Is there a "genetic model" in the genesis of malignant pleural mesothelioma?

Our plain-English summary of Is there a "genetic model" in the genesis of malignant pleural mesothelioma?, by J.A. Precerutti, M. Mayorga, L. Dalurzo, et al (Human Pathology, 1990).

The study

• Authors: J.A. Precerutti, M. Mayorga, L. Dalurzo, G. Pallotta, A. de la Canal
• Journal: Human Pathology
• Published: 1990;21(9):983
• Type of article: Case report, Comment, Letter
• Cited by: 5 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Summary of the article

This letter to the editor, from physicians at Hospital Italiano in Buenos Aires, Argentina, responded to the article "Familial Mesothelioma: A Report of Two Families" by Hammar et al. It reported a case that the authors believed reinforced a possible genetic component in the genesis of malignant pleural mesothelioma. The patient was a 40-year-old woman who developed right thoracic pain. A chest x-ray showed pleural effusion, and percutaneous pleural biopsy disclosed malignant pleural mesothelioma (epithelial type), confirmed after thoracotomy. The patient had never been exposed to asbestos, and microscopic examination of the surgical material did not reveal asbestos fibers. Her father and her paternal aunt had died of pleural mesothelioma at ages 60 and 65. The patient's grandfather had worked with asbestos for years, and both his children had lived with him at that time, so they were exposed indirectly during their youth. The father had stopped his exposure many years before the patient was born, and the authors stated she was not exposed at all. The authors concluded that three cases of mesothelioma in one family, two after indirect exposure and one without any contact, raised the possibility that genetic factors may be important in some mesotheliomas. In a published reply, Hammar compared the case with one in his own report. He suggested that people with a certain genetic makeup, such as a particular HLA type, might be more susceptible to asbestos. He proposed surveying a large group of mesothelioma patients for HLA haplotype frequencies.

PubMed has no abstract for this study, and the article doesn't print one. We wrote this summary from the full article with the help of AI. It is not the authors' wording.

In plain English

This item is a short letter to the editor describing one patient, not a research study. The authors, physicians at Hospital Italiano in Buenos Aires, Argentina, wrote in response to an earlier article on familial mesothelioma by Hammar and colleagues. Their patient was a 40-year-old woman with right-sided chest pain and fluid around the lung. A biopsy, confirmed after chest surgery, showed malignant pleural mesothelioma of the epithelial type. The authors reported that she had never been exposed to asbestos and that microscopic examination of the surgical tissue did not show asbestos fibers. Her father and an aunt had died of pleural mesothelioma at ages 60 and 65. Her grandfather had worked with asbestos for years, and the father and aunt lived with him as children, so they were exposed indirectly. The authors concluded that three cases in one family, two with indirect exposure and one with no contact at all, raise the possibility that genetic factors may be important in some mesotheliomas. In a printed reply, Hammar speculated that genetic makeup might affect susceptibility to asbestos.

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: Letter to the editor describing a single case (case report) with family history, followed by a reply from the author of the earlier article
• Who was studied: One 40-year-old woman with malignant pleural mesothelioma (epithelial type), followed by physicians at Hospital Italiano, Buenos Aires, Argentina; her father and paternal aunt also had pleural mesothelioma
• Exposure: The patient reportedly had no asbestos exposure. Her grandfather worked with asbestos for years, and her father and aunt were exposed indirectly while living with him in their youth. Fiber type was not stated.
• Main results:
  • The patient's mesothelioma was pleural and of the epithelial type, diagnosed by pleural biopsy and confirmed after thoracotomy
  • Microscopic examination of the patient's surgical material did not reveal asbestos fibers
  • The patient's father and aunt (father's sister) died of pleural mesothelioma at ages 60 and 65, respectively
  • The father and aunt had been exposed to asbestos indirectly through the grandfather during their youth
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that three mesothelioma cases in one family, two with indirect asbestos exposure and one without any contact, raise the possibility (as Hammar and colleagues had mentioned) that genetic factors may be important in the development of some mesotheliomas. In the printed reply, Hammar speculated that a genetic model could possibly explain why only a relatively small percentage of similarly exposed people develop mesothelioma.

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Pleural Mesothelioma, Mesothelioma, Chest X-Ray, Pleural Effusion, Pleural Biopsy, Thoracotomy.

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