Familial mesothelioma of the pleura--a report of 40 cases

Our plain-English summary of Familial mesothelioma of the pleura--a report of 40 cases, by C. Bianchi, A. Brollo, L. Ramani, et al (Industrial Health, 2004).

The study

• Authors: C. Bianchi, A. Brollo, L. Ramani, T. Bianchi, L. Giarelli
• Journal: Industrial Health
• Published: 2004;42(2):235-9
• Type of article: Review
• Cited by: 20 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

A survey of 610 pleural mesotheliomas disclosed 40 familial cases. The diagnosis was histologically based in 39 cases, and confirmed by necropsy in 30. Occupational data were collected from the patients or from their relatives by personal interviews. Routine lung sections were examined for asbestos bodies in 32 cases. In 15 cases asbestos bodies were isolated after chemical digestion of lung tissue. Familial mesotheliomas included 31 men and 9 women (age range 44-93 yr, mean 70.7, median 71.0). In 15 families there were blood relations between (or among) the members involved. All the patients had been exposed to asbestos, mostly in the shipyards. Asbestos bodies were found on routine lung sections in 27 cases. Asbestos bodies after isolation ranged from 70 bodies to about 900,000/g dried lung tissue. Latency periods (time intervals between first exposure to asbestos and diagnosis) ranged between 25 and 70 yr (mean 52.0, median 54.0). The occurrence of mesothelioma among subjects with blood relations suggests that genetic factors might play a role in determining the susceptibility to asbestos-related cancer. Familial cases among persons without blood relations raise the question if environmental factors that members of a family share, may act as co-factors in asbestos-related mesothelioma.

In plain English

The authors reviewed 610 malignant pleural mesotheliomas from the Trieste-Monfalcone area of northeastern Italy. They reported 40 familial cases of pleural mesothelioma in 19 families, 37 of them from that series. The patients were 31 men and 9 women aged 44 to 93, diagnosed between 1958 and 2002. Members were blood relatives in 15 of the 19 families. The other families included husband-and-wife pairs and in-laws. All 40 patients had histories of asbestos exposure, 28 of them in shipyards. One had worked three years at the crocidolite mine at Wittenoom, Western Australia. Five were exposed at home by cleaning relatives' work clothes. In the 32 cases where it was calculated, the time from first exposure to diagnosis was 25 to 70 years (mean 52.0). Routine lung sections were examined in 32 cases, and asbestos bodies were seen in 27. Where asbestos bodies were counted, they ranged from 70 to about 900,000 per gram of dried lung tissue. The authors concluded that familial mesothelioma does not offer an alternative explanation to asbestos. They added that cases among blood relatives suggest genetic factors might play a role in susceptibility.

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 of familial pleural mesothelioma cases drawn from a regional mesothelioma series
• Who was studied: 40 patients with pleural mesothelioma (31 men, 9 women, aged 44 to 93) in 19 families in the Trieste-Monfalcone area, northeastern Italy, diagnosed between 1958 and 2002; 37 of the 40 belonged to a series of 610 pleural mesotheliomas
• Exposure: Asbestos exposure, mostly occupational in shipyards (28 cases). One patient worked at a crocidolite mine. Two were exposed through a small chemical factory the family had at home. Five had domestic exposure from cleaning relatives' work clothes.
• Main results:
  • Affected members were blood relatives in 15 of the 19 families
  • One patient had worked for three years at the crocidolite mine in Wittenoom, Western Australia
  • Five patients were exposed at home by cleaning the work clothes of a father or husband
  • Latency periods (calculated in 32 cases) ranged from 25 to 70 years, mean 52.0, median 54.0
  • Asbestos bodies were observed on routine lung sections in 27 of the 32 cases examined
  • In the 15 cases where asbestos bodies were isolated and counted, lung burdens ranged from 70 to about 900,000 per gram of dried lung tissue
  • The authors did not see shorter latency periods in this group, which they had suggested might be expected if a genetic susceptibility exists
  • In each husband-wife pair there was a very marked difference in the intensity of exposure
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that familial mesothelioma does not offer an alternative causal explanation to asbestos. They said cases among blood relatives suggest genetic factors might play a role in susceptibility. They said cases among people without blood relations raise the question of whether shared family environmental factors act as co-factors.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • In one case no pathological studies were carried out; the diagnosis of pleural malignancy was made in 1958 on clinical and radiological grounds
  • In two cases histological slides were not available for review

Mines named here

Asbestos mines this study is about. Each mine's page says who ran it, when it worked, and what it produced.

• Wittenoom, Western Australia

All asbestos mines

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Mesothelioma, Pleura, Pleural Mesothelioma, Autopsy, Asbestos Bodies, Latency.

Related studies

• Asbestos exposure in malignant mesothelioma of the pleura: a survey of 557 cases — C. Bianchi, A. Brollo, et al. (2001)
• Malignant mesothelioma of the pleura in Trieste, Italy — L. Giarelli, C. Bianchi, et al. (1992)
• Malignant mesothelioma of the pleura in nonagenarian patients — C. Bianchi, T. Bianchi, et al. (2011)
• Asbestos-related familial mesothelioma — C. Bianchi, A. Brollo, et al. (1993)
• Malignant mesothelioma of the pleura and other malignancies in the same patient — C. Bianchi, T. Bianchi, et al. (2007)
• Familial malignant mesothelioma: a population-based study in central Italy (1980-2012) — V. Ascoli, E. Romeo, et al. (2014)

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