Environmental carcinogenesis - 100th anniversary of creating cancer

Our plain-English summary of Environmental carcinogenesis - 100th anniversary of creating cancer, by M. Imai, O. Hino (Cancer Science, 2015).

The study

• Authors: M. Imai, O. Hino
• Journal: Cancer Science
• Published: 2015;106(11):1483-5
• Type of article: Historical article, Review
• Cited by: 6 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Asbestos is an environmental carcinogen, and asbestos-related diseases represent a global-scale environmental issue. Mesothelioma is an aggressive, malignant tumor that initially progresses along the surfaces of the pleura and peritoneum that is chiefly attributed to asbestos exposure. X-rays are commonly used for tumor screening in populations at risk for developing this cancer. We previously reported that the N-terminal of mesothelin may be a useful blood marker for early diagnosis method for mesothelioma and since then developed an N-terminal of mesothelin ELISA kit in collaboration with IBL Co., Ltd. and confirmed its utility as a diagnostic system for mesothelioma. Recently, we performed a large-scale research screening for mesothelioma and showed that it is a good model for early diagnosis in at-risk populations. The year 2015 is the 100th anniversary of Yamagiwa's great work on coaltar-induced carcinogenesis by formative stimulation in 1915 and the 10th year since 2005, "Kubota shock", people recognized that asbestos induces mesothelioma. We dedicate this review to this memorial year for environmental carcinogenesis.

© 2015 The Authors. Cancer Science published by Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd on behalf of Japanese Cancer Association.

In plain English

This article is a review, not a new study. The authors, from Juntendo University in Tokyo, summarized their research group's earlier work on a blood test for mesothelioma that measures N-ERC, the N-terminal fragment of the protein mesothelin, and discussed future directions. They described a large-scale research screening program run with the Tokyo Doken National Health Insurance Association among construction workers in Japan at sites with a risk of asbestos exposure. As reported here, approximately 220 000 blood samples were collected. The test, together with medical history, identified approximately 60 high-risk individuals from among 30 000 participants, and the screening identified three participants with mesothelioma. The review does not explain how the sample and participant counts relate. The authors also reported that a newer version of the test was clinically useful for diagnosing pleural mesothelioma. An antibody they developed did not slow mesothelioma cells growing in the laboratory but did inhibit tumor growth in vivo. The authors concluded that their screening study in Japan was effective for early diagnosis. They strongly recommended that people identified as high risk receive an additional health check-up and the N-ERC blood test at least annually, even without symptoms.

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 article summarizing the authors' own group's earlier research on a blood marker and screening system for mesothelioma
• Who was studied: Construction workers in Japan, screened in a large-scale research program run with the Tokyo Doken National Health Insurance Association (the earlier study summarized here)
• Exposure: Work at construction sites with a risk of asbestos exposure. No fiber types or doses are given.
• Main results:
  • In the screening program, approximately 220 000 blood samples were collected
  • The ELISA blood test, combined with medical history, identified approximately 60 high-risk individuals among 30 000 participants
  • The screening identified three participants with mesothelioma and 60 participants at high risk who had not developed mesothelioma
  • A newer ELISA system (called 7–20) was reported to be clinically useful for diagnosing pleural mesothelioma
  • The group's antibody 22A31 did not inhibit growth of the mesothelioma cell line ACC-MESO-4 in vitro but inhibited tumor growth derived from that cell line in vivo
  • The authors strongly recommended that people identified as high risk receive an additional health check-up and the N-ERC/mesothelin blood test at least annually, even without clinical symptoms
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that their large-scale screening study in Japan was effective for early diagnosis of mesothelioma
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors stated that additional research is needed on markers for diagnosing and treating mesothelioma

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Carcinogenesis, Mesothelioma, Pleura, Peritoneum, Asbestos Exposure, Mesothelin.

Related studies

• Environmental factors as regulators and effectors of multistep carcinogenesis — T. Minamoto, M. Mai, et al. (1999)
• Health implications of environmental exposure to asbestos — J.C. McDonald (1985)
• Environmental factors in causing human cancers: emphasis on tumorigenesis — U.T. Sankpal, H. Pius, et al. (2012)
• Risk-based indicators of Canadians' exposures to environmental carcinogens — E. Setton, P. Hystad, et al. (2013)
• Occupational and environmental cancer incidence and mortality in China — P. Li, S.S. Deng, et al. (2012)
• An approach to estimating the environmental burden of cancer from known and probable carcinogens: application to Ontario, Canada — S.L. Greco, E. MacIntyre, et al. (2020)

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