Mesothelioma and asbestos fiber type. Evidence from lung tissue analyses

Jc, McDonald; Armstrong, Ben; Case, Bruce W.; Doell, D.; McCaughey, W.; McDonald, Alison D.; Sébastien, P.

doi:10.1002/1097-0142(19890415)63:8<1544::aid-cncr2820630815>3.0.co;2-g

Cited by 153 publications

(53 citation statements)

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“…Up to the present, to clarify asbestos fibers associated with the induction of human malignant mesothelioma, researchers have been focusing almost exclusively on asbestos fibers in the lung tissue taken from mesothelioma patients [10][11][12][13][14] . We have questioned the adequacy of such an approach since; a) the primary site of malignant mesothelioma is not the lung but the mesothelial tissue (pleural or peritoneal).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Asbestos Tissue Burden Study on Human Malignant Mesothelioma.

Suzuki

Yuen

2001

INDUSTRIAL HEALTH

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Asbestos fibers in the lung and mesothelial tissues (mesotheliomatous tissue and hyaline plaque) taken from 151 human malignant mesothelioma cases were identified and characterized by high resolution analytical electron microscopy. Asbestos fibers were present in almost all of the lung tissue as well as in the mesothelial tissue. The most common asbestos types seen in the lung were an admixture of chrysotile with amphiboles followed by amphiboles alone and chrysotile alone. The majority of asbestos types seen in the mesothelial tissues were chrysotile alone, followed by chrysotile plus amphibole and amphibole alone. A disproportion of asbestos types between the lung and mesothelial tissues was frequently observed. The most common pattern of the disproportion was chrysotile plus amphibole(s) in the lung and chrysotile only in the mesothelial tissues, followed by amphibole(s) in the lung and chrysotile only in the mesothelial tissues. Such a disproportion was considered to have been caused by chrysotile fiber's strong capacity to translocate from the lung to mesothelial tissues. The number of asbestos fibers in the lung was 456.4 × × × × × 10 6 fibers/dry gram in maximum, 0.08 × × × × × 10 6 fibers/dry gram in minimum and 105 × × × × × 10 6 fibers/dry gram on average; in the mesothelial tissues it was 240.0 × × × × × 10 6 fibers/dry gram in maximum, 0.03 × × × × × 10 6 fibers/dry gram in minimum and 49.84 × × × × × 10 6 fibers/dry gram on average. These numbers were greater than those seen in the general population. The majority of asbestos fibers detected in the lung and mesothelial tissues were shorter than 5 µm in length. Asbestos fibers fit to Stanton's hypothetical dimensions (≥8.0 µm in length and ≤0.25 µm in diameter) were only 4.0%, since the majority of these fibers were shorter (<8 µm) and thinner (<0.25 µm) fibers. We concluded that such short, thin asbestos fibers should not be excluded from those contributing to the induction of human malignant mesothelioma. The present study supports that chrysotile asbestos can induce human malignant mesothelioma, since, in some of the mesothelioma cases, asbestos fibers detected in both the lung and mesothelial tissues, or lung tissue alone or mesothelial tissues alone were exclusively chrysotile fibers.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Asbestos Tissue Burden Study on Human Malignant Mesothelioma.

Suzuki

Yuen

2001

INDUSTRIAL HEALTH

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“…This was essentially a study of feasibility for, although MMMF had previously been identified at autopsy (5,11,14), it seemed doubtful that they would be sufficiently persistent avoid the wasteful and possibly biased procedure of matching. Regression analysis was used with apparent success to estimate the difference in tremolite content of the inhaled dust to which miners and millers and textile workers were exposed (12).…”

Section: Cohort Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Epidemiological significance of mineral fiber persistence in human lung tissue.

Jc¹

1994

Environ Health Perspect

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For the experimentalist, mineral fiber persistence may provide clues to disease mechanisms, for the epidemiologist, to the measurement of exposure. Qualitatively, this can be valuable when unsuspected exposures have been demonstrated as, for example, MMMF workers exposed to amosite or chrysotile workers to tremolite. Quantitatively, the potential of lung burden analyses to assess lifetime mineral fiber exposure has yet to be achieved with confidence. The difficulties are 2-fold, the first related to sampling and the second to the dynamics of biopersistence. Until some noninvasive method is found to identify and quantify numerically inorganic fibers in human tissue during life, epidemiological studies must depend on lung samples obtained at autopsy or thoracic surgery. This source is inevitably subject to seriously large and indefinable bias of various kinds. Of equal importance is the present uncertain state of knowledge concerning factors that determine what is present in the lung at any time. These determinants clearly include the dimensional features of airborne environmental particulates and characteristics that affect their durability in tissue.

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“…Few quantitative results have been published on exposure to asbestos and the response of mesothelioma because of the small number of cases with exposure information (21). A recent Canadian case-referent study estimated the relative risk of mesothelioma attributed to a cumulative dose of different types of fibers (22). The relative risk increased as the fiber concentration in the lungs increased, especially for long (~8 urn) fibers.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 94%