Cancer Incidence in Asbestos-Exposed Workers: An Update on Four Finnish Cohorts

BACKGROUND: We assessed the cancer risks of four different Finnish asbestos-exposed cohorts. We also explored if the cohorts with varying profiles of asbestos exposure exhibited varying relative risks of cancer. METHODS: The incident cancer cases for the asbestos-exposed worker cohorts were updated to the end of 2012 using the files of the Finnish Cancer Registry. The previously formed cohorts consisted of asbestos mine workers, asbestosis patients, asbestos sprayers, and workers who had taken part in a screening study based on asbestos exposure at work. RESULTS: The standardized incidence ratio (SIR) for mesothelioma varied from about threefold to > 100-fold in the different cohorts. In the screening cohort the SIR for mesothelioma was highest in 2003–2007, In other cohorts it was more constant in 5-year period inspection. The SIR for lung cancer was about twofold to tenfold in all except the screening cohort. Asbestos sprayers were at the highest risk of mesothelioma and lung cancer. CONCLUSION: The SIR for mesothelioma is high in all of the cohorts that represent different kinds of asbestos exposure. The smaller SIR for mesothelioma in the screening cohort with lowest level of asbestos exposure might suggest dose-responsiveness between asbestos exposure and mesothelioma. It does seem that the highest risk of lung cancer in these cohorts except in the youngest of the cohorts, the screening cohort, is over. The highest SIR for lung cancer of the asbestosis patient and sprayers cohort is explained by their heavy asbestos exposure.

An analysis on plasma microRNA profiling and function among population exposed to asbestos / 预防医学

Objective To investigate the effects of asbestos exposure on plasma miRNA expression.Methods Plasma samples were collected from control group and asbestos -exposed group (time of exposure >10 years)and three samples from each group were selected to detect differentially expressed miRNA using LC Sciences miRNA Microarray -Single.The target genes of differential miRNA were predicted by three kinds of online software,Target Scan,miRanda and PicTar.GO term enrichment and KEGG pathways were analyzed.Results The results of microarray indicated that there were 40 differential miRNA expression between exposed and control groups(P <0.05),and the signal value of 9 differential miRNA exceeded 500.After analyzing signal pathways of target genes of 5 miRNA,of which the signal values were over 500,these target genes were found mainly involved in pathways associated with cancer and metabolism,including potential function targets of FAS,TP53 and FGFR3.Conclusion Asbestos exposure can result in differentially expressed miRNA in the plasma from workers occupationally exposed to asbestos and the target genes of these miRNA may play important roles in the pathways of cancer.However,the mechanism of these miRNA in asbestos -related diseases needs to be further studied in the future.

Asbestose / Asbestosis

Este artigo procura fazer uma revisão bibliográfica sobre asbestose recordando o que existe na literatura em relação ao tema, enfatizando principalmente o quadro clínico, os aspectos diagnósticos, o tratamento e as complicações. O estudo deste assunto é de fundamental importância para diferentes especialistas, incluindo pneumologistas, clínicos gerais, cirurgiões torácicos e médicos do Trabalho, pois dependendo do início de instalação, do grau de exposição ocupacional, da localização e do grau de comprometimento, a asbestose pode levar a diversos graus de manifestações clínicas, implicando, por vezes, em diagnósticos tardios ou mesmo incorretos, retardando a detecção do mesotelioma pleural e câncer de pulmão, que são suas principais complicações...

Compensation and Diagnosis of Asbestos Related Disease / 가정의학회지

Asbestos is a fibrous silicate that was widely used because of its heat resistance properties. Asbestos exposure affects workers involved in mining or processing asbestos or those involved in the use of asbestos in the shipbuilding, construction, and textile- and insulation-manufacturing industries. There are three commonly available types of asbestos; chrysotile (white asbestos), amosite (brown asbestos), and crocidolite (blue asbestos). All three have been associated with cancerous and non-cancerous lung disease. Asbestos-related diseases includes benign pleural effusion, pleural plaques, diffuse pleural thickening (a non-malignant disease affecting the lung lining), rounded atelectasis, asbestosis (a scarring of the lung tissue caused by asbestos), mesothelioma and lung cancer. Mesothelioma is a malignant pleural or peritoneal tumor that rarely occurs in patients who have not been exposed to asbestos. The latency period of most asbestos-related disease is 10 years or longer, asbestos-related disease remains an important public health issue. The clinical diagnosis of asbestos related diseases should be based on a detailed interview of the patient and occupational data on asbestos exposure, signs and symptoms, radiological and lung physiological findings and selected cytological, histological and other laboratory studies. Radiological imaging plays a pivotal role in the diagnosis and management of asbestos-related disease.

A case of Asbestosis, Pleural Effusion and Lung Cancer Caused by Long-Term Occupational Asbestos Exposure / 결핵

Asbestos is widely used in the textile, asbestos cement, construction products, friction material, paper products, insulation products, chemical and plastic products because of its heat resistance, flexibility, tensile strength, and texturability. It is now generally recognized that longterm and excessive inhalation of asbestos dust causes asbestosis, lung cancer, malignant mesothelioma and malignancies in other organs such as cancer of gastrointestinal tract, leukemia, lymphoma. Although eighty thousand tons of asbestos has been annually consumed since 1979 in korea, it has not been reported asbestos and lung cancer by asbestos dust so far, while a case of mesothelioma was officially diagnosis as a occupational disease at 1993. We experienced firstly a case of asbestosis and lung cancer caused simultanously by occupational asbestos exposure 11 years, which was confirmed by chest x-ray, pulmonary function test, chest CT and HRCT, bronchoalveolar lavage, and gallium scan. And so We present a case of asbestosis, pleural effusion and lung cancer with a review literature.

Survival Analysis of Hospitalized Mesothelioma Patients / 예방의학회지

Between 1977 and 1987, 20 patients with mesothelioma were treated at Severance Hospital. Data was gathered from medical charts at the time of hospitalization of mesothelioma patients and from a follow-up questionnaire by mail or telephone. The results acquired were as follows: 1. Among the 20 patients, 11 men and 9 women with mesothelioma were identified. The mean age at hospitalization was 47 years and 11 mesothelioma patients were known or presumed to be dead during the different observation periods. 2. Only one mesothelioma patient had a definite history of occupational asbestos exposure. 3. The sites of orgin of mesothelioma were the pleura(13), peritoneum(2), pericardium(2), mediastinum(2), and pelvis(1). Common symptoms included dyspnea, chest pain, abdominal distension, etc. 4. Pathologically, mesotheliomas were divided into 14 malignant types and 6 benign types ; and histologically, 8 fibrous mesotheliomas and 3 epithelial mesotheliomas were shown. 5. There was a statistically significant difference in survival rate according to pathologic type and smoking status. In the groups with malignant mesothelioma, 50% survival time from first symptoms was 18 months and that from diagnosis was 11 months. Also, 75% survival time from diagnosis was 6 months in the smoking groups and 19 months in the non-smoking groups.