Mesothelioma is one of the deadliest types of cancer known to medical science. This cancer lining of the bags, which contain internal organs, is mainly caused by one agent: asbestos. Asbestos is a fibrous, natural refractory mineral that has been used for thousands of years as insulation, heat protection, and clothing before it was found to be extremely toxic and carcinogenic.
Asbestos is so universal that it was used in the United States in construction and industrial processes in the first half of the 20th century, but by the 1960s and 1970s, people began to realize that this useful material has a dark side. Unfortunately, it was too late to help people who worked around asbestos, since conditions such as mesothelioma take decades to develop and are irreversible after the initial exposure.
As the 20th century approached, hundreds of thousands of people coped with the fact that they were lying and deceived by the asbestos industry. Mining and asbestos producers know the dangers of their products, but instead of warning their workers and consumers about the potential consequences of using their product and risking losing their income, they chose to ignore the risks and “make hay while the sun is shining, regardless of how their choices affect the general population.
This medium mesothelioma, asbestosis and lung cancer associated with asbestos has become a reality for hundreds of thousands of innocent people. As medical sciences struggled to keep up with the treatment of this deadly disease, more and more doctors turned to radical new treatments that tried to alleviate the suffering of 10,000 people who die from asbestos related each year.
The long latency period between the initial exposure and the onset of symptoms in combination with a relatively small number of specialized medical procedures dedicated to this little-known disease. New methods of treatment, such as angiogenesis, immunotherapy and multimodal approaches, give new hope to the victims of mesothelioma.
