Characteristics, etiology, and prevalence of asbestos-associated carcinoma (1978)

This book chapter reviewed published studies on carcinoma (mainly pulmonary carcinoma, excluding mesothelioma) in asbestos-exposed groups. It also presented data from the authors' own Mount Sinai cohorts of asbestos workers. The authors weighed the evidence against five criteria, including dose-response, animal experiments and cigarette smoking. In all four Mount Sinai cohorts, death rates from pulmonary carcinoma were much higher than expected from United States rates. The ratio of observed to expected deaths was 6.29 for amosite factory workers. The number of lung carcinoma deaths was highest 25 to 34 years after first exposure, though fewer workers remained at risk in later years. In one Mount Sinai cohort of 689 workers, no relationship was found between dust level and lung carcinoma. The authors suggested this might be because asbestosis killed heavily exposed workers first. Preliminary data showed that asbestos workers who smoked had a much greater lung cancer risk than those who did not. The authors concluded that pulmonary carcinoma occurred 2 to 8 times more often in exposed persons and that asbestos acts as a cocarcinogen. They judged the gastrointestinal evidence suggestive but not conclusive. They noted the data were incomplete and not always reliable.

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From J-M's medical library

This copy comes from the Johns-Manville medical library. J-M listed it in its medical library index as no. 004068.

We publish pages from a book for research and commentary: it shows what the medical literature in a leading asbestos company's own library said on the subject, and when. Our summary above is our own reading of it. The copyright stays with the publisher.