Mesothelioma Survival Rates

About 40 percent of pleural mesothelioma patients in the U.S. are still alive one year after diagnosis. About 20 percent survive after two years, and approximately 8 percentsurvive after three years. The National Cancer Institute's SEER program reports five-year survival rates ranging between 5 and 10 percent

About 40 percent of patients with mesothelioma survive the first year after diagnosis. That survival rate depends on many factors, including age, cancer stage, cancer type, race and gender. Long-term survivors attribute their success to treatment from a mesothelioma specialist, alternative medicine and nutritional changes.

How is survival rate measured?

Researchers describe the mesothelioma survival rate in several ways. They usually talk about it in terms of one-year survival, the percentage of people who survive for a year after diagnosis. Through their studies, they also look at longer survival times, including the number of people who live two years, three years and five years.

Average mesothelioma survival rates

About 40 percent of pleural mesothelioma patients in the U.S. are still alive one year after diagnosis. About 20 percent survive after two years, and approximately 8 percent survive after three years. The National Cancer Institute's SEER program reports five-year survival rates ranging between 5 and 10 percent.


Age

Overall, older mesothelioma patients have a much lower possibility of surviving than younger ones. More than 50 percent of patients diagnosed before the age of 50 live one year, but less than 33 percent of patients 75 or older live the same amount of time. Rates are similar for long-term survival. Younger patients have a 20 percent chance of surviving a decade; older individuals have a 1 percent chance.

Mesothelioma Deaths by Age Range: 1999-2005

Mesothelioma Deaths by Age Range 

This difference is largely because younger patients are eligible for more intensive treatments likesurgery. Older individuals may not be candidates for these procedures because of poor overall health or a high risk of complications.
Elderly people often manage one or more chronic medical conditions in addition to mesothelioma, such as diabetes, heart disease and COPD. The likelihood of surviving mesothelioma is better for younger people because they are less likely to have serious conditions that may make them ineligible for effective treatment options.
It's rare when someone younger than 50 receives a diagnosis of asbestos-related cancer. The average age at diagnosis is 60, and from 1999 to 2010, nearly 80 percent of Americans who died from mesothelioma were older than 65.

Mesothelioma Survival Rates by Age

Mesothelioma survival rates by age line graph.
When researchers break down the percentage of people with mesothelioma who will be alive a certain time after diagnosis by age, it's easy to see that the long-term outlook is best for patients diagnosed at a young age. National Cancer institute data show that while 43 percent of patients younger than 45 survive five years after diagnosis, that drops sharply — to 14.3 percent — for patients between the ages of 45 and 54. Overall, 5.7 percent of patients ages 65 and older at diagnosis survive after five years.

Beating the Odds: Odell R.

Odell Rankins

It took considerable persuasion from his granddaughter to convince Navy veteran and pleural mesothelioma survivor Odell to travel to Boston in 2012 to see surgeon Dr. Abraham Lebenthal. Odell, from Mississippi, is now back on his farm and thriving after complex surgery that has extended his life.