Incidence of mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a relatively rare cancer, though it has increased in the past 20 years. The incidence is approximately once per 1 000 000. In comparison, populations with high levels of smoking can have a lung cancer incidence of over 1 000 per 1 000 000. This is still a small rate. In Western nations, it is about 7 to 40 per 1 000 000, depending on the amount of asbestos exposure of the populations during the past several decades. It has been estimated that incidence may be peaked at 15 per 1 000 000 in the US. Incidence is expected to continue increasing in other parts of the world. Mesothelioma occurs more often in men than women and increases with age.In annual deaths from mesothelioma, with men is four times higher than women.This rate may not be accurate, since it is possible that many cases of mesothelioma are misdiagnosed as adenocarcinoma of the lung, which is difficult to differentiate from mesothelioma.