Asbestosis And Carcinoma Of The Lung

Our plain-English summary of Asbestosis And Carcinoma Of The Lung, by J.F. Cordova, H. Tesluk, K.P. Knudtson (1962).

The study

• Authors: J.F. Cordova, H. Tesluk, K.P. Knudtson
• Published: Cancer 15(6):1181-1187, November-December (1962)
• Type of article: Journal article
• Our copy: from Johns-Manville's own medical library, J-M no. 002711. The article is still under copyright, so we describe it here rather than post it.

In plain English

This article was a case series. The authors reviewed surgical and autopsy material from hospitals in Seattle, Washington, and found 6 cases of lung cancer occurring together with asbestosis, a scarring lung disease caused by asbestos. They added 5 cases from the files of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, for 11 cases, all in men. Jobs included insulation work, shipyard work, ironwork, bricklaying and asbestos handling. Four of the men had no known history of direct asbestos exposure. In those four, asbestosis was diagnosed only from lung scarring with asbestos bodies seen under the microscope. The other 7 men had been exposed for a mean of 35 years. Five had smoked cigarettes for 20 years or longer. The cancer was most often in the right upper lobe (6 cases), and no one cancer cell type predominated. Asbestos bodies were found in the tumor area in every case. In at least 2 cases, the tumor appeared to have started in more than one place. The authors discussed whether asbestos may cause lung cancer.

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: Case series (case reports) of lung cancer with asbestosis, drawn from surgical and autopsy material
• Who was studied: 11 male patients with asbestosis and lung cancer: 6 from the authors' own surgical and autopsy material in Seattle, Washington, and 5 from the files of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, D.C.
• Exposure: Occupational asbestos exposure in jobs such as hod carrier working with insulating material, ironworker, shipyard worker, pipe insulator, asbestos handler, insulation worker and asbestos manufacturing. No fiber type is named. Four men had no known direct exposure.
• Main results:
  • Among the 7 patients with known exposure, the mean duration of asbestos exposure was 35 years
  • 4 of the 11 men had no known history of direct asbestos exposure; their asbestosis was diagnosed from lung scarring with asbestos bodies seen on microscopy
  • The lung cancer occurred most often in the right upper lobe (6 cases)
  • Five patients had smoked cigarettes for 20 years or longer
  • No cell type of lung cancer predominated in the series
  • Typical asbestos bodies were found in the tumor-bearing area of the lung in every case
  • In at least 2 cases, the authors described evidence that the tumor arose in more than one place (multifocal origin)
  • Death was most commonly attributed to bronchopneumonia, lung abscess and cor pulmonale
• The authors' conclusion: The authors presented the cases and discussed a possible role of asbestos as a cause of lung cancer. They wrote that the absence of known exposure in 4 cases indicates the disease can occur without prolonged exposure to known sources.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • In the 4 men without known exposure, asbestosis was diagnosed only from microscopic findings (lung scarring with asbestos bodies). The authors framed their interpretation as depending on accepting these cases as asbestosis.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Carcinoma, Autopsy, Lung Cancer, Pathology, Asbestos Exposure, Asbestos Bodies.

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