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International Journal of Environmental... Dec 2019This review updates the scientific literature concerning asbestos and lung cancer, emphasizing cumulative exposure and synergism between asbestos exposure and tobacco... (Review)
Review
This review updates the scientific literature concerning asbestos and lung cancer, emphasizing cumulative exposure and synergism between asbestos exposure and tobacco smoke, and proposes an evidence-based and equitable approach to compensation for asbestos-related lung cancer cases. This update is based on several earlier reviews written by the second and third authors on asbestos and lung cancer since 1995. We reevaluated the peer-reviewed epidemiologic studies. In addition, selected in vivo and in vitro animal studies and molecular and cellular studies in humans were included. We conclude that the mechanism of lung cancer causation induced by the interdependent coaction of asbestos fibers and tobacco smoke at a biological level is a multistage stochastic process with both agents acting conjointly at all times. The new knowledge gained through this review provides the evidence for synergism between asbestos exposure and tobacco smoke in lung cancer causation at a biological level. The evaluated statistical data conform best to a multiplicative model for the interaction effects of asbestos and smoking on the lung cancer risk, with no requirement for asbestosis. Any asbestos exposure, even in a heavy smoker, contributes to causation. Based on this information, we propose criteria for the attribution of lung cancer to asbestos in smokers and non-smokers.
Topics: Animals; Asbestos; Humans; Lung Neoplasms; Mesothelioma; Occupational Exposure; Tobacco Smoking
PubMed: 31905913
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17010258 -
Jornal Brasileiro de Pneumologia :... 2021Malignant mesotheliomas are rare types of cancers that affect the mesothelial surfaces, usually the pleura and peritoneum. They are associated with asbestos exposure,... (Review)
Review
Malignant mesotheliomas are rare types of cancers that affect the mesothelial surfaces, usually the pleura and peritoneum. They are associated with asbestos exposure, but due to a latency period of more than 30 years and difficult diagnosis, most cases are not detected until they reach advanced stages. Treatment options for this tumor type are very limited and survival ranges from 12 to 36 months. This review discusses the molecular physiopathology, current diagnosis, and latest therapeutic options for this disease.
Topics: Asbestos; Humans; Mesothelioma; Mesothelioma, Malignant; Pleura; Pleural Neoplasms
PubMed: 34909922
DOI: 10.36416/1806-3756/e20210129 -
Thoracic Surgery Clinics Nov 2020Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare, aggressive malignancy of the pleural lining associated with asbestos exposure in greater than 80% of cases. It is... (Review)
Review
Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare, aggressive malignancy of the pleural lining associated with asbestos exposure in greater than 80% of cases. It is characterized by molecular heterogeneity both between patients and within individual tumors. Next-generation sequencing technology and novel computational techniques have resulted in a greater understanding of the epigenetic, genetic, and transcriptomic hallmarks of MPM. This article reviews these features and discusses the implications of advances in MPM molecular biology in clinical practice.
Topics: Asbestos; Computational Biology; Epigenesis, Genetic; Gene Expression; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; Humans; Mesothelioma, Malignant; Pleural Neoplasms; Transcriptome
PubMed: 33012428
DOI: 10.1016/j.thorsurg.2020.08.005 -
Cells Feb 2020The link between asbestos exposure and the onset of thoracic malignancies is well established. However epidemiological studies have provided evidences that asbestos may... (Review)
Review
The link between asbestos exposure and the onset of thoracic malignancies is well established. However epidemiological studies have provided evidences that asbestos may be also involved in the development of gastrointestinal tumors, including intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). In line with this observation, asbestos fibers have been detected in the liver of patients with ICC. Although the exact mechanism still remains unknown, the presence of asbestos fibers in the liver could be explained in the light of their translocation pathway following ingestion/inhalation. In the liver, thin and long asbestos fibers could remain trapped in the smaller bile ducts, particularly in the stem cell niche of the canals of Hering, and exerting their carcinogenic effect for a long time, thus inducing hepatic stem/progenitor cells (HpSCs) malignant transformation. In this scenario, chronic liver damage induced by asbestos fibers over the years could be seen as a classic model of stem cell-derived carcinogenesis, where HpSC malignant transformation represents the first step of this process. This phenomenon could explain the recent epidemiological findings, where asbestos exposure seems mainly involved in ICC, rather than extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, development.
Topics: Asbestos; Bile Duct Neoplasms; Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; Cholangiocarcinoma; Humans; Liver; Liver Neoplasms; Risk Factors; Stem Cell Niche; Stem Cells
PubMed: 32059499
DOI: 10.3390/cells9020421 -
Respirology (Carlton, Vic.) May 2015Asbestos is a global killer. Despite lessons learned in the developed world on the use of asbestos and its hazardous pulmonary consequences, its use continues to... (Review)
Review
Asbestos is a global killer. Despite lessons learned in the developed world on the use of asbestos and its hazardous pulmonary consequences, its use continues to increase in Asia. Although some countries such as Japan, Korea and Singapore have curtailed the use of this mineral, there are numerous countries in Asia that continue to mine, import and use this fibre, particularly China, which is one of the largest consumers in the world. Numerous factors ranging from political and economic to the lack of understanding of asbestos and the management of asbestos-related lung disease are keys to this observed trend. Awareness of these factors combined with early intervention may prevent the predicted Asian 'tsunami' of asbestos diseases.
Topics: Asbestos; Asbestosis; Asia; China; Environmental Exposure; Humans; Indonesia; Industry; Japan; Lung Diseases; Lung Neoplasms; Mesothelioma; Republic of Korea; Singapore
PubMed: 25819225
DOI: 10.1111/resp.12517 -
International Journal of Environmental... Aug 2021Sailors have long been known to experience high rates of injury, disease, and premature death. Many studies have shown asbestos-related diseases among shipyard workers,... (Review)
Review
Sailors have long been known to experience high rates of injury, disease, and premature death. Many studies have shown asbestos-related diseases among shipyard workers, but few have examined the epidemiology of asbestos-related disease and death among asbestos-exposed sailors serving on ships at sea. Chrysotile and amphibole asbestos were used extensively in ship construction for insulation, joiner bulkhead systems, pipe coverings, boilers, machinery parts, bulkhead panels, and many other uses, and asbestos-containing ships are still in service. Sailors are at high risk of exposure to shipboard asbestos, because unlike shipyard workers and other occupationally exposed groups, sailors both work and live at their worksite, making asbestos standards and permissible exposure limits (PELs). based on an 8-h workday inadequate to protect their health elevated risks of mesothelioma and other asbestos-related cancers have been observed among sailors through epidemiologic studies. We review these studies here.
Topics: Asbestos; Asbestos, Serpentine; Humans; Mesothelioma; Military Personnel; Ships
PubMed: 34444165
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18168417 -
La Medicina Del Lavoro Feb 2020«Reconstruction of the asbestos exposure in a textile company producing sewing threads through the use of an unusual information source».
UNLABELLED
«Reconstruction of the asbestos exposure in a textile company producing sewing threads through the use of an unusual information source».
BACKGROUND:
The Tuscan Regional Operating Center (ROC) of Malignant Mesotheliomas has identified a cluster of 11 cases of malignant mesothelioma occurred in a textile plant manufacturing sewing thread. Using the common research method, the ROC had not previously been able to identify the specific sources of asbestos exposure causing such a large cluster.
OBJECTIVES:
The ROC’s objective was to review all cases of the cluster and to better identify their occupational asbestos exposures.
METHODS:
The cases’ occupational histories of asbestos exposure have been reviewed, using information deriving from the annual reports sent to the Tuscany Region since 1988 by all the asbestos removal companies according to the Law no. 257/1992, article 9, and from interviews to former employees of the plant.
RESULTS:
The work cycle has been reconstructed and enriched with the new information about the asbestos presence and its uses in the plant. The eleven cases were all reclassified as “certainly occupational exposed” given that the new collected information depicted a widespread asbestos pollution of the workplace during the period of employment of all cases.
CONCLUSIONS:
Using different sources of information, in addition to those traditionally collected through questionnaires, to reconstruct past asbestos exposuresallowed us to clarify the existence of the cluster of mesothelioma cases and the highest level of occupational asbestos exposure was attributed to all cases with consequent activation of the medico-legal procedure.
Topics: Asbestos; Humans; Lung Neoplasms; Mesothelioma; Occupational Diseases; Occupational Exposure; Pleural Neoplasms
PubMed: 32352426
DOI: 10.23749/mdl.v111i2.8837 -
The Permanente Journal Dec 2020
Topics: Asbestos; Humans; Male; Prostatic Neoplasms
PubMed: 33635783
DOI: 10.7812/TPP/20.215.1 -
La Medicina Del Lavoro Feb 2019.
UNLABELLED
.
BACKGROUND:
In 2016 the Administration of the Tuscany Region, Italy, established a health surveillance programme for workers with past asbestos exposure. The programme includes two levels of activities, a local basic health evaluation, and a centralized in-depth evaluation of specific cases.
OBJECTIVES:
To estimate the number and identify the workers with past exposure to asbestos in Tuscan industrial settings entitled to participate in the health surveillance programme.
METHODS:
The number of formerly-exposed workers was estimated from the records of the working population of 15,441 workers of thirteen Tuscan asbestos industrial plants and from the existing data bases of the Local Health Administrations (USLs) and the Institute for Study, Prevention and Cancer Network (ISPRO), and from national data bases such as Social Security Administration (INPS) and National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (INAIL). The expected number of medical examinations per year was estimated from the adhesion rates seen in previous comparable programmes.
RESULTS:
The estimated number of workers with past asbestos exposure eligible to the programme was 5,446. The estimated number of health examinations in the first and second phases of the surveillance programme during 2016-24 was 7,275 and 7,155, respectively, follow-up examinations included. The number of workers identified from local data bases was 4,713: They had been operating in 129 plants that had been using asbestos in the past. Further 1,395 workers were identified from previous health surveillance activities.
CONCLUSIONS:
T
Topics: Asbestos; Humans; Industry; Italy; Occupational Exposure; Occupational Health Services; Population Surveillance
PubMed: 30794248
DOI: 10.23749/mdl.v110i1.7739 -
Occupational and Environmental Medicine Oct 2022The aim of this study was to analyse, within a French cohort of workers previously occupationally exposed to asbestos, incidence and mortality from various sites of head...
OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to analyse, within a French cohort of workers previously occupationally exposed to asbestos, incidence and mortality from various sites of head and neck cancers (larynx excluded) and to examine the potential link of these cancers with pleural plaques.
METHODS
A 10-year follow-up study was conducted in the 13 481 male subjects included in the cohort between October 2003 and December 2005. Asbestos exposure was assessed by industrial hygienist analysis of a standardised questionnaire. The final cumulative exposure index (CEI; in equivalent fibres.years/mL) for each subject was calculated as the sum of each employment period's four-level CEI. The number of head and neck cancers recorded by the National Health Insurance fund was collected in order to conduct an incidence study. Complementary analysis was restricted to men who had performed at least one chest CT scan (N=4804). A mortality study was also conducted. We used a Cox model with age as the time axis variable adjusted for smoking, time since first exposure, CEI of exposure to asbestos and pleural plaques on CT scans.
RESULTS
We reported a significant dose-response relationship between CEI of exposure to asbestos and head and neck cancers after exclusion of laryngeal cancers, in the mortality study (HR 1.03, 95% CI (1.01 to 1.06) for an increase of 10 f.years/mL) and a close to significant dose-response relationship in the incidence study (HR 1.02, 95% CI (1.00 to 1.04) for an increase of 10 f.years/mL). No statistically significant association between pleural plaques and head and neck cancer incidence was observed.
CONCLUSIONS
This large-scale study suggests a relationship between asbestos exposure and head and neck cancers, after exclusion of laryngeal cancers, regardless of whether associated pleural plaques were present.
Topics: Asbestos; Follow-Up Studies; Head and Neck Neoplasms; Humans; Laryngeal Neoplasms; Lung Neoplasms; Male; Occupational Exposure; Pleural Diseases
PubMed: 35393288
DOI: 10.1136/oemed-2021-108047