10 Causes of Mesothelioma Cancer

4. It depends on the genes

This particular disease cannot be passed on genetically, but it seems that certain people's genetic composition places them in a higher risk group. Medical scientists have not worked out why one person develops the disease after a single incidence of exposure to asbestos while others may work with it for years and stay healthy. This quagmire leads them to suspect there is a genetic element involved in the risk equation. Over recent years researchers in Hawaii believe they may have discovered an individual gene whose absence makes it more likely that the bearer will become ill from contact with asbestos. This gene could help explain the case of two people who work at the same job handling asbestos, but only one of them becomes ill.