Children with Mesothelioma, Child Mesothelioma

It can be particularly troubling when a child is diagnosed with cancer. Childhood cancer is often a difficult battle, not only for the child, but also for their parents and loved ones, who have trouble accepting and coping with the ramifications of a serious illness in a child.Fortunately, there are several support structures available, not only for child patients, but for family members and loved ones as well. Children, while often fearful and naïve as to the gravity of a potentially terminal illness, also tend to possess strength of human spirit that is difficult to find in other older individuals.

Clearly, there is enough inspiration to be found in the millions of children who have already overcome cancer to inspire hope for the future and a cure.

In this section, we examine several aspects of childhood cancer, including children that have been diagnosed with mesothelioma. Please see our comprehensive cancer resources directory below to find out more about childhood cancer support programs that are available in your area.
Child Mesothelioma

Because it has a lengthy latency period and is primarily associated with industrial exposure, mesothelioma is a form of asbestos cancer that is usually diagnosed in older men. In fact, the average age at the time of diagnosis, is sixty-five.

Because it has a lengthy latency period and is primarily associated with industrial exposure, mesothelioma is a form of asbestos cancer that is usually diagnosed in older men. In fact, the average age at the time of diagnosis, is sixty-five.

Malignant mesothelioma, although extremely rare in children, has been known to occur. A study carried out and published in the late 1980’s examined eighty children who had been diagnosed with mesothelioma; only five percent of these subjects, however, had a known history of asbestos exposure. Of the eighty children studied, four had been knowingly exposed to asbestos, one had received radiation treatments and another had suffered from prenatal exposure to a drug known as isoniazid, which is used in the treatment of tuberculosis.