Pleural mesothelioma is a difficult cancer to treat because it can spread so extensively and it is generally not diagnosed until it is in the more advanced stages, making surgical removal of all the cancer difficult or impossible. Pleural mesothelioma patients have a poorer prognosis if they are experiencing chest pain, shortness of breath, inability to perform daily tasks, weight loss, or a low red blood cell count.
For many asbestosis patients the mesothelioma prognosis is maybe hopeful. Study indicate the epithelial cell type have been associated more often with a favorable prognosis. Cell type plays a role in a mesothelioma prognosis analysis. The two types of cells that develop into mesothelioma cancers are epithelioid cells and sarcomatoid cells. Over ninety percent of all mesothelioma cases are of these varieties. Currently, the average survival period for a patient diagnosed with mesothelioma is about one year.