The overall prognosis for mesothelioma patients is poor. However, each case of mesothelioma is different and many factors determine how long a patient will live with this asbestos-related disease. Though mesothelioma survival rates are discouraging, some patients have lived for several years after their diagnosis.

Mesothelioma patients who only receive supportive care (treatment used to alleviate symptoms), statistically live for four to nine months. Approximately half of these patients die within six months. Patients receiving several types of treatments tend to live longer. About half of these patients live for 8 to 18 months.

Some factors for determining a mesothelioma prognosis include:

• The size of the tumor
• Location of the tumor
• Patient’s age
• Extent of the cancer’s spread

In addition, the type of mesothelioma also affects the outlook. For instance, patients with epithelioid mesothelioma usually have a better prognosis than those with another form of mesothelioma.