A study to evaluate asbestos fiber burden in lung and pleural malignancies.
BACKGROUND
There is scarcity of data on asbestos fiber burden in lung and pleural malignancies.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate asbestos fiber burden in biopsy samples of suspected lung and pleural malignancies.


METHODS
This was a single-centre, observational study.


METHODS
From August 2010 to July 2010.


METHODS
Department of Pulmonary Medicine, CSMMU, UP, Lucknow, a tertiary care hospital in India.


METHODS
Suspected cases of lung and pleural malignancy.


METHODS
Biopsy tissues taken by computed tomography (CT)-guided biopsy, bronchoscopic biopsy, and pleural biopsy by Cope's needle were analyzed for histopathology and asbestos burden by Haq et al.'s method.


RESULTS
20 patients were studied. Mean fiber burden was 9.25 × 10 4 fibers/g. Average burden in lung malignancies (11 patients) was 9.178 × 10 4 fibers/g and in pleural tissue (9 patients) was 9.332 × 10 4fibers/g. Among the different cell types, mean fiber burden in squamous cell carcinoma was 8.99 × 10 4 fibers/g, in adenocarcinoma was 9.71 × 10 4 fibers/g, and in small cell carcinoma was 7.54 × 10 4 fibers/g. Mean fiber burden in bronchoscopic endobronchial biopsy tissue was 10.69 × 10 4 fibers/g, while in CT-guided biopsy was 8.60× 10 4fibers/g.


CONCLUSIONS
Maximum number of fibers was found in adenocarcinoma.
Department of Pulmonary Medicine, CSMMU, Lucknow, UP, India.
S K
SK
Verma
Rahul
R
Srivastava
Surya
S
Kant
R
R
Prasad
R
R
Garg
Iqbal
I
Ahmad
Nuzhat
N
Husain
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001194:Asbestos / Q000032:analysis*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010997:Pleural Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology; D055752:Small Cell Lung Carcinoma / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology
D001194:Asbestos