Association of mesothelioma deaths with neighborhood asbestos exposure due to a large‐scale asbestos‐cement plant

Kitamura, Yuri; Zha, Ling; Liu, Rong; Shima, Masayuki; Nakaya, Tomoki; Kurumatani, Norio; Kumagai, Shinji; Goji, Junko; Sobue, Tomotaka

doi:10.1111/cas.15802

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…In addition, the availability of longitudinal exposure patterns based on patient residential history may have important implications, such as tracking the inducement and survival conditions for mesothelioma patients, investigating susceptible time window and latency period, studying disease development of mesothelioma and different cancer types. While the current study was a case-only design and specific to mesothelioma which has a known etiology, our methods can be applied to future studies with comparison groups to further study mesothelioma patients, as have been shown in other studies based on population-level mesothelioma registries where residential history information is available, as well as other cancer types ( 7 - 9 , 11 , 12 , 31 - 33 ). With increasingly available geocoding and geospatial analytical tools, as well as refined data on environmental and socioeconomic factors, utilization of patients’ residential history as opposed to single address at diagnosis will lead to improved exposure and health risk estimates.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The median age of diagnosis is 72 years for the malignant pleural mesothelioma, the major form of mesothelioma, and the 5-year relative survival rate is only 12% ( 4 ). Workplace asbestos exposure is the dominant contributor to mesothelioma, though para-occupational (or take-home) exposure and environmental exposure to asbestos (e.g., residing in close proximity to asbestos sources) also play a critical role of mesothelioma development ( 5 - 9 ). Studies from mesothelioma registries in many countries have been instrumental in providing rich information, including specifically residential histories, to understand the impact of asbestos exposure at scale, and to investigate known and unknown asbestos exposure sources ( 8 , 10 - 12 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Utilizing residential histories to assess environmental exposure and socioeconomic status over the life course among mesothelioma patients

Liu,

Niu,

Lee

2023

J Thorac Dis

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Background Exposure misclassification based solely on the address at cancer diagnosis has been widely recognized though not commonly assessed. Methods We linked 1,015 mesothelioma cases diagnosed during 2011–2015 from the New York State Cancer Registry to inpatient claims and LexisNexis administrative data and constructed residential histories. Percentile ranking of exposure to ambient air toxics and socioeconomic status (SES) were based on the National Air Toxic Assessment and United States Census data, respectively. To facilitate comparisons over time, relative exposures (REs) were calculated by dividing the percentile ranking at individual census tract by the state-level average and subtracting one. We used generalized linear regression models to compare the RE in the past with that at cancer diagnosis, adjusting for patient-level characteristics. Results Approximately 43.7% of patients had residential information available for up to 30 years, and 96.0% up to 5 years. The median number of unique places lived was 4 [interquartile range (IQR), 2–6]. The time-weighted-average RE from all addresses available had a median of −0.11 (IQR, −0.50 to 0.30) for air toxics and −0.28 (IQR, −0.65 to 0.25) for SES. RE associated with air toxics (but not SES) was significantly higher for earlier addresses than addresses at cancer diagnosis for the 5-year [annual increase =1.24%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.71–1.77%; n=974] and 30-year (annual increase =0.36%; 95% CI: 0.25–0.48%; n=444) look-back windows, respectively. Conclusions Environmental exposure to non-asbestos air toxics among mesothelioma patients may be underestimated if based solely on the address at diagnosis. With geospatial data becoming more readily available, incorporating cancer patients’ residential history would lead to reduced exposure misclassification and accurate health risk estimates.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Utilizing residential histories to assess environmental exposure and socioeconomic status over the life course among mesothelioma patients

Liu,

Niu,

Lee

2023

J Thorac Dis

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Association of mesothelioma deaths with neighborhood asbestos exposure due to a large‐scale asbestos‐cement plant

et al. 2023

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A causal relationship between mesothelioma and occupational asbestos exposure is well known, while some studies have shown a relationship to non-occupational exposures. The aim of this study was to quantify the risk of mesothelioma death associated with neighborhood asbestos exposure due to a large-scale asbestos-cement (AC) plant in Amagasaki, Japan, adjusting properly risk factors including occupational exposures.We conducted a nested case-control study in which a fixed population of 143,929 residents who had been living in Amagasaki City between 1975 and 2002 were followed from 2002 to 2015. All 133 cases and 403 matched controls were interviewed about their occupational, domestic, household, and neighborhood asbestos exposures. Odds ratios (ORs) for mesothelioma death associated with the neighborhood exposure were estimated by a conditional logistic-regression model. For quantitative assessments for neighborhood exposure, we adopted cumulative indices for individuals' residential histories at each residence-specific asbestos concentration multiplied by the duration during the potential exposure period of 1957-1975 (crocidolite). We observed an increasing, dose-dependent risk of mesothelioma death associated with neighborhood exposure, demonstrating that ORs in the highest quintile category were 21.4 (95% confidence interval [CI] 5.8-79.2) for all, 23.7 (95% CI 3.8-147.2) for males, and 26.0 (95% CI 2.8-237.5) for females compared to the lowest quintile, respectively.A quantitative assessment for risk of mesothelioma deaths, adjusting for occupational and non-occupational exposures separately, showed a dose-dependent association with neighborhood exposure and no substantial gender differences in magnitude.

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Malignant mesothelioma in females: the institutional failure by WHO and IARC to protect public health

Baur,

Frank,

Magnani

et al. 2023

The Journal of Scientific Practice and Integrity

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Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is a highly aggressive and difficult-to-diagnose tumor that is almost always caused by asbestos or other asbestiform fibers. Chapter 2 in the Fourth (2015) and Fifth (2021) Editions of the WHO/IARC Classification of Tumours is devoted to the classification and pathologic diagnosis of MM. The authors of these Chapters state that most of the cases of MM in females do not show asbestos as the cause when, in fact, the epidemiologic literature shows that the risk of MM in females exposed to asbestos approaches that in males. While it is correct that the overall incidence of MM in females is lower than in males, the view that MM in females is not caused by asbestos is unsupported. This view results from an inadequate occupational history, the failure to recognize the importance of environmental exposures, and the misrepresentation of published literature by the selection of limited literature and biased bibliographies, often by authors with financial conflicting interests. In this article, we present an example of the institutional failure (1) to protect the public health by permitting the publication of inaccurate statements about the adverse health effects of exposure to asbestos among females, and (2) to make suggested corrections that more accurately reflect reality. Responsibility for correcting the misinformation lies, in our assessment, both with the authors of the erroneous statements and with the editors and publisher of the books that contain these statements. At issue is nothing less than scientific accuracy, the fate of at-risk females for whom early diagnosis could result in improved health outcome, a missed opportunity to promote primary and secondary prevention, and the social injustice of the loss of compensation for females so affected. We describe the steps that we took to correct the inaccuracies, and to expose the dereliction of duty among responsible parties based, at least in part, on what we believe to be undisclosed conflicting interests. Our efforts failed.

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Association of mesothelioma deaths with neighborhood asbestos exposure due to a large‐scale asbestos‐cement plant

Cited by 3 publications

References 26 publications

Utilizing residential histories to assess environmental exposure and socioeconomic status over the life course among mesothelioma patients

Utilizing residential histories to assess environmental exposure and socioeconomic status over the life course among mesothelioma patients

Association of mesothelioma deaths with neighborhood asbestos exposure due to a large‐scale asbestos‐cement plant

Malignant mesothelioma in females: the institutional failure by WHO and IARC to protect public health

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