History
The connection between asbestos exposure and mesothelioma was discovered in the 1970s. In the United States, asbestos manufacture stopped in 2002. Asbestos exposure thus shifted from workers in asbestos textile mills, friction product manufacturing, cement pipe fabrication, and insulation manufacture and installation to maintenance workers in asbestos-containing buildings. Society and culture
Notable cases
Mesothelioma, though rare, has had a number of notable patients:

Malcolm McLaren, musician and manager of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols, was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma in October 2009 and died on 8 April 2010 in Switzerland. Steve McQueen, American actor, was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma on December 22, 1979. He was not offered surgery or chemotherapy because doctors felt the cancer was too advanced. McQueen subsequently sought alternative treatments at clinics in Mexico. He died of a heart attack on November 7, 1980, in Juárez, Mexico, following cancer surgery. He may have been exposed to asbestos while serving with the U.S. Marines as a young adult—asbestos was then commonly used to insulate ships piping—or from its use as an insulating material in automobile racing suits (McQueen was an avid racing driver and fan). Mickie Most, record producer, died of peritoneal mesothelioma in May 2003; however, it has been questioned whether this was due to asbestos exposure. Warren Zevon, American musician, was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma in 2002, and died on September 7, 2003. It is believed that this was caused through childhood exposure to asbestos insulation in the attic of his fathers shop.
A procedure known as pleurodesis, which involves using substances such as talc to scar together the pleura, may be used to prevent more fluid from building up around the lungs. Chemotherapy often includes the medications cisplatin and pemetrexed. The percentage of people that survive five years following diagnosis is on average 8% in the United States.In 2015, about 60,800 people had mesothelioma, and 32,000 died from the disease. Rates of mesothelioma vary in different areas of the world. Rates are higher in Australia, the United Kingdom, and lower in Japan. It occurs in about 3,000 people per year in the United States. It occurs more often in males than females. Rates of disease have increased since the 1950s. Diagnosis typically occurs after the age of 65 and most deaths occur around 70 years old. The disease was rare before the commercial use of asbestos. Signs and symptoms
Lungs
Symptoms or signs of mesothelioma may not appear until 20 to 50 years (or more) after exposure to asbestos. Shortness of breath, cough, and pain in the chest due to an accumulation of fluid in the pleural space (pleural effusion) are often symptoms of pleural mesothelioma.Mesothelioma that affects the pleura can cause these signs and symptoms:
Chest wall pain
Pleural effusion, or fluid surrounding the lung
Shortness of breath – which could be due to a collapsed lung
Fatigue or anemia
Wheezing, hoarseness, or a cough
Blood in the sputum (fluid) coughed up (hemoptysis)In severe cases, the person may have many tumor masses. The individual may develop a pneumothorax, or collapse of the lung.