Mesothelioma in the London area

Our plain-English summary of Mesothelioma in the London area, by M.L. Newhouse (American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 1991).

The study

• Author: M.L. Newhouse
• Journal: American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Published: 1991;20(3):411-3
• Type of article: Historical article
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy (J-M no. 004859).

In plain English

This article was a short historical recollection, not a new research report. The author described how an earlier study of mesothelioma in the London area was done. Christopher Wagner had reviewed filed pathology slides at the London Hospital and accepted over 80 as definitely from mesothelial tumors. The author was asked to see whether the link with asbestos held in an urban setting. The team used hospital ward notes, the patients' general practitioners, and home interviews with surviving relatives, mostly carried out by social worker Hilda Thompson, to collect job, household and residential histories. Relatives of 76 patients were interviewed. Among these 76 patients, 23 had been employed at an asbestos factory, 8 were insulators and laggers, 9 had a relative who worked with asbestos, 11 had lived within half a mile of an asbestos factory, and 36 had no known contact. These counts add up to more than 76, and the article did not explain why. The author wrote that a significant proportion had lived very near an asbestos factory without working there, or had other asbestos exposure. No statistical test was reported. Some ward notes had been destroyed in the Blitz.

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: Historical perspective: a personal account by the author of how an earlier case series of mesothelioma patients was investigated, with one summary table
• Who was studied: Patients with mesothelial tumors identified from pathology slides filed at the London Hospital (over 80 accepted by Wagner). Relatives of 76 of these patients were interviewed. Many patients had links to a large asbestos factory in Barking, East London.
• Exposure: Asbestos exposure, classed as occupational (worked at an asbestos factory), domestic (a relative worked with asbestos), neighbourhood (lived within half a mile of an asbestos factory), or no known contact. No fiber type is given for the London patients.
• Main results:
  • 23 of the 76 patients had been employed at an asbestos factory
  • 8 of the 76 patients were insulators and laggers
  • 9 of the 76 patients had a relative who worked with asbestos
  • 11 of the 76 patients had lived within half a mile of an asbestos factory
  • 36 of the 76 patients had no known contact with asbestos
  • Relatives described household and neighbourhood dust, such as dust in a house on the same street as the factory and wives shaking out workers' clothes
• The authors' conclusion: The author stated that a significant proportion of the patients had lived very near an asbestos factory without ever working there, or had had other asbestos exposure. No statistical test is given.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • Some patients' hospital ward notes had been destroyed in the Blitz

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.

Related studies

• Epidemiology of mesothelial tumors in the London area — M.L. Newhouse, H. Thompson (1965)
• Mesothelioma of pleura and peritoneum following exposure to asbestos in the London area — M.L. Newhouse, H. Thompson (1965)
• Mortality of factory workers in east London 1933-80 — M.L. Newhouse, G. Berry, et al. (1985)
• Mortality from all cancers of asbestos factory workers in east London 1933-80 — G. Berry, M.L. Newhouse, et al. (2000)
• Correlation between fibre content of the lung and disease in east London asbestos factory workers — J.C. Wagner, M.L. Newhouse, et al. (1988)
• Study of the secular trend in asbestos bodies in lungs in London 1936-66 — C.H. Um (1971)

Browse more research in American Journal of Industrial Medicine, or return to medical research.