If you work on a job or perhaps worked on a job where you had to handle materials consisting of asbestos and you have frequent problems with your chest, then the chances are good that you might have mesothelioma. The main causes of mesothelioma is the inhaling of asbestos particles or the exposure to asbestos dust and fibre. It is the most severe form of cancer and up to now there has been no cure for this deadly disease. The nature of this form of cancer is the development of malignant cells in the protective lining that covers most of the body's internal organs. This protective lining is also called the mesothelium. The most common area in the body where it develops is the outer lining of the lungs and is called the pleura. Chest pains is a common mesothelioma symptom, accompanied with frequent shortness of breath, chronic coughing, tiredness, pneumonia, hoarseness, anemia, fluid covering the lungs and coughing up blood being the harshest mesothelioma symptom. Sometimes in very serious cases the person might have numerous tumor masses which will cause the lungs to collapse. This tumor masses will then usually spread to other parts of the body such as the abdominal cavity. Symptoms of this being abdominal pain, weight loss, fluid in the abdomen and problems with bowel functioning. The diagnosis is often difficult due to the fact that most mesothelioma symptom signs are similar to that of other conditions such as pneumonia etc. A medical history check usually gets done to see if the patient hasn't had any exposure to asbestos in the past. Treatment of the disease by using traditional therapies has proved unsuccessful and patients usually have an average survival time of 6 to 12 months prior to presentation. Treating mesothelioma is extremely costly and because of this many people file lawsuits to cover the expenses of the treatment. Patients of mesothelioma are able to claim for compensation by the government through the help of an attorney. Victims can also sue the companies they worked for, for not being considerate towards their employees health and only caring about the profit of the company.