Mesothelioma
8.49 Mesothelioma is a rare cancer of the lining of the lung or abdomen. Approximately 8 out of 10 cases are caused by exposure to asbestos. The cancer has a long latency period with an average time from initial exposure to development of the disease of between 35 and 40 years, but is nearly always fatal within a year of diagnosis.
8.50 The rate of mesothelioma in the South West is significantly above that of England as a whole. Asbestos use was particularly high in the dockyard industry and the majority of cases that occur in the South West are clustered in and around Plymouth, though other cities with a history of shipbuilding also suffer similarly high rates. High levels of mesothelioma are also discernable around Bristol and Swindon, reflecting the industrial use of asbestos in these cities in the last century.
8.51 As might be expected, mesothelioma is most prominent in men who were of working age throughout the period in the 1950s and 1960s when asbestos use was at a peak. The incidence of mesothelioma is still rising and is not expected to peak until approximately 2014, nearly 40 years after regulations on environmental exposure to asbestos were first enforced.