Ovarian cancer in a former asbestos textile factory worker: a case report

Our plain-English summary of Ovarian cancer in a former asbestos textile factory worker: a case report, by S. Park, J. Park, E. Lee, et al (Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2018).

The study

• Authors: S. Park, J. Park, E. Lee, H. Eom, M.Y. Shin, J. Kim, D. Kang, S. Lee
• Journal: Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• Published: 2018;30:65
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 3 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Background: The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) defined that asbestos is a group 1 substance that causes lung cancer, mesothelioma (pleura and peritoneum), laryngeal cancer, and ovarian cancer in humans. Many studies on lung cancer, and mesothelioma caused by asbestos exposure have been conducted, but there was no case report of ovarian cancer due to asbestos exposure in Korea. We describe a case of ovarian cancer caused by asbestos exposure in a worker who worked at an asbestos textile factory for 3 years and 7 months in the late 1970s.

Case Presentation: A 57-year-old woman visited the hospital because she had difficulty urinating. Ovarian cancer was suspected in radiologic examination, and exploratory laparotomy was performed. She was diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer. The patient did not undergo postoperative chemotherapy and recovered. She joined the asbestos factory in March 1976 and engaged in asbestos textile twisting and spinning for 1 year, 2 years and 7 months respectively. In addition, she lived near the asbestos factory for more than 20 years. There was no other specificity or family history.

Conclusion: Considering the patient's occupational and environmental history, it is estimated that she had been exposed to asbestos significantly, so we determined that ovarian cancer in the patient is highly correlated with the occupational exposure of asbestos and environmental exposure is a possible cause as well. Social devices are needed to prevent further exposure to asbestos. It is also necessary to recognize that ovarian cancer can occur in workers who have previously been exposed to asbestos, and the education and social compensation for those workers are needed.

In plain English

This case report from Korea described a 57-year-old woman diagnosed in July 2016 with ovarian cancer (serous carcinoma 1C, grade 1). From March 1976 to October 1979 she worked at an asbestos textile factory. She did chrysotile twisting for one year and spinning for two years and seven months, and was sometimes sent to the factory's crocidolite part. She washed her work clothes at home and lived about 500 to 1000 m from the factory from 1973 to 1982. Because the factory no longer exists, the authors estimated her exposure from a literature review, arriving at 19.25 or 53.6 fiber-years per cc or more. Her BRCA 1 and 2 genetic test was negative, and other listed risk factors were not found. A 2017 chest CT gave a diagnosis of suspicious asbestosis with pleural plaque. She refused postoperative cancer treatment and had no recurrence while monitored. The authors concluded that her ovarian cancer was highly correlated with occupational asbestos exposure and that environmental exposure was a possible cause as well. They noted that no study has examined the dose-response relationship between asbestos and ovarian cancer.

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
• Who was studied: One 57-year-old woman in Korea, a former asbestos textile factory worker, seen at Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital in 2016 to 2017
• Exposure: Chrysotile twisting (1 year) and spinning (2 years 7 months) at an asbestos textile factory from March 1976 to October 1979, with occasional work in the crocidolite part. She also washed work clothes at home and lived 500 to 1000 m from the factory from 1973 to 1982.
• Main results:
  • The patient was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, serous carcinoma 1C, grade 1, through a frozen biopsy.
  • Her genetic test for BRCA 1 and 2 was negative.
  • Other risk factors listed by the authors were not found: hormone replacement therapy, family history of ovarian or breast cancer, BRCA abnormality, perineal talc use, radiation exposure and smoking.
  • The patient refused postoperative cancer treatment and was monitored as an outpatient without findings of recurrence.
  • A chest CT led to a diagnosis of suspicious asbestosis with pleural plaques.
  • Her estimated cumulative occupational exposure, based on earlier published measurements, was 19.25 or 53.6 fiber-years per cc of asbestos or more.
  • The authors rated her environmental exposure (living 500 to 1000 m from the factory for about 10 years) as high probability and middle intensity.
  • The authors rated her domestic exposure (washing work clothes at home) as high probability and high intensity.
  • Tumor marker (HE4) and ROMA results suggested ovarian cancer rather than peritoneal mesothelioma.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the patient's ovarian cancer was highly correlated with occupational asbestos exposure, and that environmental exposure was a possible cause as well.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The factory no longer exists, so exposure levels at the time were estimated through a literature review rather than measured.
  • No study has examined the dose-response relationship between asbestos and ovarian cancer, so the quantitative relationship could not be identified.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Ovarian Cancer, IARC, Lung Cancer, Mesothelioma, Pleura, Peritoneum, Laryngeal Cancer, Asbestos Exposure.

Related studies

• Monitoring and Simulating Environmental Asbestos Dispersion from a Textile Factory — D. Kang, Y. Hwang, et al. (2018)
• Relationship of mortality to measures of environmental asbestos pollution in an asbestos textile factory — J. Peto, R. Doll, et al. (1985)
• Dust exposure and mortality in an American factory using chrysotile, amosite, and crocidolite in mainly textile manufacture — A.D. McDonald, J.S. Fry, et al. (1983)
• Cohort analysis of changes in incidence of bronchial carcinoma in a textile asbestos factory — J.F. Knox, R.S. Doll, et al. (1965)
• Comparing milled fiber, Quebec ore, and textile factory dust: has another piece of the asbestos puzzle fallen into place? — D.W. Berman (2010)
• Dust control in a conventional asbestos textile factory — H.C. Lewinsohn, C.A. Kennedy, et al. (1979)

Browse more research in Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, or return to medical research.