What is Mesothelioma?
Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer that is almost always caused by previous exposure to asbestos. In this disease, malignant cells develop in the mesothelium, a protective lining that covers most of the body's internal organs. For the lay people among us: It's cancer that shows up most commonly in the outer lining of the lungs and chest, but can also appear in the abdomen or pericardium (a sac that surrounds the heart).
Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles, or have been exposed to asbestos dust and fibre in other ways, such as by washing the clothes of a family member who worked with asbestos, or by home renovation using asbestos cement products. Unlike lung cancer, there is no association between mesothelioma and smoking.>
References:
1. Mesothelioma - Wikipedia.org
