Mesothelioma
One of the most dreaded of the asbestos-related cancers is called mesothelioma. It only appears in persons who have been exposed to asbestos. This type of cancer, which affects the lining of the lungs and abdomen, is generally found in workers who had long term exposures to asbestos, but sometimes can be caused by even short term exposures to low levels of asbestos. For example, there have been tragic cases where wives who laundered their husband's work clothes and children who were exposed to dry flaking (friable) asbestos insulations in schoolrooms have developed mesothelioma. Because there are no known treatments for this disease, it is nearly always fatal within a year or two after it is detected. LeBlanc & Waddell has represented many victims of this terrible disease.

The most frequent kind of cancer caused by asbestos is lung cancer. Although other factors, such as smoking, can cause lung cancer, asbestos in and of itself, when trapped in tissue, can change normal healthy cells to cancerous ones.

The relationship between asbestos and smoking is often misunderstood. A person who never smoked and never worked around asbestos is very unlikely to develop lung cancer. But if a non-smoking person was exposed to asbestos on the job, he or she is five (5) times more likely to get lung cancer. While smoking also causes cancer, the combination of smoking plus exposure to asbestos increases the risk of getting cancer more than 50 times! These are upsetting numbers. It is important to know, however, that asbestos exposed workers who quit smoking can greatly reduce their chances of getting lung cancer.

Other types of cancer have also been seen among populations of workers who were exposed to asbestos. Asbestos that enters the body through the mouth (ingested when food or drink is contaminated with fibers) causes excess cancers of the digestive tract, such as:

• Cancer of the larynx (voice box)
• Cancer of the esophagus (tube leading to the stomach)
• Cancer of the stomach
• Cancer of the colon and rectum

Some of these cancers can be treated and cured if they are detected in early stages. This is especially true for cancer of the colon and rectum, which is the most common of these other asbestos related cancers.