What is the prognosis of mesothelioma?
The prognosis is generally poor with a median survival rate of four months for patients with metastatic disease and sixteen months for those with localized disease.
With a latency period of 20-40 years from exposure to presentation as well as symptoms which are often confused with other diseases, malignant mesothelioma frequently spreads beyond local disease before the patient presents with symptoms.
Prognosis after treatment often depends on how completely the tumor was resected in surgery. There are four measures of cytoreduction:
CC-0 in which no tumor is visualized
CC-1 in which nodules are seen but less than 2.5 cm; these are likely to respond to chemotherapy
CC-2 in which nodules between 2.5 and 5 cm persist
CC-3 in which nodules greater than 5cm cannot be resected.
Chemotherapy and radiation may help increase rate of survival.