Getting diagnosed
It can be hard for GPs to decide who may have cancer and who might have a more minor condition. For some symptoms, your doctor may ask you to wait to see if the symptoms get better or respond to treatment, such as antibiotics.
But there are certain symptoms, which could be caused by pleural mesothelioma, that mean your GP should send you for an urgent chest x-ray or refer you to a specialist.
There are guidelines for GPs to help them decide who needs a referral. These vary slightly between the different UK nations. Your GP will use these guidelines as well as their own experience and judgement.
The guidance below is based on the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines for England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland do not have specific referral guidelines for mesothelioma.
Your GP should offer you an urgent appointment for a chest x-ray (within 2 weeks) if you are aged 40 or over and have 2 or more of the unexplained symptoms on the following list. Or, if you have a history of smoking or previous exposure to asbestos and you have 1 or more of the following unexplained symptoms:
a cough
tiredness (fatigue)
shortness of breath
chest pain
weight loss
loss of appetite
Your GP should consider offering you an urgent appointment for a chest x-ray (within 2 weeks) if you are aged 40 or over and have:
changes in the shape of your fingers and nails called finger clubbing
chest symptoms that could indicate lung disease, such as a cough, shortness of breath or chest pain
You should have an urgent referral to see a specialist if:
your chest x-ray shows changes that could be due to mesothelioma
There are no guidelines for seeing a specialist for peritoneal mesothelioma. If you know that you have been exposed to asbestos in the past and you have unexplained symptoms in your tummy (abdomen), you should see your GP.
Read more about symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma
Your GP will consider any other symptoms that you are having, so do mention these. They might also take into account whether you have any risk factors that affect your chances of developing mesothelioma.
Sometimes you might feel that your GP is not concerned enough about your symptoms. If you think they should be more concerned, print this page and the symptoms page and talk it through with your GP. Ask them to explain why they don’t think you need a referral.
If your GP has referred you, ask them when you should get your appointment. Contact them again if you don’t get one. Or some hospitals have a referral service you could try contacting if you know which hospital you are going to. Explain that you are waiting for an urgent suspected cancer referral
Go to more information about an urgent referral, what to expect and questions to ask
Your hospital is working towards waiting time targets. For example, a target to find out whether you have cancer or not. And there are targets to start treatment if you are diagnosed with cancer. These are slightly different depending on where you live in the UK.
Last reviewed: 19 May 2023
Next review due: 19 May 2026
Mesothelioma can be difficult to diagnose. You usually have a number of tests to check whether your symptoms are due to mesothelioma. Once mesothelioma is diagnosed, you have further tests to find out how big the tumour is and whether it has spread.
You usually start by seeing your GP who might refer you to a specialist. Or you might go to Accident and Emergency (A&E) if you suddenly have severe symptoms.
The treatment you have depends on the stage and type of your mesothelioma. Some people with early stage mesothelioma have surgery. Other treatments include immunotherapy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Mesothelioma is a cancer that most commonly starts in the layers of tissue that cover each lung (the pleura). Read more about how common it is, what it is and who gets it.
Mesothelioma is a cancer that most commonly starts in the sheets of skin-like tissue that cover each lung (the pleura). More rarely it starts in the sheet of tissue in the abdomen that covers the digestive system organs (the peritoneum).
Finger clubbing means there are changes in the shape of your fingers and fingernails. It is also called digital clubbing or Hippocratic fingers. People with heart or lung problems sometimes have these changes.
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