Incidence rates of mesothelioma have increased over the past 20 years with approximately 2,000 new cases of mesothelioma diagnosed in the United States alone each year. A forecast released by the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER) in April, 2003 projected that the total number of male mesothelioma cases between 2003 and 2054 will be approximately 71,000. Mesothelioma occurs more often in men than in women and risk increases with age, but this disease can appear in either men or women at any age.