Mesothelioma life expectancy may range from 12 to 21 months after diagnosis, but many patients can live longer. Factors affecting mesothelioma survival rate include cancer stage, tumor location and mesothelioma cell type. The five-year survival rate for mesothelioma is approximately 12%.
What Is the Life Expectancy for Mesothelioma?
The life expectancy for mesothelioma patients varies from person to person based on several factors, including type of mesothelioma, but cancer stage is the most impactful.PLEURAL MESOTHELIOMA LIFE EXPECTANCY BY STAGE
- Patients with stage 1 pleural mesothelioma have an average life expectancy of 21 months.
- Patients with stage 2 pleural mesothelioma have an average life expectancy of 19 months.
- Patients with stage 3 pleural mesothelioma have an average life expectancy of 16 months.
- Patients with stage 4 advanced pleural mesothelioma have an average life expectancy of 12 months.
Doctors use the terms life expectancy, life span and survival rate to explain a patient’s prognosis. These terms are similar, but not interchangeable. It is helpful to understand what they mean for your mesothelioma prognosis.
- Prognosis is a patient’s chance of recovery.
- Life expectancy and life span describe how long someone is estimated to live with mesothelioma.
- Survival rate is the percentage of patients who live five years after diagnosis. It may also be measured at one and two years after diagnosis.
Asbestos cancer life expectancy varies in surgical patients diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma and peritoneal mesothelioma.
A 2017 analysis of 442 patients with mesothelioma showed median survival was nine months among pleural mesothelioma patients and 18 months in patients with peritoneal mesothelioma. The study included patients who did and did not receive treatment.
In this review, surgery, systemic therapy and particularly the combination of the two treatments were associated with better all-cause survival.
Pleural Mesothelioma Life Expectancy
Research shows some people with pleural mesothelioma, which occurs in the membrane surrounding the lungs, live an average of three years with surgery. Nearly 75% of all pleural mesothelioma patients live one year after their diagnosis. Only 23% survive for three or more years.
Peritoneal Mesothelioma Life Expectancy
With aggressive treatment, patients with peritoneal mesothelioma, which occurs in the lining of the abdomen, may live five or more years after receiving their cancer diagnosis.
Peritoneal mesothelioma is easier to treat with surgery than pleural mesothelioma. Surgery increases peritoneal mesothelioma life expectancy more than it does for pleural patients.
Life Expectancy for Other Mesothelioma Types
The rarest types of mesothelioma affect the membranes around the heart (pericardial mesothelioma) and the testes (testicular mesothelioma).
Median survival for pericardial mesothelioma is around six to 10 months. The life span for people with testicular mesothelioma is at least two years on average.
Factors Affecting Mesothelioma Life Expectancy
A person’s life expectancy with mesothelioma is affected by many factors you cannot control, including the stage of mesothelioma and your age at the time of diagnosis. Some factors can be controlled, such as undergoing mesothelioma treatments, participating in clinical trials and improving your overall health and lifestyle choices.
THE PRIMARY FACTORS AFFECTING MESOTHELIOMA LIFE EXPECTANCY INCLUDE:
- The cancer’s stage, type and the cells within the tumor
- Gender, age, overall health, lifestyle and blood characteristics
- Choice of treatments and clinical trials
Your life expectancy is an important part of your prognosis, which is the overall outlook of how mesothelioma will affect your body and life span.
Stage
The stage of mesothelioma at diagnosis is the most important factor determining life expectancy.
Staging is a medical designation to describe the extent of cancer progression at the time of diagnosis. Cancers are usually staged as 1-4. As the stage number increases, life expectancy decreases, and prognosis worsens.Mesothelioma Life Expectancy with Surgery by Stage
| STAGE | LIFE EXPECTANCY |
|---|---|
| Stage 1 | 22.2 months |
| Stage 2 | 20 months |
| Stage 3 | 17.9 months |
| Stage 4 | 14.9 months |
Source:Journal of Thoracic Oncology, 2016
Mesothelioma Cell Type
Mesothelioma patients with epithelial tumors, also called epithelioid cell type, live 200 days longer, on average, than patients with biphasic or sarcomatoid disease.
Sarcomatoid mesothelioma tends to be more aggressive and less responsive to treatment.
Age
Younger people tend to live longer with mesothelioma than older patients. Younger mesothelioma patients are often healthier, making them eligible for more treatments and clinical trials than older patients.
For people diagnosed earlier in life, these differences lead to longer life expectancy with mesothelioma.
A 2026 study using data from the National Cancer Database reviewed 4,526 newly diagnosed nonmetastatic malignant pleural mesothelioma patients 80 years and older.
IN THE STUDY:
- Only 2% received surgery and chemotherapy
- Most patients (63%) received no treatment
- Median survival for the observed (no treatment) group was 4.1 months
- Median survival for the surgery and chemotherapy group was 12.2 months
- Patients who only received chemotherapy survived 9.5 months on average
- For the 8% of patients who had surgery, 28.5% died within 90 days
While surgery can provide improved life expectancy in older mesothelioma patients, the risks of this aggressive approach are significant.DID YOU KNOW?Pleural and peritoneal mesotheliomas have a one-year life expectancy for late-stage patients who undergo only chemotherapy.
Learn more about mesothelioma survival rates
Gender
Women are much less likely to be diagnosed with mesothelioma, by an approximate 4-to-1 ratio. Women with epithelial mesothelioma also live longer, on average, compared to men with the same mesothelioma cell type.
The National Cancer Institute reports 15.6% of women with mesothelioma survive for five years. Only 8.8% of men live that long.
One reason women may live longer is they typically have had less intense exposure to asbestos, the primary cause of mesothelioma. This may lead to less aggressive tumors.
Another reason is the type of mesothelioma. Women are more likely to be diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma, which carries a better life expectancy and prognosis. Most men are diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma, which is tougher to treat and has a worse life expectancy compared with peritoneal mesothelioma.
A 2026 study published in American Journal of Surgical Pathology reported a five-year survival rate of 77.8% among women with peritoneal mesothelioma who underwent cytoreductive surgery with heated chemotherapy. On average, about 50% of men who undergo the procedure survive that long with the disease.
Overall Health and Lifestyle Choices
Having other chronic conditions, such as asbestosis, chronic bronchitis and emphysema (COPD), obesity, diabetes or heart disease, can decrease life expectancy after a mesothelioma diagnosis.
Tobacco use also can impact survival after mesothelioma.
Smoking does not cause mesothelioma, but it can worsen overall health in people with the disease, leading to shorter survival after diagnosis.