Determining Whether Cancer is Related to Asbestos Exposure

1. What type of cancer do you have?
   If you have cancer other than mesothelioma, the first question to ask is whether you have a form of cancer that may be caused by exposure to asbestos. There is evidence that the following types of cancer may be asbestos-related.

   • Lung cancer
   • Colon cancer (also known as colorectal cancer)
   • Esophageal cancer
   • Laryngeal cancer
   • Stomach cancer
   
   
2. Were you exposed to asbestos in the period from 15-50 years before you were diagnosed with cancer?
   It takes 15-50 for cancer to develop after a person is exposed to asbestos. This question is easy to answer for someone who knew at the time that he or she was working with asbestos. But many people were exposed without their knowledge. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that 27 million American Workers had significant asbestos exposure on the job between 1940 and 1980. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) estimates that 1.3 million in construction and general industry face significant asbestos exposure on the job. And it has been estimated that as many as 3,000 consumer products were made with asbestos. For more information on how you may have been exposed to asbestos, see our How Could I Have Been Exposed to Asbestos page.
   
   
3. What was the extent of your exposure to asbestos?
   Although there is no known safe level of exposure to asbestos, we would want to find out the extent of your exposure.
   
   
4. Did you smoke cigarettes?
   Some people who were exposed to asbestos and developed lung cancer were also (or are) cigarette smokers. This does not mean that asbestos did not play a role in causing your lung cancer. Combining smoking with asbestos exposure significantly increases the risk of developing lung cancer. Being a smoker does not automatically mean that you do not have an asbestos case.
   
   
5. Do the medical experts believe that asbestos caused your cancer?
   If you submit one of our Free Case Review Forms and our experienced attorneys believe that there is a significant possibility that your cancer was caused by asbestos, and the exposure was the fault of an existing, solvent company, then we will obtain copies of your medical records and have them reviewed by one or more expert physicians who will give us an opinion about whether asbestos likely caused your cancer. We pay the costs to obtain the medical records, and we pay the fees of the expert(s), all free-of-charge to you. It’s just one of the services the Mesothelioma Attorney Alliance offers you.