Approximately 2,000 to 3,000 new cases are reported each year in the U.S. More than 10,000 are reported worldwide.

Three times more men than women develop the disease.

Approximately 80 percent of diagnosed cases can be directly linked to a job where asbestos was present.

Mesothelioma typically has a latency period of 20-50 years.

The average age of a mesothelioma patient has historically been about 65 years old.

The 5-year relative survival rate for mesothelioma patients is about 10 percent. The 1-year survival rate stands at about 40 percent.

In the context of this article, asbestos fibers are not the only substances that cause mesothelioma lung cancer, carbon nanotubes are also known to do so. A huge study published in the research journal Nature Nanotechnology suggests that some forms of Carbon nanotubes could be as harmful as asbestos fibers if inhaled in to the body and to the Esophagus and lungs. The study confirms that specific types of carbon nanotubes have the potential to cause malignant mesothelioma including Pleural mesothelioma that can take 30 to 40 years after initial asbestos exposure to surface to life. The research study suggests that nanotubes that are very thin, long and multi-walled look like asbestos fibers, and behave like asbestos fibers. This image on the left shows Carbon nanotubes in the top half, and tissues of asbstos fibers in the second half. You can see the similarities between the two fibers, and scientists think that carbon nanotubes can also cause mesothelioma lung cancer & other malignant diseases.