Sometimes referred to as asbestos-related lung cancer, mesothelioma is not the same as lung cancer. Sometimes people who worked with asbestos for as little as one or two months get mesothelioma. The armed forces used asbestos extensively in the 20th century. Because of the long latency period, many veterans are only now being diagnosed.
For the period 1990–2000, cases were collected from records held by two law firms. Information on jobs held, previous employers, activities etc. The average latency period was ~ 40 yr and the average duration of exposure was 22 years. Ship building and maintenance contributed the largest number of cases. Due to the long latency period, asbestos exposure from 1960 to 1980 will cause a considerable number of mesothelioma cases in the next two decades.
Chronic symptoms are long term effects where acute symptoms are generally irritating effects associated with exposure. Latency of malignant mesothelioma generally shows a large variability and the relationship with the modality of asbestos exposure is still not fully clarified.
