Mortality from all cancers of asbestos factory workers in east London 1933-80.
OBJECTIVE
To give the observed and expected deaths due to cancer at all separate sites in asbestos workers in east London, and to analyse these for overall effect and exposure-response trend.


METHODS
The mortality experience of a cohort of over 5000 men and women followed up for over 30 years since first exposure to asbestos has been extracted.


RESULTS
There was a large excess of deaths due to cancer (537 observed, 222 expected). Most of these were due to cancer of the lung (232 observed, 77 expected) and pleural (52) and peritoneal (48) mesothelioma. The exposure-response trend for all these three causes was highly significant. There was also an excess of cancer of the colon (27 observed, 15 expected) which was significantly related to exposure. There were significant excesses of cancer of the ovary, of the liver, and of the oesophagus but with no consistent relation to exposure.


CONCLUSIONS
The excess risk of cancer after exposure to asbestos was mainly due to cancer of the lung and mesothelioma. An exposure related excess of cancer of the colon was also detected but the possibility that some of these deaths may have been peritoneal mesotheliomas could not be excluded. There was no consistent evidence of exposure related excesses at any other site.
Berry
G
G
Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia. geoffb@pub.health.usyd.edu.au
Newhouse
M L
ML
Wagner
J C
JC
D001194:Asbestos / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002273:Carcinogens / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002423:Cause of Death; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008131:London / Q000453:epidemiology; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008654:Mesothelioma / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality*; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010534:Peritoneal Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D010997:Pleural Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality
D002273:Carcinogens; D001194:Asbestos