Asbestos and cancer in Finland

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos and cancer in Finland, by M.S. Huuskonen (Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, 1980).

The study

• Author: M.S. Huuskonen
• Journal: Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health
• Published: 1980;6(5-6):1261-5
• Cited by: 3 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy (J-M no. 000815).

Abstract

Cancer mortality of men with diagnosed asbestosis was studied in Finland. Of the 174 men registered as having asbestosis, 56 had died before 1977, whereas the number of expected deaths based on the Finnish male population was only 23.4. The respective figures for lung cancer were 19 observed and 2.1 expected. The mean age of these 19 lung cancer patients was 57.8 yr, and lung cancer was the cause of death (underlying cause) in 35% of all diseased men with asbestosis. The proportion of lung cancer mortality from all deaths among Finnish men 55-64 yr old is 10.8%, which is clearly lower than that among the men with asbestosis. No excess of other malignancies was found in Finland among workers with asbestosis.

In plain English

This article was an overview of asbestos use, exposure and asbestos-related cancer in Finland. It drew largely on earlier publications, including the author's own 1978 study of men with asbestosis. It described exposure at the Paakkila anthophyllite asbestos quarry and in asbestos product manufacture. Of 174 Finnish men registered with asbestosis in 1964-1976, 56 (32%) had died by 1976, against 23.4 deaths expected from the Finnish male population. Nineteen died of lung cancer against 2.1 expected, which the author described as an about ninefold increased risk. Lung cancer accounted for 35% of these men's deaths, and the 19 men had a mean age of 57.8 years. By comparison, lung cancer accounts for 10.8% of all deaths among Finnish men aged 55-64. Reexamination of 133 living asbestosis patients found five new lung cancers, two of which were missed by sputum cytology. Other cancers were not found to be increased in Finnish asbestos-exposed workers or asbestosis patients. The author concluded that sputum cytology screening should be done every 6 months in risk groups, including asbestosis patients.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Review/overview article on asbestos and cancer in Finland, summarizing earlier studies; the asbestosis mortality figures are cited from the author's own 1978 study
• Who was studied: 174 Finnish men registered as asbestosis patients in 1964-1976, followed up to 1976
• Exposure: Occupational asbestos exposure in Finland: anthophyllite quarrying and milling at Paakkila, and asbestos product manufacture with exposure to chrysotile and amphibole fibers. The article does not state the specific exposures of the 174 asbestosis patients.
• Main results:
  • Among the 174 male asbestosis patients, 56 (32%) had died by 1976; 23.4 deaths were expected based on the Finnish male population
  • Among the asbestosis patients, 19 lung cancer deaths were observed versus 2.1 expected, described by the author as an about ninefold increased risk
  • Lung cancer accounted for 35% of the deaths among the male asbestosis patients
  • The 19 male asbestosis patients who died of lung cancer had a mean age of 57.8 years
  • For comparison, lung cancer accounts for 10.8% of all deaths in the Finnish male population aged 55-64 (cited from Koskela et al., 1976)
  • One of the asbestosis patients with lung cancer was a nonsmoker
  • Reexamination of 133 living Finnish asbestosis patients revealed five new lung cancers (cited from Huuskonen et al., 1978)
  • Two of these five lung cancers were missed in the sputum cytological examination
  • The frequency of other cancers was not found to be increased in Finnish asbestos-exposed workers or asbestosis patients (cited from Meurman et al., 1974 and Huuskonen, 1978)
  • Of 85 mesotheliomas reported to the Finnish Cancer Register in 1953-1969, former asbestos exposure was probable for 9 (11%) and possible for 28 (34%) (cited from Nurminen, 1975)
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that cytological sputum screening should be done every 6 months in risk groups, such as asbestos-exposed workers over 35 years old who smoke (exposure over 5 years), or asbestosis patients whether smokers or not
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The author stated it is not known how long the reexamined patients had been shedding dysplastic or malignant cells in their sputum
  • The author suggested the low number of reported mesotheliomas in Finland may be partly due to difficulties in making the diagnosis

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Lung Cancer.

Related studies

• Incidence of cancer among anthophyllite asbestos miners in Finland — L.O. Meurman, E. Pukkala, et al. (1994)
• Use of exposure registration in the prevention of occupational cancer in Finland — J. Alho, T. Kauppinen, et al. (1988)
• Screening for asbestos-induced diseases in Finland — K. Koskinen, J.P. Rinne, et al. (1996)
• Breast cancer and occupational exposures in women in Finland — E. Weiderpass, E. Pukkala, et al. (1999)
• Trends of occupational exposure to chemical agents in Finland in 1950-2020 — T. Kauppinen, S. Uuksulainen, et al. (2013)
• Mineral fiber concentration in lung tissue of mesothelioma patients in Finland — T. Tuomi, M. Segerberg-Konttinen, et al. (1989)

Browse more research in Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, or return to medical research.