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Researchers in Japan set out to improve understanding of prognostic factors that increase mesothelioma patients’ chances of survival. Pleural mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer of the lining of the lung linked to inhaling microscropic asbsestos fibers.

The incidence of mesothelioma has been increasing in many countries as a result of widespread use of asbestos during much of the 20th century. Even today, millions of workers are still exposed to breathing toxic asbestos dust in the United States and in developing countries, health authorities estimate.

In a recent article in the Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology, researchers at the University of Tokyo reported the results of a study of 314 patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Of the patients in the study, 223 or 71 percent died during the course of the study while 40 (13 percent) were alive at the end of the observation period that began with the day of diagnosis. The remaining 16 percent transferred to other hospitals and were no longer tracked in the study. They reported that the median length of survival for patients in the study was roughly 10 months— 308 days.

Patients who were older than 70, who had a high white blood cell count or high levels of C-reactive protein were at great risk of dying more quickly from malignant mesothelioma, the researchers reported. Levels of C-reactive protein increase in the bloodstream in response to exercise, inflammation, infection trauma and burns and can be a sign of advanced cancer.

In addition, patients who had non-epithelioid forms of mesothelioma had lower survival rates, according to the study. There are three main types of malignant mesothelioma: epithelioid, sarcomatoid and biphasic or mixed.

Epithelioid mesothelioma accounts for 60 to 70 percent of all cases of mesothelioma and typically has the best prognosis, according to the MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas. Sarcomatoid accounts for 10 to 15 percent of mesothelioma cases and is a much more aggressive form of mesothelioma. Biphasic has characteristics of epithelioid and sarcomatoid, but has a lower survival tha epithelioid mesothelioma.