The biggest reasons for the high death rates among mesothelioma sufferers is the fact that the disease is extremely aggressive but also it shows no real outward signs until it gets into the later stages. Because mesothelioma symptoms don’t outwardly appear for up to fifty years, diagnosis didn’t happen until the disease was already to stage three or stage four. By this time, treatment became more focused on the comfort of the patient, rather than trying to cure the disease. The ability to diagnose the disease early would certainly give the patients a much better prognosis for life after mesothelioma. A new blood test shows great promise for early diagnosis of mesothelioma. Mesomark, which was developed by Fujirebio Diagnostics Inc. of Malvern, Pennsylvania, measures the amount of a particular biomarker within human serum. Fujirebio Diagnostics Inc. is a leader in the field of oncology testing and is currently proving themselves to be at the cutting edge of cancer technology. Their blood test was first released in Australia in March of 2005 and in Europ a few months later. In 2007, the FDA gave the test its stamp of approval. This is an easily performed test that measures the amount of ‘Soluble Mesothelin-Related-Peptides’ in human serum. SMRP is a biomarker that is produced by mesothelioma cells. The early detection of the biomarker can help attain an earlier diagnosis, giving doctors more treatment options and patients a better prognosis.