Though chemotherapy, radiation and surgery may be prescribed to treat mesothelioma, this deadly form of cancer is considered incurable. Symptoms are often non-specific (fatigue, coughing, difficulty sleeping), and may be signs of other less serious medical conditions.
As the cancer progresses, the victim has more and more trouble breathing as the asbestos fibers harden inside the pleura (the membranous lining that encases the lungs) and the cancer cells spread. The patient has a harder and harder time enjoying a normal life, and eating, sleeping, and breathing become difficult and uncomfortable. Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer that kills --- all because the patient was needlessly exposed to asbestos while working at their job. The tragedy of mesothelioma is that this disease and other asbestos-related diseases were preventable.