Mesothelioma possibly due to environmental exposure to asbestos in childhood

Our plain-English summary of Mesothelioma possibly due to environmental exposure to asbestos in childhood, by K.J. Arul, P.F. Holt (International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, 1977).

The study

• Authors: K.J. Arul, P.F. Holt
• Journal: International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health
• Published: 1977;40(2):141-3
• Cited by: 8 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy (J-M no. 001864).

In plain English

This article was a case report describing one woman with diffuse pleural mesothelioma that had spread widely. She presented at age forty-three with a hard lump in the right chest wall. A surgical biopsy first suggested adenocarcinoma, and a pleural biopsy then established malignant mesothelioma. At first, detailed questioning found no history of asbestos exposure, and the tumour appeared spontaneous. After fifteen months of treatment, at an outpatient visit, she revealed that she had lived near an asbestos factory and played nearby between the ages of five and seven, something she recalled while watching a television programme on asbestosis. White dust from the factory settled on houses. She had no known asbestos exposure in the following 37 years. She died seventeen months later, having failed to respond to radiotherapy or chemotherapy. At autopsy the tumour filled the right pleural cavity and had spread to many organs. Asbestos bodies were readily seen in the left lung, and fibres were identified as amosite and chrysotile. The authors described the mesothelioma as possibly due to this childhood environmental exposure.

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 report (single patient, including autopsy findings)
• Who was studied: One woman, seen at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, England, who presented at age forty-three with a hard lump in the right chest wall
• Exposure: Environmental (neighbourhood) exposure in childhood: she lived near an asbestos factory from age five to seven and played near it. White dust from the factory settled on houses. She had no known exposure to asbestos in the following 37 years. She disclosed this at an outpatient visit after fifteen months of treatment, having recalled it while watching a television programme on asbestosis.
• Main results:
  • At first diagnosis, detailed questioning found no history of asbestos exposure, and the tumour appeared to be a spontaneous mesothelioma
  • A surgical biopsy suggested adenocarcinoma. A later pleural biopsy established malignant mesothelioma.
  • After fifteen months of treatment, at an outpatient visit, the patient revealed the childhood exposure near an asbestos factory, which she had recalled while watching a television programme on asbestosis
  • After leaving the district, she had no known exposure to asbestos during the subsequent 37 years
  • The patient died seventeen months later, having failed to respond to radiotherapy or chemotherapy
  • At autopsy, a diffuse pleural tumour completely obliterated the right pleural cavity. Tumour deposits were found in the left lung, lymph nodes, liver, kidney, pericardium, small bowel surface, ovaries, ribs and lumbar vertebrae.
  • Under the microscope the tumour showed a mixed pattern, ranging from acinar or papillary to sarcomatous
  • Asbestos bodies were readily seen in sections of the left lung. Occasional asbestos fibres were identified as amosite and chrysotile by electron diffraction.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors stated that the patient had no known asbestos exposure other than two years of environmental exposure in childhood, and they described the mesothelioma as possibly due to that exposure
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors noted that an environmental cause for a tumour is always difficult to prove

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, Environmental Exposure.

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