The National Cancer Institute states that: "Malignant mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer, is a disease in which cancer (malignant) cells are found in the sac lining the chest (the pleura), the lining of the abdominal cavity (the peritoneum) or the lining around the heart (the pericardium)." Most people with malignant mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they breathed asbestos. Others have been exposed to asbestos in a household environment, often without knowing it. An exposure of as little as one or two months can result in mesothelioma 30 or 40 years later.

Malignant Pleural mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer in which cancer cells are found in the sac lining the chest, the lining of the abdominal cavity or the lining around the heart. Malignant Peural mesothelioma is cancer which is found in the lining of the chest. When pleural mesothelioma cancer spreads, the cells of the mesothelium become abnormal. These malignant cells begin to divide and spread without order and can begin to affect organs and tissues in the immediate area. This often leads to complications in the surrounding organs.

General Information, Cellular Classification, Stage Information, Treatment Option Overview, Localized Malignant Mesothelioma (Stage I), Advanced Malignant Mesothelioma (Stages II, III, and IV), Recurrent Malignant Mesothelioma. Prognosis in this disease is difficult to assess consistently because there is great variability in the time before diagnosis and the rate of disease progression.

British researchers compared biopsies from patients with cancerous or malignant mesothelioma with those from patients with benign, but similar–looking conditions such as reactive mesothelial hyperplasia (increased production of normal mesothelial cell tissue). The object was to find a marker based on the cell cycle that would better identify malignant mesothelioma. They chose to experiment with the protein antibody MCM2 (also known as minichromosome maintenance protein), which has also been the subject of studies involving cervical cancer cells. May 5, 2003.

General Information, Cellular Classification, Stage Information (localized malignant mesothelioma, advanced malignant mesothelioma), Treatment Option Overview, Localized Malignant Mesothelioma (stage I), Advanced Malignant Mesothelioma (stages II, III, and IV), Recurrent Malignant Mesothelioma. (This information is intended for use by doctors and other health care professionals).

In Malignant Pleural mesothelioma the cancer cells are found in a sac lining in the abdominal cavity or the lining around the heart. Found in the lining of the chest its a swift and painful killer for as the cells begin to divide and spread they affect the organs around them leading to complications that become life threatening. Asbestos Exposure: Not all workers who have been exposed to asbestos contract Pleural Mesothiloma as the disease may be related to asbestos exposure but asbestos in the 'finished' form is not harmful. Which means that if the asbestos is already fixated into the walls and pipes it will have no harmful effect but if there are particles free in the air only then, will the asbestos adversely effect the worker.