Peritoneal mesothelioma, the rarer of the two forms, can lead to swelling, abdominal pain due to fluid buildup in the abdomen cavity, weight. The other more common pleural mesothelioma symptoms include chest pain and difficulty breathing. Other symptoms often noted among patients include weight loss, fever, cough and night sweats. Also occasionally a patient may be diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma before any symptoms manifest.

A misdiagnosed disease is often an opportunity for the disease to grow in the body. The only way to diagnose mesothelioma is to take a series of tests to discover if the disease is present. A common minimum link to determine the disease is finding the patients proximity to asbestos related environment for 15 - 50 years. If so then image scans can help diagnose the disease. Commonly these include taking a chest x-ray which will show a picture of the lungs to determine if there are any abnormal changes.

A CT scan, computer tomography, is a type of x-ray that uses a computer rather than film to display its images. It can be used to show three-dimensional representations of the relevant parts of the body.

The final type of imaging that may be used is an MRI scan, or magnetic resonance imaging. In an MRI, magnetism is used in conjunction with the computer to create clear images of your body.

If your doctor finds an unusual mass during the imaging process, they are most likely going to take a tissue sample (biopsy), or draw fluid from it to determine what type of tissue it is. Typically a needle is used to draw a small amount of fluid from the tissue. If the results are not able to rule out the condition completely, the next step would normally be to insert a small tube which is attached to a camera and to take a small piece of the tissue remotely. In some cases a more extensive surgical procedure may be needed in order to get a good sample of the tissue. The extreme complicated nature of the disease and fatal nature of the disease often arouses fear in a patients mind.