It is well known that exposure to asbestos causes malignant mesothelioma. What is not as understood is the degree to which exposure to significant levels of asbestos expedites the disease’s occurrence. Italian researchers conducted a study to answer this question, looking at victims of both malignant pleural mesothelioma and asbestos-related lung cancer.
Mesothelioma Study Clarifies Impact of Exposure to Asbestos
Defining risk and rate advancement periods is extremely important to understanding malignant mesothelioma. It measures the baseline age difference at which people exposed to asbestos reach the same rate of risk as those who have not been exposed to the toxin, or who have been exposed to lower concentrations.
Knowing the impact that exposure to asbestos has on the timing of when malignant mesothelioma develops is extremely helpful in communicating that impact to those who are at risk. This knowledge allows them and their healthcare team to keep watch for symptoms and screen appropriately. Italian researchers from the Environmental and Preventive Science department of the Universita degli Studi di Ferrara in Ferrara, Italy investigated the rate advancement for total mortality, lung cancer, and pleural mesothelioma, evaluating them by classes of cumulative asbestos exposure.
Asbestos Cement Workers’ Health Records Used for Mesothelioma Research
To conduct their mesothelioma study, the researchers reviewed the health records of 12,578 asbestos cement workers from 21 different cohorts. Of those, 6,626 had died: 858 died from lung cancer and 394 from pleural mesothelioma. The statistical model that they used was calculated from the time of the workers’ first exposure to asbestos.
By calculating the rate acceleration time based on the highest and lowest cumulative exposure, the scientists found that those with the highest level of cumulative exposure had a median acceleration rate of 16.9 years twenty years after their first exposure, and those with the lowest level of cumulative exposure had a median acceleration rate of 33.8 years forty years after their exposure. This represented a marked rate of advancement for all, and particularly for those with high levels of exposure.
If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma after exposure to asbestos, the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net are here to help. Contact us today at 1-800-692-8608.
