Mesothelioma with lung cancer complicating asbestosis

Our plain-English summary of Mesothelioma with lung cancer complicating asbestosis, by T. Okumura, M. Okada, M. Tsuji, et al (Acta Pathologica Japonica, 1980).

The study

• Authors: T. Okumura, M. Okada, M. Tsuji, A. Inoue, Y. Ochiai
• Journal: Acta Pathologica Japonica
• Published: 1980;30(4):579-90
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 11 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy.

Abstract

The patient had been employed in an asbestos factory for four years from the age of 16. Five years ago, she complained of sputum and cough, and she was treated for chronic bronchitis. From March, 1977, when she was 53 years old, hydrothorax and ascites increased, her weight decreased and she was hospitalized for cachexia. The clinical diagnosis of malignant diffuse mesothelioma was made on the presence of atypical cells in the effusions. Atypical cells showed a positive colloidal iron staining test and positive hyaluronidase digestion test. Asbestos bodies were found in the sputum. The patient died on February 1978. Postmortem confirmed asbestosia and mesothelioma which was scattered over the pleura, pericardial sac, diaphragma, peritoneum and pancreas. In addition, bronchiolo-alveolar cell type lung cancer was found localized in the lower lobe of the left lung. The electron beam diffraction disclosed the asbestos as amosite (brown asbestos).

In plain English

This was a case report of one woman who had worked for four years, from age 16, in an asbestos factory in Osaka, Japan. From about age fifty she had cough and sputum. In March 1977 she was hospitalized with weight loss and fluid around the lungs and in the abdomen. Cells in the fluid, special stains and a peritoneal biopsy led to a diagnosis of mesothelioma. Drug treatment had no effect, and she died in February 1978. At autopsy, malignant diffuse mesothelioma of the epithelial cell type involved the pleura, pericardial sac, diaphragm, peritoneum and pancreas. It was too widespread to tell where it began. A separate bronchiolo-alveolar cell type lung cancer was found in the lower lobe of the left lung, and stains indicated it had not spread to the pleura or peritoneum. The lungs showed moderate asbestosis, and asbestos bodies from lung tissue were identified as amosite (brown asbestos). The authors suggested there could be some relationship between the asbestosis and both the mesothelioma and the lung cancer.

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: case report (single autopsy case)
• Who was studied: One female patient, a former asbestos factory worker in Osaka. She was hospitalized in March 1977 and died in February 1978.
• Exposure: Four years of employment, from age 16, in an asbestos factory in Osaka. Asbestos bodies recovered from lung tissue were identified as amosite (brown asbestos).
• Main results:
  • While she was alive, staining tests on cells from the effusion led to a diagnosis of mesothelioma.
  • Immuno-chemotherapeutic treatment had no effect, and the patient died on 18 February 1978.
  • At autopsy, mesothelioma was found scattered over the pleura, pericardial sac, diaphragm, peritoneum and pancreas.
  • The pleural and peritoneal tumors were malignant diffuse mesotheliomas of the epithelial cell type.
  • The mesothelioma was too widespread to determine its primary site.
  • A bronchiolo-alveolar cell type lung cancer was found in the lower lobe of the left lung.
  • Histochemical tests indicated the lung cancer had not spread into the pleura or peritoneum.
  • The case was graded as moderate asbestosis.
  • Asbestos bodies were found in the sputum.
  • Asbestos bodies from the lung were identified as amosite (brown asbestos) by electron beam diffraction.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors suggested that, given her asbestos exposure and confirmed asbestosis, there could be some relationship between the asbestosis and both the diffuse mesotheliomas and the bronchiolo-alveolar cell type lung cancer.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors could not determine whether the mesothelioma originated in the pleura or the peritoneum.
  • The authors noted that the colloidal iron and hyaluronidase staining used in diagnosis is not specific for mesothelioma.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Asbestosis, Lung cancer, Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Mesothelioma, Lung Cancer, Sputum, Ascites, Cachexia, Asbestos Bodies, Pleura, Pericardial.

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