Regular chest x-rays are essential to follow the course of people with any significant asbestos exposure, although the scar tissue and shadows related to asbestosis that are seen on the x-rays will be chronic and may progress slowly over the years even without the development of malignant mesothelioma. The tumor may not appear on a chest x-ray as a single mass with sharp edges, so rather than depend on x-rays as a screening method, the best procedure is to biopsy any suspicious area for a possible malignancy.
