UK Experts Say 120,000 Will Die of Meso in Next Decade

February 22, 2006 - Scientists and medical experts in the United Kingdom have revealed that they expect more than 120,000 individuals to die of mesothelioma in the next 10 years, due largely to direct exposure to asbestos during the 1960s and 1970s, says an article in the Evening Standard.

Scientists issued a warning this week which stated that men who worked as carpenters, laggers, electricians, and ship and dockyard workers are most at risk of developing painful tumors associated with asbestos-caused cancer, usually leading to death just months after diagnosis.  Women, the warning noted, are also at risk, especially those who were exposed to asbestos dust brought home on the clothes of the fathers, brothers, and sons.

Professor Julian Peto, Cancer Research UK chairman of epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, issued Tuesday's frightening warning, noting that men currently in their 60s were at the greatest risk.

“Carpenters who used a particular type of wood in their work, shipyard workers, metal workers and electricians are all in danger,” he said. Those born between 1945 and 1950 are particularly at risk, he added.

Peto said an "epidemic" of mesothelioma - cancer affecting the lining of the lungs - and asbestos-related lung cancer will peak in less than 10 years.  There is currently no cure for the disease and treatment is palliative at best.

Peto also noted that Britain currently has the highest rate of mesothelioma of any country in the world.  According to the British Lung Foundation, more than 2,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma every year in the UK and someone dies every five hours. The number of deaths increased from 153 in 1968 to 1,969 in 2004 and is expected to peak at 2,450 between 2011 and 2015.