Of all the mesothelioma cases, pleural mesothelioma is the most common. The malignant type of pleural mesothelioma is even more common, as opposed to benign pleural mesothelioma. Pleural mesothelioma affects the areas around the lungs and respiratory region. The cells and the lining around the ribs and the lungs are affected as a result to exposure to the harmful particle asbestos. The symptoms for pleural mesothelioma appears much like the symptoms for other cases of mesothelioma. It takes at least twenty years for the symptoms to appear, and once they do, it is sometimes too late to treat. The symptoms are not unique symptoms to mesothelioma; they are symptoms that can occur to individuals suffering from numerous other diseases. Symptoms of pleural mesothelioma include persistent and excessive coughing, swelling in the face, a reduction in weight, difficulty swallowing, fever, and sometimes, shortness of breath. Sometimes the excessive coughing leads to the individual coughing up blood. If the tumor grows in size and spreads, the individual may experience severe pain in the chest area, and shortness of breath will result also. While malignant cases of pleural mesothelioma are cancerous, benign pleural mesothelioma cases are non-cancerous, and can often be removed through surgical procedures. Benign pleural mesotheliomas are usually not very dangerous, and they are not life-threatening. They aren’t even necessarily caused by exposure to asbestos, so they are very different than malignant mesotheliomas. Malignant cases account for two thousand deaths in the United States annually, so they are not as common as other types of mesothelioma cases.