Re: "Changing attitudes and opinions: asbestos and cancer 1934-1965"

Our plain-English summary of Re: "Changing attitudes and opinions: asbestos and cancer 1934-1965", by G.W. Schepers (American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 1992).

The study

• Author: G.W. Schepers
• Journal: American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Published: 1992;22(3):461-6
• Type of article: Historical article
• Cited by: 2 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This is a commentary, not a research study. The author responded to a 1991 article by Philip Enterline that sorted published opinions on asbestos and cancer from 1934 to 1965 and treated 1965 as when asbestos became accepted as causing lung cancer and mesothelioma. The author argued that some writers had been placed in the wrong category. These included the author's 1960 statement and a 1964 American College of Chest Physicians report the author wrote, which Enterline had classed as calling the cancer link "unproven." The author cited figures from other researchers, such as Nordmann's 1939 report of lung cancer at more than seven times the background risk and Merewether's report of thoracic cancers in 13.2% of 230 autopsies, which the author discussed among post-mortem studies of people with asbestosis. From personal experience, the author stated that industry-funded work at the Saranac Laboratory, including Gardner's mouse experiments with chrysotile, was reported to industry but not openly published, and that industry officials suppressed it. The author concluded that the 1964 New York Academy of Sciences conference made public a cancer hazard that had been known for 30 years.

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: Commentary (letter) responding to another author's historical review article
• Who was studied: No study population; the commentary discusses Enterline's 1991 review of published opinions on asbestos and cancer from 1934 to 1965
• Exposure: Asbestos inhalation in general; the commentary refers to amosite, crocidolite and chrysotile
• Main results:
  • The author objected to being cited by Enterline as the first American author to publish, in 1960, that asbestos causes lung cancer without asbestosis first being present. The author argued that the 1960 text instead described a causal relationship already accepted by most authorities.
  • The author cited Nordmann's 1939 report (another researcher's work) that lung cancer prevalence was more than seven times the background risk
  • The author discussed Merewether's work (another researcher) among post-mortem studies of thoracic cancers in persons who also had asbestosis. Merewether reported that thoracic cancers reached 13.2% in a series of 230 autopsies, ten times higher than in a series of silicotic subjects.
  • According to the author's account, Gardner at the Saranac Laboratory found in 1943 that chrysotile asbestos caused lung cancers in mice at six times the rate in unexposed mice, and industry officials suppressed publication
  • The author stated that by 1957 the Saranac Laboratory had reported to industry more than 70 lung cancer cases among Quebec asbestos miners and millers (a group of about 7,000), plus four malignant diffuse pleural mesotheliomas, but did not openly publish these data
  • The author, who wrote the 1964 American College of Chest Physicians report, argued that Enterline placed it in the wrong column. The author said it belonged in the "definitely" or "possibly" causes cancer columns, not "unproven".
  • The author noted that 23 papers at the 1964 New York Academy of Sciences meeting dealt with asbestos and cancer, of which 20 strongly supported a cancer-causing potential
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that the 1964 New York Academy of Sciences conference did not reveal the cancer hazard for the first time but disclosed publicly that it had been known for 30 years

Topics

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

Related studies

• Re: "Changing attitudes and opinions regarding asbestos and cancer 1934-1965" — J. Keane (1992)
• Re: "Changing opinions and attitudes regarding asbestos and cancer 1934-1965" — G. Berry (1992)
• Changing attitudes and opinions regarding asbestos and cancer 1934-1965 — P.E. Enterline (1991)
• Re: "Changing attitudes and opinions regarding asbestos and cancer 1934-1965" — R. Ehrlich, J. Myers (1992)
• Re: "Changing attitudes and opinions regarding asbestos and cancer 1934-1965" — J.E. Craighead (1992)
• How are we going to change our attitudes and opinions regarding asbestos and cancer in the next 20 years? — J. Bignon (1992)

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