Mesothelioma is caused by a material called asbestos. In the past, it was used extensively in manufacturing and other industries. Many workers inhaled the hazardous material without being aware of it or being given any sort of warning as to the dangers of asbestos exposure. Due to this, many are now being diagnosed with mesothelioma as a direct result of their exposure. Patients are facing not only a tough diagnosis and daunting medical expenses for treatment, but also the choice as to whether or not to file a lawsuit against the employers who allowed them to be exposed without warning them. Asbestos lawsuit settlements are turning into large reparations for patients, victims and their families.

One of the questions many mesothelioma patients have is not only whether or not to file an asbestos lawsuit, but what amount of settlement, if anything, they can expect to get from doing so. With their medical expenses for treatment looming, patients want to know if filing a lawsuit can benefit them, as well as their families and loved ones.

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Mesothelioma is a form of lung cancer that affects the outer lining of the lungs. This deadly disease has only one known cause: exposure to the fibrous material asbestos. Asbestos was used extensively in the past for building materials, insulation and other applications. When inhaled, it can lodge in the lungs and lead to mesothelioma. But it takes years, even decades, for the disease to progress and show itself. Today, even though asbestos is a known risk that workers are protected against, many are suffering from mesothelioma. The exposures that occurred in the past are only recently manifesting into fully-fledged cancers.

One result of this has been legal action. Those who were exposed to hazardous asbestos are now calling for those who may have caused the exposure through negligence or carelessness to account for allowing workers to inhale the dangerous material. To aid them, several attorneys and law firms have veered toward specializing in mesothelioma cancer legal cases.

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The development of asbestos induced disease can vary depending on several critical factors.  One interesting study that examines this issue is called, "Asbestos-induced phosphorylation of epidermal growth factor receptor is linked to c-fos and apoptosis" by Christine L. Zanella, Cynthia R. Timblin, Andrew Cummins, Michael Jung, Jonathan Goldberg, Rachel Raabe, Thomas R. Tritton, and Brooke T. Mossman - Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 277 - Vol. 277, Issue 4, L684-L693, October 1999.  Here is an excerpt: "We examined the mechanisms of interaction of crocidolite asbestos fibers with the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor (EGFR) and the role of the EGFR-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway in early-response protooncogene (c-fos/c-jun) expression and apoptosis induced by asbestos in rat pleural mesothelial (RPM) cells. Asbestos fibers, but not the nonfibrous analog riebeckite, abolished binding of EGF to the EGFR. This was not due to a direct interaction of fibers with ligand, inasmuch as binding studies using fibers and EGF in the absence of membranes showed that EGF did not adsorb to the surface of asbestos fibers. Exposure of RPM cells to asbestos caused a greater than twofold increase in steady-state message and protein levels of EGFR (P < 0.05).

The tyrphostin AG-1478, which inhibits the tyrosine kinase activity of the EGFR, but not the tyrphostin A-10, which does not affect EGFR activity, significantly ameliorated asbestos-induced increases in mRNA levels of c-fos but not of c-jun. Pretreatment of RPM cells with AG-1478 significantly reduced apoptosis in cells exposed to asbestos. Our findings suggest that asbestos-induced binding to EGFR initiates signaling pathways responsible for increased expression of the protooncogene c-fos and the development of apoptosis. The ability to block asbestos-induced elevations in c-fos mRNA levels and apoptosis by small-molecule inhibitors of EGFR phosphorylation may have therapeutic implications in asbestos-related diseases."

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