Skip to main content
NCBI home page
British Journal of Industrial Medicine logoLink to British Journal of Industrial Medicine
. 1991 Apr;48(4):229–233. doi: 10.1136/oem.48.4.229

Asbestosis as a precursor of asbestos related lung cancer: results of a prospective mortality study.

J M Hughes 1, H Weill 1
PMCID: PMC1035360  PMID: 2025587

Abstract

A prospective mortality study of 839 men employed in the manufacture of asbestos cement products in 1969 examined lung cancer risk in relation to lung fibrosis seen on chest x ray film, controlling for age, smoking, and exposure to asbestos. Twenty or more years after hire, no excess of lung cancer was found among workers without radiographically detectable lung fibrosis, even among long term workers (greater than or equal to 21.5 years); nor was there a trend in risk by level of cumulative exposure to asbestos among such workers. By contrast, employees with small opacities (greater than or equal to 1/0; ILO classification) experienced a significantly raised risk of lung cancer (nine observed deaths v 2.1 expected), even though their exposures to asbestos were similar to the exposures of long term workers without opacities. In this population, excess risk of lung cancer was restricted to workers with x ray film evidence of asbestosis, a finding consistent with the view that asbestos is a lung carcinogen because of its fibrogenicity.

Full text

PDF
229

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Berry G. Mortality of workers certified by pneumoconiosis medical panels as having asbestosis. Br J Ind Med. 1981 May;38(2):130–137. doi: 10.1136/oem.38.2.130. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Berry G. The analysis of mortality by the subject-years method. Biometrics. 1983 Mar;39(1):173–184. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Cookson W. O., Musk A. W., Glancy J. J., de Klerk N. H., Yin R., Mele R., Carr N. G., Armstrong B. K., Hobbs M. S. Compensation, radiographic changes, and survival in applicants for asbestosis compensation. Br J Ind Med. 1985 Jul;42(7):461–468. doi: 10.1136/oem.42.7.461. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Coutts I. I., Gilson J. C., Kerr I. H., Parkes W. R., Turner-Warwick M. Mortality in cases of asbestosis diagnosed by a pneumoconiosis medical panel. Thorax. 1987 Feb;42(2):111–116. doi: 10.1136/thx.42.2.111. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Daniel F. B. In vitro assessment of asbestos genotoxicity. Environ Health Perspect. 1983 Nov;53:163–167. doi: 10.1289/ehp.8353163. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Finkelstein M., Kusiak R., Suranyi G. Mortality among workers receiving compensation for asbestosis in Ontario. Can Med Assoc J. 1981 Aug 1;125(3):259–262. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hughes J. M., Weill H., Hammad Y. Y. Mortality of workers employed in two asbestos cement manufacturing plants. Br J Ind Med. 1987 Mar;44(3):161–174. doi: 10.1136/oem.44.3.161. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Jones R. N., Diem J. E., Hughes J. M., Hammad Y. Y., Glindmeyer H. W., Weill H. Progression of asbestos effects: a prospective longitudinal study of chest radiographs and lung function. Br J Ind Med. 1989 Feb;46(2):97–105. doi: 10.1136/oem.46.2.97. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kipen H. M., Lilis R., Suzuki Y., Valciukas J. A., Selikoff I. J. Pulmonary fibrosis in asbestos insulation workers with lung cancer: a radiological and histopathological evaluation. Br J Ind Med. 1987 Feb;44(2):96–100. doi: 10.1136/oem.44.2.96. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Liddell F. D., Hanley J. A. Relations between asbestos exposure and lung cancer SMRs in occupational cohort studies. Br J Ind Med. 1985 Jun;42(6):389–396. doi: 10.1136/oem.42.6.389. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Liddell F. D., McDonald J. C. Radiological findings as predictors of mortality in Quebec asbestos workers. Br J Ind Med. 1980 Aug;37(3):257–267. doi: 10.1136/oem.37.3.257. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Newhouse M. L., Berry G., Wagner J. C. Mortality of factory workers in east London 1933-80. Br J Ind Med. 1985 Jan;42(1):4–11. doi: 10.1136/oem.42.1.4. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Rudd R. M. Relation between asbestosis and bronchial cancer in amphibole asbestos miners. Br J Ind Med. 1990 Mar;47(3):215–216. doi: 10.1136/oem.47.3.215. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Sluis-Cremer G. K., Bezuidenhout B. N. Relation between asbestosis and bronchial cancer in amphibole asbestos miners. Br J Ind Med. 1989 Aug;46(8):537–540. doi: 10.1136/oem.46.8.537. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Turner-Warwick M., Lebowitz M., Burrows B., Johnson A. Cryptogenic fibrosing alveolitis and lung cancer. Thorax. 1980 Jul;35(7):496–499. doi: 10.1136/thx.35.7.496. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Journal of Industrial Medicine are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES