Cancer Of The Lungs And Other Diseases After Exposure To Asbestos Dust

Our plain-English summary of Cancer Of The Lungs And Other Diseases After Exposure To Asbestos Dust, by K.F.W. Hinson (1965).

The study

• Author: K.F.W. Hinson
• Published: British Journal Of Diseases Of The Chest 59(3):121-129, July (1965)
• Type of article: Journal article
• Our copy: from Johns-Manville's own medical library, J-M no. 001529. The article is still under copyright, so we describe it here rather than post it.

In plain English

This article by K.F.W. Hinson was a review of published work on disease after asbestos exposure. It was not a new study. It described the three commercial fiber types (chrysotile, spelled 'chrysostile' in the article, crocidolite and amosite), the features of asbestosis, and reports linking asbestos to lung cancer and to pleural and peritoneal tumours, including mesothelioma. Among the reviewed studies, Doll (1955) concluded that men employed in asbestos factories for 20 years or more had ten times the lung cancer risk of the general population. Braun and Truan concluded that Quebec asbestos miners did not have a significantly higher lung cancer death rate. Newhouse and Thompson found evidence of contact with asbestos in 51 of 96 patients with proven mesotheliomas. A 1957 report from a U.S. asbestos textile factory looked at autopsy and surgical material. It found bronchial carcinoma in 13 of 27 patients with asbestosis, a rate of about 50 per cent. The author wrote that this was similar to the author's own autopsy experience in the south of England. The author also wrote that diffuse pleural tumours are not confined to asbestos factories and may occur after intermittent, relatively light exposure.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Narrative review of published literature, with clinical and pathological description of asbestos-related disease. It reports no new study of its own.
• Who was studied: No study population of its own. The article reviewed published reports, mainly from England, the U.S.A., Quebec and South Africa. It also briefly refers to the author's own autopsy experience in the south of England, with no numbers given.
• Exposure: Asbestos dust, covering the three commercial varieties: chrysotile (spelled 'chrysostile' in the article), crocidolite and amosite. Exposures discussed include asbestos factory work, asbestos mining, and work by insulating engineers, laggers, boiler coverers and ship repairers.
• Main results:
  • Reviewed study by Doll (1955): among 113 men exposed to asbestos for at least 20 years, there were 11 lung cancers. Doll concluded that the lung cancer risk for men employed in factories for 20 years and more was ten times that of the general population.
  • Reviewed study by Braun and Truan: they followed a cohort of 6,091 asbestos miners in Quebec and concluded that these miners did not have a significantly higher lung cancer death rate than a comparable general population group.
  • Reviewed 1957 report from a U.S. asbestos textile factory (by O'Donnell and a co-author whose name is garbled in the scan): in autopsy and surgical material, bronchial carcinoma was found in 13 out of 27 patients with asbestosis. The author stated that this rate of about 50 per cent was similar to the author's own autopsy experience in the south of England.
  • Reviewed report by Selikoff, Churg and Hammond (1964): among 307 consecutive deaths of insulation workers in New York and Newark, there were ten mesothelioma-type tumours (4 pleural, 6 peritoneal).
  • Reviewed study by Newhouse and Thompson: of 96 patients with proven mesotheliomas, 51 had evidence of contact with asbestos. Of these, 31 had worked in an asbestos factory or as laggers, 9 were relatives of such workers, and 11 had lived near a factory.
• The authors' conclusion: The author stated that diffuse pleural tumours are not confined to asbestos factories and may be found among people with intermittent and relatively light exposure, such as insulation workers. The author also wrote that more information on the causes of these tumours is desirable.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Asbestos Exposure, Chrysotile, Crocidolite, Amosite, Lung Cancer, Mesothelioma, Autopsy, Carcinoma.

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