Asbestos-related cancer and the amphibole hypothesis. The first documentation of the association

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos-related cancer and the amphibole hypothesis. The first documentation of the association, by J.C. Wagner (American Journal of Public Health, 1997).

The study

• Author: J.C. Wagner
• Journal: American Journal of Public Health
• Published: 1997;87(4):687-8
• Type of article: Comment, Letter
• Cited by: 7 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Summary of the article

In this letter, J. Christopher Wagner, who described himself as the original discoverer of mesothelioma in people exposed to asbestos dust, responded to an annotation by Cullen and a review by Stayner and colleagues published earlier in the journal. He said these articles may have confused readers about the association between asbestos exposure and diffuse mesothelioma of the pleura and peritoneum. He recounted that in 1957, in the Cape area of South Africa, his group established that pleural mesotheliomas were occurring in people living near mills processing blue (crocidolite) asbestos and in people milling and mining it. The main paper was published in 1960, and in 1963 the group confirmed that the tumors occurred in the crocidolite mining area but not in the amosite or chrysotile areas of southern Africa. He stated that an international study had supported the initial hypothesis. The vast majority of mesotheliomas were associated with crocidolite exposure, and a small number followed exposure to amosite, tremolite and anthophyllite. None had been shown in chrysotile-exposed workers unless exposure was intense and lasted more than 20 years, and the chrysotile was contaminated with tremolite. He added that most of these tumors followed prolonged exposure to large quantities of fiber, a situation he said rarely exists today. He also said that at least 10% of diffuse mesotheliomas occur without asbestos exposure.

PubMed has no abstract for this study, and the article doesn't print one. We wrote this summary from the full article with the help of AI. It is not the authors' wording.

In plain English

This is a letter to the editor, not a research study. The author wrote in response to an annotation and a paper in the same journal that, in the author's view, must have confused readers about asbestos dust and diffuse mesotheliomas of the pleura and peritoneum. In 1957, in the Cape area of South Africa, the author's group found pleural mesotheliomas in people living near mills processing blue (crocidolite) asbestos and in people mining and milling it. In 1963 they confirmed the tumors occurred in the crocidolite mining area but not in the amosite or chrysotile areas of southern Africa. The author stated that the vast majority of mesotheliomas are associated with crocidolite, and that a small number have followed other amphiboles: amosite, tremolite and anthophylite. In the author's view, none have been shown in chrysotile-exposed workers unless exposure was intense, lasted more than 20 years, and the chrysotile was contaminated with tremolite. The author added that most tumors followed prolonged, heavy exposure, which rarely exists today. The author also stated that at least 10% of diffuse mesotheliomas occur without asbestos exposure.

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: letter to the editor (commentary) recounting the author's earlier research; no new data presented
• Who was studied: In the author's earlier work: people living near mills processing crocidolite asbestos and people mining and milling it, Cape area of South Africa, 1957; later comparison of crocidolite, amosite and chrysotile areas of southern Africa
• Exposure: crocidolite (blue asbestos), amosite and chrysotile, which the author describes as produced in southern Africa in the same amounts by a similar labor force
• Main results:
  • In 1963 the author's group confirmed that mesotheliomas were occurring in the crocidolite mining area but not in the amosite or chrysotile areas of southern Africa
  • The author stated that the vast majority of mesotheliomas are associated with crocidolite exposure
  • The author stated that a small number of cases have been recorded after exposure to amosite, tremolite and anthophylite
  • The author stated that no mesotheliomas have been shown in chrysotile-exposed workers unless exposure was intense and lasted more than 20 years
  • The author stated that, in addition, the chrysotile must be contaminated with tremolite
  • The author stated that most of these tumors followed prolonged exposure to large quantities of fiber, which rarely exists today
  • The author stated that at least 10% of diffuse mesotheliomas occur without exposure to asbestos dust
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that the group's initial hypothesis, linking mesothelioma mainly to crocidolite, has held over the years

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: amphibole hypothesis, Mesothelioma, Asbestos Exposure, Pleura, Peritoneum, Pleural Mesothelioma, Crocidolite, Amosite.

Related studies

• Asbestos-related cancer and the amphibole hypothesis. The amphibole hypothesis: neither gone nor forgotten — A.M. Langer, R.P. Nolan (1997)
• The amphibole hypothesis of asbestos-related cancer--gone but not forgotten — M.R. Cullen (1996)
• Asbestos-related cancer and the amphibole hypothesis. The hypothesis is still supported by scientists and scientific data — B.T. Mossman, J.B. Gee (1997)
• Occupational exposure to chrysotile asbestos and cancer risk: a review of the amphibole hypothesis — L.T. Stayner, D.A. Dankovic, et al. (1996)
• Mechanisms of asbestos carcinogenesis and toxicity: the amphibole hypothesis revisited — B.T. Mossman (1993)
• Pleural mesothelioma cases in Biancavilla are related to a new fluoro-edenite fibrous amphibole — P. Comba, A. Gianfagna, et al. (2003)

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