Asbestos and laryngeal carcinoma

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos and laryngeal carcinoma, by P.M. Stell, T. McGill (Lancet, 1973).

The study

• Authors: P.M. Stell, T. McGill
• Journal: Lancet
• Published: 1973;2(7826):416-7
• Cited by: 92 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. 001321).

Abstract

One hundred male patients with squamous carcinoma of the larynx and one hundred matched controls with various non-malignant diseases were questioned about their exposure to asbestos. Thirty-one patients and three controls had experienced an important degree of exposure to asbestos. The difference between the two groups was statistically highly significant. The average latent interval between first exposure and development of laryngeal carcinoma was 30 years, and the average duration of exposure was 27 years.

PubMed has no abstract for this study. This is the authors' abstract, copied from the article.

In plain English

This was a case-control study from the Liverpool Ear, Nose, and Throat Hospital. The authors interviewed one hundred consecutive male patients with histologically proven squamous carcinoma of the larynx, and one hundred male control patients matched for age who had various non-malignant conditions, about asbestos exposure and smoking. Thirty-one of the one hundred patients (31%) and three of the one hundred controls (3%) had what the authors called important exposure to asbestos. The authors reported this difference as statistically highly significant (P less than 0.001). The exposed patients had worked lagging heating equipment (19), scaling boilers (3) or unloading raw asbestos at the docks (9). Among them, the time from first exposure to cancer ranged from 1 to 54 years, averaging 30 years, and exposure lasted 27 years on average. Smoking habits did not differ between exposed and unexposed patients, though the controls included more non-smokers. Only one exposed patient had pulmonary asbestosis. The authors concluded that the results suggest an association between asbestos exposure and laryngeal carcinoma, while noting the disadvantages of a retrospective study.

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: Retrospective case-control study: patients with laryngeal cancer compared with age-matched hospital controls, using personal interviews
• Who was studied: One hundred consecutive male patients with histologically proven squamous carcinoma of the larynx at the Liverpool Ear, Nose, and Throat Hospital, and one hundred male controls matched for age who were attending the same hospital for various non-malignant conditions. Study dates are not given.
• Exposure: Occupational asbestos exposure reported at interview. It came from lagging of heating equipment (19 patients), scaling of boilers (3 patients) and unloading raw asbestos on the docks (9 patients). Fiber types are not named.
• Main results:
  • Thirty-one of one hundred patients with laryngeal carcinoma (31%) had important exposure to asbestos, compared with three of one hundred controls (3%)
  • The authors reported the difference between patients and controls as statistically highly significant (P less than 0.001)
  • Among the 31 exposed patients, the latent period from first exposure to laryngeal carcinoma ranged from 1 to 54 years, with an average of 30 years. Average duration of exposure was 27 years.
  • In the asbestos-associated cases, the maximum incidence was in the 51-60 age group. The authors compared this with the usual maximum incidence in the 61-70 age group.
  • Smoking habits did not differ between patients who were asbestos workers and patients with no asbestos association
  • There was a greater percentage of non-smokers among the controls than among the patients with laryngeal carcinoma
  • Of the 31 exposed patients, only one had pulmonary asbestosis
  • In a pilot examination of serial sections from one larynx, no asbestos bodies were found
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that their results suggest an association between exposure to asbestos and laryngeal carcinoma
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The conclusion rests on a retrospective study, with the disadvantages such a study carries
  • Few larynx specimens are available for examination for asbestos bodies, because most patients with laryngeal carcinoma are treated by radiotherapy

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Throat and laryngeal cancer.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Carcinoma.

Related studies

• Exposure to asbestos and laryngeal carcinoma — P.M. Stell, T. McGill (1975)
• Current theories for the development of nonsmoking and nondrinking laryngeal carcinoma — R. Wight, V. Paleri, et al. (2003)
• Asbestosis, laryngeal carcinoma, and malignant peritoneal mesothelioma in an insulation worker — A. Fischbein, J.C. Luo, et al. (1991)
• Metastatic laryngeal carcinoma mimicking pleural mesothelioma — M. Huncharek, J. Muscat (1991)
• Laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer and occupational exposure to asbestos and man-made vitreous fibers: results of a case-control study — J.L. Marchand, D. Luce, et al. (2000)
• Asbestos fibers in laryngeal tissues. Findings in two patients with asbestosis associated with laryngeal tumors — A. Hirsch, J. Bignon, et al. (1979)

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