The Maune Raichle Law Firm

Mesothelioma Women

Although mesothelioma is known as a disease that most commonly effects men between the ages of 50 and 75, it can and does affect women. Women as young as 17 have been diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma. Although there is some debate about the diagnosis of mesothelioma without a protein marker test, it is commonly accepted that there is a certain population of women who have developed peritoneal mesothelioma, seemingly independent of asbestos exposure. This does not mean that there are not any and have never been any cases of asbestos related mesothelioma cases in women.

While asbestos was still commonly in use, there were a certain percentage of women within the workplace, so there were cases of women exposed to asbestos while working the same way the men diagnosed with mesothelioma were exposed. There have also been proven links between second hand asbestos and many asbestos related illnesses. Not many cases have resulted in high profile lawsuits, but there are a number of wives of men who worked in and around asbestos who developed mesothelioma because their husbands brought so much asbestos dust home on their clothes.

Peritoneal mesothelioma seems to have a higher incidence in women where its cause is something other than asbestos, but science has not yet determined what the cause could be. Non-asbestos related mesothelioma in men without asbestos exposure is nearly nonexistent, so it is assumed that the development of peritoneal mesothelioma is linked to the female gender. Further study continues into the phenomenon of female peritoneal mesothelioma, but cases that are currently diagnosed continue to be treated similarly to how any case of mesothelioma is treated.