identifying the cell type helps them create the most effective treatment for your diagnosis.

Epithelial cells are egg-shaped and stick together as they spread. As a result, they spread slowly, making epithelial mesothelioma the most treatable and promising cell type. The average life expectancy of a patient with epithelial mesothelioma ranges from 12 to 27 months.

Sarcomatoid cells are spindle-shaped and spread rapidly to other parts of the body - their speed makes them less responsive to treatment. The average life expectancy of a patient with sarcomatoid mesothelioma is 7 to 18 months.

Biphasic tumours are composed of both epithelioid and sarcomatoid cells. The ratio between the two cell types determines the effect that a biphasic mesothelial tumour will have on your life expectancy. More epithelioid cells means a longer life expectancy because epithelioid cells spread slowly and respond better to treatment. The average life expectancy for a patient with biphasic mesothelioma ranges from 8 to 21 months.

Mesothelioma Location

The location of the mesothelioma also affects your life expectancy. Where the tumour originates - the lining of the lungs, abdomen or heart - determines your treatment options.

Pleural mesothelioma originates in the lining of the lungs, the pleura. The average life expectancy for most patients with mesothelioma in this location ranges from 4 to 18 months. If you have pleural mesothelioma, you have more treatment options to prolong your life because doctors are more experienced in treating this disease. This type of mesothelioma accounts for 75% of all diagnosed cases.

Peritoneal mesothelioma originates in the lining of the abdomen, the peritoneum, and has the best life expectancy. The average life expectancy of patients diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma is 12 months, although several studies have shown that cytoreduction with HIPEC has extended the life expectancy of some patients to 5 years and beyond.

Pericardial mesothelioma originates in the protective wall of the heart, the pericardium. It is rare and accounts for about 1% of all diagnoses. The life expectancy of patients with pericardial mesothelioma is 6 months. Treatment options for pericardial mesothelioma are limited because its rarity has given physicians few opportunities to develop new treatments.

Life-prolonging treatment

Surgery

Surgery is the most effective way for mesothelioma patients to extend their life expectancy. Surgical options are available for pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma. If your doctor tells you that you cannot have surgery, seek a second opinion from another mesothelioma specialist.

There are two surgical procedures for patients with pleural mesothelioma: extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) and pleurectomy with decortication (P/D). One study showed that treatment with EPP increased the overall survival rate of patients to about 27.5 months. P/D - a less invasive procedure for patients with pleural mesothelioma - produced similar results to PEP, extending the survival rate of patients with pleural mesothelioma to approximately 20 months.

Cytoreductive surgery with heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) is the most effective surgical option for peritoneal mesothelioma. Patients have been reported to have increased their life expectancy to more than 7 years with this treatment.

Multimodal therapy

Multimodal therapy is the combination of two or more treatment options, including surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Overall, the use of more than one treatment has improved the life expectancy of mesothelioma patients, regardless of their location.

A few recent studies have shown that pleural mesothelioma patients who received PEP combined with chemotherapy and radiotherapy had a median survival rate ranging from 13 to 23.9 months. Those who received multimodal therapy combining PEP with chemotherapy and radiotherapy had an even better survival rate of 30 months.

Cytoreduction with HIPEC is also a form of multimodal therapy. It is a combination of surgery to remove tumours in the abdomen and heated chemotherapy applied directly to the abdominal cavity that kills microscopic cancer cells after the procedure.

New treatments

New treatments are developed and tested in clinical trials by medical researchers, doctors who find better ways to treat patients. If you have been diagnosed with stage three or four mesothelioma, you may not be able to benefit from traditional treatments, such as PPS or P/D. However, you may benefit from emerging treatments that researchers are testing in clinical trials. Some of these treatments include immunotherapy, gene therapy and photodynamic therapy.

Getting help with treatment

Regardless of your diagnosis - the stage of the cancer, the type of cell and the location of the mesothelioma - receiving specialized treatment from an experienced doctor will help improve your prognosis and quality of life.

If you would like to learn more about how mesothelioma affects your life expectancy - and what you can do to improve yours - talk to a member of our patient support team. We're here to answer your questions, and we can even put you in touch with a doctor experienced in the field of mesothelioma. Ask to be called by a team member today, or get a free copy of our Mesothelioma Help Guide.