Does asbestos exposure cause non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or related hematolymphoid cancers? A review of the epidemiologic literature

Our plain-English summary of Does asbestos exposure cause non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or related hematolymphoid cancers? A review of the epidemiologic literature, by D.D. Weisenburger, B.C. Chiu (Clinical Lymphoma, 2002).

The study

• Authors: D.D. Weisenburger, B.C. Chiu
• Journal: Clinical Lymphoma
• Published: 2002;3(1):36-40
• Type of article: Review
• Cited by: 9 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Asbestos exposure has been linked to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and other types of hematolymphoid cancer (HL-CA) in several case reports and epidemiologic studies. This review covers the scientific and medical literature on the issue of whether asbestos exposure is a cause of NHL or other HL-CAs. Studies of animals exposed to asbestos have not shown an increase in NHL or other types of HL-CA. Although some patients with asbestosis have mild immunologic abnormalities, 32 of 35 epidemiologic studies of asbestos exposure in humans are negative for NHL or other HL-CAs. Therefore, it can be concluded that there is no increased risk of NHL or other HL-CAs associated with asbestos exposure.

In plain English

This article was a review, not a new study. The authors reviewed the medical and scientific literature since 1970 on whether asbestos exposure causes non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) or related cancers of the blood and lymph system, which they called hematolymphoid cancers. They reported that animal studies did not show asbestos causing these cancers. They also reported that immune abnormalities seen in some people with asbestosis were generally mild and nonspecific. They reviewed 35 epidemiologic studies. The largest, by Selikoff and colleagues, followed 17,800 asbestos insulation workers and found increased risks for mesothelioma and lung carcinoma but not for leukemia or lymphoma. The authors counted 32 of the 35 studies as negative. They judged the three positive studies to be very weak evidence at best. One was a study of sheet metal workers, one a 28-patient case-control study of oral and gastrointestinal lymphoma, and one a hospital-based case-control study. The authors concluded that asbestos exposure does not cause NHL or other hematolymphoid cancers in workers.

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 of the published animal, immunologic and epidemiologic literature
• Who was studied: Published studies since 1970, both animal and human, including 35 epidemiologic studies (mortality, cohort and case-control studies) of asbestos and hematolymphoid cancer
• Exposure: Occupational asbestos exposure in the reviewed studies. Groups included asbestos insulation workers, asbestos cement workers, shipyard workers, sheet metal workers, crocidolite miners and millers, amphibole miners, and chrysotile miners and millers.
• Main results:
  • Animal studies reviewed (a 1976 International Agency for Research on Cancer review, and studies by Wagner et al and Suzuki and Kohyama) did not show asbestos causing NHL or other hematolymphoid cancers.
  • Immune abnormalities associated with asbestosis were described as generally mild and nonspecific, and thought to be secondary to chronic inflammation and fibrosis.
  • In the Selikoff et al cohort of 17,800 asbestos insulation workers, risks were increased for mesothelioma, lung carcinoma and other cancers, but not for leukemia or lymphoma.
  • The authors classified 32 of 35 epidemiologic studies as negative for hematolymphoid cancer.
  • In the Ross et al case-control study of 28 patients with oral or gastrointestinal lymphoma, a 12-fold NHL risk was based on 12 exposed patients and 1 exposed control. The reviewers noted no adjustment for confounders and possible selection bias.
  • In the Pasqualetti et al hospital-based study (620 patients, 1240 controls), increased risks were reported for all hematolymphoid cancer, myeloma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, but not for NHL or the other types.
  • The authors judged the 3 positive studies to be very weak evidence at best.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that asbestos exposure does not cause NHL or other hematolymphoid cancers in workers. They presumed there would also be no increased risk at lower environmental exposures.

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Asbestos Exposure.

Related studies

• Newly discovered quick, non-invasive screening method of bone marrow malignancies including various leukemias, Hodgkin's lymphoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, & multiple myeloma by abnormality of small rectangular area within bone marrow organ representation areas of the face — Y. Omura, B. O'Young, et al. (2012)
• Simian virus 40 is present in most United States human mesotheliomas, but it is rarely present in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma — P. Rizzo, M. Carbone, et al. (1999)
• A death-certificate case-control study of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and occupation in men in North Carolina — M.C. Schumacher, E. Delzell (1988)
• Clinicopathologic characteristics of malignant mesotheliomas arising in patients with a history of radiation for Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma — L.R. Chirieac, J.A. Barletta, et al. (2013)
• Pulmonary asbestosis associated to pleural non-Hodgkin lymphoma — E. Parisio, C. Bianchi, et al. (1999)
• Occupational asbestos exposure and the incidence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma of the gastrointestinal tract: an ecologic study — M.M. Treggiari, N.S. Weiss (2004)

Browse return to medical research.