Though there is no known cure for mesothelioma, the life expectancy of a mesothelioma patient is entirely dependent upon the unique form, stage, health and general circumstances surrounding his or her case. Survival times vary widely, but 12 to 18 months is considered normal for mesothelioma life expectancy.
As evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould noted, life expectancy for cancer depends on understanding how to read the data properly. In his article, “The Median Isn’t the Message,” he argued that the initial 8-month median life expectancy he discovered for a peritoneal mesothelioma diagnosis needed to be put in context against his youth, early detection, top medical treatment, and general purpose in life. His conclusion was that he had a strong probability of living the greater number of years that were in the long tail of the distribution curve. Sure enough, he lived with a peritoneal mesothelioma diagnosis for 20 years before dying of a separate disease: metastatic adenocarcinoma of the lung.
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, do not be discouraged by the average mesothelioma life expectancy. Like Stephen Jay Gould, you can beat the norm. Keep a positive attitude, surround yourself with supportive friends and family, and determine that you will beat the average mesothelioma life expectancy.
Mesothelioma is an extremely difficult cancer to diagnose and treat. In this video Mary Hesdorffer, a nurse practitioner and Medical Liaison for the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation, talks about the effort to find a cure for mesothelioma.
