Lung asbestos burden in shipyard and construction workers with mesothelioma: comparison with burdens in subjects with asbestosis or lung cancer.
Although mesothelioma is generally considered to be caused by asbestos, epidemiologic studies indicate that some cases have another cause. In order to determine whether pulmonary asbestos burden can be used to define asbestos-related mesotheliomas, asbestos burden was quantified in 27 shipyard or construction workers with diffuse malignant mesothelioma of the pleura or peritoneum and a history of asbestos exposure. Their burden was significantly greater than the burden found in 19 unexposed men (P less than 0.001). The burdens were also compared to those of previously reported subjects with asbestosis or lung cancer. The median concentration for total amphibole fibers (2.7 million/g dry lung) in subjects with mesothelioma did not differ significantly from our previously reported median values for 14 subjects with asbestosis (1.3 million/g dry lung) or for 60 asbestos workers with lung cancer (1.3 million/g dry lung). Fiber size distribution for amosite, the most prevalent fiber type, was similar in all three subject groups. Fifteen of 25 (60%) subjects with mesothelioma had mild asbestosis. Asbestos body (AB) concentrations were greater than or equal to 1900/g dry lung, and total amphibole fiber concentrations were greater than or equal to 390,000/g dry lung. Counts of ABs greater than or equal to 0.5/cm2 in histologic sections always signified both of these concentrations in extracts. Thus, histologic sections showing greater than or equal to 0.5 ABs/cm2 or extracts containing asbestos body or amphibole fiber concentrations of at least 1900 or 390,000/g dry lung, respectively, will confirm an asbestos-related mesothelioma.
Warnock
M L
ML
Department of Pathology, University of California, San Francisco 94143-0506.
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001194:Asbestos / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000032:analysis; D001195:Asbestosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D001344:Autopsy; D003252:Construction Materials / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000032:analysis / Q000473:pathology; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008654:Mesothelioma / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009326:Naval Medicine; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced
D001194:Asbestos