Report of an Informal Session

Our plain-English summary of Report of an Informal Session, by J.C. Wagner, V. Timbrell (1973).

The study

• Authors: J.C. Wagner, V. Timbrell
• Published: BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF ASBESTOS (J.C. WAGNER, EDITOR), LYON: IARC SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS, VOLUME 8, PP. 337-338 (1973)
• Type of article: Conference paper
• Our copy: from Johns-Manville's own medical library. The article is still under copyright, so we describe it here rather than post it.

In plain English

This article reports an informal discussion session held at an IARC meeting on asbestos; it presents no new study. Participants felt that immunological study of diffuse mesotheliomas would be valuable, noting that the lapse between asbestos exposure and these tumours averaged 40 years. The only results available, described as preliminary, were presented by Dr J. S. P. Jones: a team in Nottingham had produced some evidence for cell-mediated immunity in mesotheliomas. Participants noted that several studies had shown increased cancers of the gastro-intestinal tract in asbestos workers, with an excess risk smaller than for lung cancer. They said the extra hazard of cigarette smoking for those exposed should be widely recognised. New observations that other fibres as fine as asbestos could produce mesotheliomas in experimental animals led to calls to study glass and other fibrous materials. Doubt was expressed about the role of manganese in mesotheliomas in the crocidolite mining area of north-western Cape Province, South Africa. The session recommended storing serum and lymphocytes from high-risk populations and standardising methods for assessing asbestos fibres in air and tissue, and suggested an IARC panel.

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: Report of an informal discussion session at a scientific meeting (no original study)
• Who was studied: No study population; the report records discussion among participants of the Working Group
• Exposure: Asbestos dust in general; discussion included crocidolite from the north-western Cape Province of South Africa and its manganese content, and other fine fibres such as glass
• Main results:
  • Participants stated that the lapse between asbestos exposure and development of mesotheliomas was on average 40 years
  • Preliminary results presented by Dr J. S. P. Jones: a Nottingham team had produced some evidence for cell-mediated immunity in mesotheliomas
  • Several studies had shown increased gastro-intestinal tract cancers in asbestos workers; the excess risk was less than for lung cancer
  • A preliminary Swedish investigation had shown that half the members of the insulation and construction unions were non-smokers
  • The extra hazard of cigarette smoking for those exposed to asbestos dust should be widely recognised
  • New observations that other fibres as fine as asbestos could produce mesotheliomas in experimental animals; participants said glass and other fibrous materials should be studied
  • Doubt was expressed about the relevance of manganese; there was no direct epidemiological or experimental evidence strongly pointing to its importance
  • It was recommended that serum and lymphocytes be obtained from populations at high risk and preserved for later study
• The authors' conclusion: The session stressed the need to standardise methods for assessing asbestos fibres in air samples and tissue, supported sample exchange, and suggested that IARC might establish a panel to study such problems

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: IARC, Mesothelioma, Asbestos Exposure, Lung Cancer, Crocidolite, Cape Province.

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