Asbestosis associated with bronchogenic carcinoma

Our plain-English summary of Asbestosis associated with bronchogenic carcinoma, by R. Stoll, R. Bass, A.A. Angrist (A.M.A. Archives of Internal Medicine, 1951).

The study

• Authors: R. Stoll, R. Bass, A.A. Angrist
• Journal: A.M.A. Archives of Internal Medicine
• Published: 1951;88(6):831-4
• Cited by: 19 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. 002657).

In plain English

This article reported one case, a man diagnosed with lung cancer and asbestosis, and reviewed earlier published reports of lung cancer occurring together with asbestosis. The patient was a 40-year-old white man admitted to Queens General Hospital with cough, fever and weakness. He had worked as a plumber from 1925 to 1940 without using asbestos. He then worked as a pipe coverer using asbestos only: one and a half years with the Works Progress Administration and four and a half years in a shipyard. He had been told to wear a mask but did not. While he was alive, doctors diagnosed metastatic cancer with an unknown starting point. He died on the 54th hospital day. Autopsy found anaplastic carcinoma of the lung that had spread to the kidneys, brain and liver, along with pulmonary asbestosis. Asbestos bodies were seen throughout the lung, both inside and outside the tumor. The authors suggested the silicate in asbestos itself might directly cause cancer. They concluded that the association emphasizes the hazards of industrial exposure and the need for careful preventive measures.

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 report of one patient, with a review of earlier published case reports and series
• Who was studied: one 40-year-old white man treated at Queens General Hospital (Jamaica, New York), who died in hospital and was examined at autopsy
• Exposure: asbestos (fiber type not stated) used as a pipe coverer: one and a half years with the Works Progress Administration from 1940, then four and a half years in a shipyard; earlier work as a plumber (1925 to 1940) did not involve asbestos; he did not wear the mask he was told to wear
• Main results:
  • During life, the clinical diagnosis was metastatic carcinoma with the primary site unknown; the patient died on the 54th hospital day
  • The final autopsy diagnoses were anaplastic carcinoma of the lung (possibly arising in several places), with spread to kidney, brain and liver, and pulmonary asbestosis
  • Typical club-shaped brown asbestos bodies were seen throughout the lung, in the tumor and outside it
  • Chemical examination of the lung tissue found 80 mg of silicon dioxide per 100 gm of tissue
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that their literature review indicated the importance of the association of carcinoma with asbestosis. They wrote that it emphasizes the hazards of industrial exposure, the compensability of the cancer as well as the asbestosis, and the need for careful preventive measures. They suggested the silicate in asbestos may be directly carcinogenic, since such a high incidence of carcinoma does not occur in other forms of silicosis.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Asbestosis, Lung cancer.

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

Related studies

• Association of asbestos and bronchogenic carcinoma in a population with low asbestos exposure — M.L. Warnock, A.M. Churg (1975)
• Asbestos, an extrinsic factor in the pathogenesis of bronchogenic carcinoma and mesothelioma — W.M. O'Donnell, R.H. Mann, et al. (1966)
• Occupational and environmental causes of bronchogenic carcinoma — B.M. Haus, H. Razavi, et al. (2001)
• Morphology of bronchogenic carcinoma in workers formerly exposed to crocidolite at Wittenoom Gorge in Western Australia — J.E. Baker, D.C. Reutens, et al. (1986)
• Biomarker assessments in asbestos-exposed workers as indicators for selective prevention of mesothelioma or bronchogenic carcinoma: rationale and practical implementations — E. Pluygers, P. Baldewyns, et al. (1992)
• Biomarker assessments in asbestos-exposed workers as indicators for selective prevention of mesothelioma or bronchogenic carcinoma: rationale and practical implementations — E. Pluygers, P. Baldewyns, et al. (1991)

Browse return to medical research.