Death rates for mesothelioma and lung cancer tend to correlate with each other. The five states with the most mesothelioma deaths also have the most lung cancer deaths.
Each disease can take decades to develop yet only months to spread to distant organs. And they have similar diagnostic procedures and treatment techniques.
In addition, lung cancer and mesothelioma have overlapping symptoms. They both commonly cause chest pain, coughing, difficulty breathing, fatigue and weight loss. If a patient has these symptoms along with a history of asbestos exposure and/or a history of smoking, doctors should immediately suspect lung cancer or mesothelioma.
But despite having a number of similarities, these cancers differ in physical characteristics and non-asbestos risk factors.
