Are You At Risk For Mesothelioma?
By Ike Uzoaru
Accepted causes of mesothelioma include exposure to asbestos, erionite exposure (In the country
ofTurkey only), rarely chronic irritation of the cavity containing the lungs(pleura), radiation
therapy for other cancers (controversial and disputed),simian virus 40, and unknown causes. Asbestos exposure has been the most investigated cause. In 1960 Wagner and associates first suggested the association of asbestos exposure and mesothelioma (Wagner JC et al. Diffuse pleural mesothelioma and asbestos exposure in the North Western Cape Province Br J Ind Med 196017:260-71). Exposure is usually by inhalation and entrapment of the asbestos fibers in the tissues affected. Subsequent studies in the US have confirmed this observation with 90 % of chest cavity(pleural) tumors and 60 % of abdominal cavity (peritoneal) tumors. Asbestos occurs in two mineralogic forms: 1)Amphiboles and
2)Chrysotile. Amphiboles consist of amosite and crocidolite which persist very long in tissues than
chrysotile. Chrysotile on the other hand disappears from tissue rapidly accounting for why mesothelioma occurrs more in people exposed to amosite and crocidolite and less in people exposed to chrysolite (McDonald JC, McDonald AD. Epidemiology of asbestos-related lung cancer. In: Antman K, Aisner J eds.
Asbestos-related malignancy. Orlando: Grune&Straton1987:57-79). It has been estimated that the risk of developing mesothelioma after exposure to the different fibers is as follows: 1(one) for chrysolite100 times increased risk after exposure to amosite and 500 times for crocidolite compared to people who were not exposed to asbestos(Hodgson Jt, Darnton A. The quantitative
risks of mesothelioma and lung cancer in relation to asbestos exposure. Ann Occup Hyg 200044:565-601). Other causes of mesothelioma includes radiation treatment for other cancers (Cavazza A, et al. Post-irradiation malignant mesothelioma. Cancer 1996 77:1379-85). However some larger studies did not show any increased risk of mesothelioma after radiation (Neugat AI, Ahsan H, Antman KH. Incidence of pleural mesothelioma after thoracic radiotherapy. Cancer 199780:948-50). From the foregoing, mesotheliomas both arise in patient who had been exposed to asbestos and does who have not. Exposure can be direct occurring in individual whom had direct contact with asbestos in their work environment and indirect in those who got exposed to things like clothing and work clothes of the workers who had the direct contact with asbestos.
Ike Uzoaru, M.D. is a physician practitioner.
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