Asbestos and Other Cancers

If you or someone in your family worked around asbestos and now has a cancer that isn't mesothelioma, you have probably asked the obvious question: could asbestos have caused this one too? You deserve a straight answer, not a sales pitch. For some cancers the science is solid. For others it is mixed, and for several it simply isn't there.

Asbestos is a proven cause of mesothelioma and of cancers of the lung, larynx and ovary; the evidence is weaker for the pharynx, esophagus, stomach and colon, and for most other cancers it has not been shown to be a cause at all. This page sorts the cancers people ask us about by how strong the evidence really is, and explains what that means if you are thinking about a claim.

Whatever the cancer, the history of the exposure matters most. Where you worked, what you did, and for how long are the facts that decide both the medicine and the claim.

How scientists decide whether asbestos causes a cancer

The most cited judgment comes from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the World Health Organization's cancer research agency. In its Monograph Volume 100C, published in 2012, an expert working group reviewed decades of studies of asbestos workers. It sorted the evidence for each cancer into categories:

• Sufficient evidence. The working group was satisfied that asbestos causes the cancer.
• Limited evidence. Studies show a positive association, but chance, bias or other causes can't be ruled out with confidence.
• Everything else. For other cancer sites, the working group didn't find the evidence strong enough to name asbestos as a cause.

"Sufficient evidence" is a conclusion about groups of people. It says asbestos can cause that cancer. It doesn't, by itself, prove that asbestos caused any one person's cancer. That is a separate medical question, answered by looking at the person's exposure, the time since it began, and other risk factors.

Two other reviews come up often. In 2006 the U.S. Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine) studied five cancer sites and found the evidence sufficient for larynx, suggestive for pharynx, stomach and colorectal cancer, and inadequate for esophagus. Science keeps moving, and some of those calls are being tested by newer, larger studies, as you'll see below.

Cancers with strong evidence: lung, larynx, ovary

Mesothelioma. Asbestos causes most cases of mesothelioma, the cancer of the lining around the lungs or abdomen, though not every case. See our pages on mesothelioma, pleural mesothelioma and peritoneal mesothelioma.

Lung cancer. Asbestos is a proven cause of lung cancer. Smoking still causes most lung cancer in the United States, and the combination of smoking and asbestos exposure is especially dangerous. A smoker with heavy asbestos exposure may still have a strong claim. Read more on asbestos and lung cancer.

Cancer of the larynx (voice box). Both IARC and the Institute of Medicine found the evidence sufficient. See asbestos and throat cancer, which covers the larynx, pharynx and esophagus.

Ovarian cancer. IARC found sufficient evidence, based largely on studies of women with heavy workplace exposure. Asbestos-contaminated talc is the subject of much of today's ovarian cancer litigation. See asbestos, talc and ovarian cancer.

Cancers with limited or emerging evidence: throat, stomach, colon, esophagus

These cancers have a real but weaker body of evidence. The risk increases researchers found are modest across all exposed workers. For the esophagus, stomach and colon they are larger in the most heavily exposed trades; for the pharynx, studies have not shown a clear rise with heavier exposure.

• Pharyngeal cancer (the throat behind the mouth and nose). IARC: limited evidence. Institute of Medicine: suggestive.
• Stomach cancer. IARC: limited evidence. A 2024 review of the research on digestive cancers found about a 14% higher risk among asbestos-exposed workers. See asbestos and stomach cancer.
• Colorectal cancer. IARC: limited evidence. The same 2024 review found about a 16% higher risk overall and more among insulation workers. See asbestos and colon cancer.
• Esophageal cancer. IARC did not list it even as limited evidence, and in 2006 the Institute of Medicine called the evidence inadequate. Since then the picture has shifted. The 2024 review found about a 17% higher risk among exposed workers, and about 68% higher among asbestos insulation workers. Its authors concluded the evidence supports a causal link for esophageal, stomach and colorectal cancer. That is one research group's conclusion, and the formal IARC classification has not been updated.

These are relative increases. Colorectal and stomach cancers have many common causes, including diet, age, family history and, for stomach cancer, H. pylori infection. A modest relative increase means asbestos is one possible contributor among several, which is why these cases depend so heavily on proof of heavy exposure.

Cancers people ask about where the evidence is weak, mixed or absent

We hear from families about many other cancers. Some older articles on the internet, including blog posts on our own former website, suggested links that the science doesn't support. Here is what the research actually shows, cancer by cancer.

• Kidney cancer. Early studies of insulators suggested a possible excess, but pooled analyses haven't confirmed it. A 2021 meta-analysis of cohort studies found a pooled relative risk of 0.94, meaning no increase, and found no difference by fiber type. A 2023 review argued for a possible link with amphibole exposure. Bottom line: not established.
• Pancreatic cancer. A large 2000 meta-analysis of occupational causes of pancreatic cancer found a pooled risk ratio for asbestos of 1.1, with a range that included no increase at all. A few individual studies report modest increases. Bottom line: not established.
• Liver and bile duct cancer. An Italian study published in 2013 found a higher rate of asbestos exposure among people with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (cancer of the bile ducts inside the liver). A larger Nordic study in 2018 found risk rising with cumulative exposure for that subtype, reaching about 1.7 times at the highest exposure, and no link for bile duct cancer outside the liver. The authors called asbestos a possible risk factor needing more study. There is no established link to the more common form of liver cancer. Bottom line: possible for one rare subtype; not established.
• Prostate cancer. Two reviews disagree. A 2020 analysis reported a small increase. A 2021–22 review using stricter quality criteria found prostate cancer rates in asbestos-exposed workers similar to the general population. Bottom line: not established.
• Thyroid cancer. We found no adequate study showing that asbestos causes thyroid cancer. It has been little studied. Bottom line: no established link.
• Brain cancer. A large international study of glioma (INTEROCC, 2013) included asbestos among the workplace exposures it tested and found no increased risk. Bottom line: no established link.
• Bone cancer. We found no study establishing asbestos as a cause of bone sarcoma. Bottom line: no established link.
• Skin cancer. Asbestos fibers can lodge in the skin and cause harmless "asbestos corns." Neither IARC nor the Institute of Medicine lists skin cancer as an asbestos cancer. Bottom line: no established link.
• Blood cancers (lymphoma, leukemia, multiple myeloma). A 2001 review found that a causal link could not be established, though it noted a weak signal worth more study. Bottom line: not established.
• Esthesioneuroblastoma (a rare cancer at the top of the nasal cavity). We found no published study linking it to asbestos. The National Cancer Institute says there are no known risk factors for the childhood form. Bottom line: no known link.
• Penile cancer. The American Cancer Society's list of risk factors includes HPV infection, smoking, phimosis and older age. Asbestos isn't on it, and we found no study linking the two. Bottom line: no known link.

If your cancer is on this list, asbestos is unlikely to be the legal answer, and we will tell you so. That said, a person exposed to asbestos may also have, or later develop, a cancer that is linked, or scarring that should be monitored. A free screening is still worth having if you had real exposure.

What this means for a claim

Asbestos claims for cancers other than mesothelioma and lung cancer usually run through the bankruptcy trusts set up by former asbestos companies. Each trust pays under its own Trust Distribution Procedures (TDP), and the "other cancer" rules are similar across many of them. We checked the TDPs of several trusts, including the APG, Burns and Roe and Hercules Chemical trusts. Each has an "Other Cancer" disease level that requires:

1. A diagnosis of a primary colorectal, laryngeal, esophageal, pharyngeal or stomach cancer. Cancers outside that list don't qualify for the "Other Cancer" level.
2. Evidence of bilateral asbestos-related nonmalignant disease. Under the APG trust's definition, that means a chest X-ray read 1/0 or higher on the ILO scale by a B-reader, or an X-ray, CT scan or pathology report showing scarring of the lungs, pleural plaques, thickening or calcification on both sides.
3. Exposure to that trust's company's products, typically at least six months before a cutoff date.
4. Significant occupational exposure, defined in the APG TDP as at least five years (at least two of them before 1983) in a job where you handled asbestos, worked with asbestos products, or worked regularly near people who did.
5. A doctor's report establishing asbestos exposure as a contributing factor in causing the cancer.

Claims that don't meet those presumptive criteria may still go through a trust's slower individual review. Payment amounts vary widely by trust; see how trust claims work.

A lawsuit against a company that is still in business is also possible for some of these cancers. Because each has other common causes, a lawsuit generally needs strong proof of heavy exposure and a medical expert who can explain why asbestos, and not something else, contributed. Rules and deadlines vary by state. See understanding asbestos lawsuits.

The practical point: for every cancer on the "Other Cancer" list, documenting asbestos scarring is often the key. That is why our free chest X-ray with a B-read matters. It can show scarring you didn't know you had.

Who may have a claim

You may have a claim if:

• you were diagnosed with mesothelioma, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, or cancer of the larynx, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, colon or rectum, and
• you worked with or around asbestos, or lived with someone who did (see take-home exposure), often in the trades listed on our occupations page.

Families can also bring claims after a loved one has died. You don't need to know product names or have old records to start. If your cancer isn't linked to asbestos, we will say so plainly.