Re: "Mesothelioma trends in the United States: an update based on surveillance, epidemiology, and end results program data for 1973 through 2003"

Our plain-English summary of Re: "Mesothelioma trends in the United States: an update based on surveillance, epidemiology, and end results program data for 1973 through 2003", by J.H. Lange (American Journal of Epidemiology, 2004).

The study

• Author: J.H. Lange
• Journal: American Journal of Epidemiology
• Published: 2004;160(8):823
• Type of article: Comment, Letter, Review
• Cited by: 7 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Summary of the article

In this letter, the author responded to an article by Price and Ware on mesothelioma trends in the United States, based on Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program data, which had suggested that simian virus 40 may contribute to some cases of mesothelioma. The author said that simian virus 40 is not the only agent other than asbestos that has been suggested to cause mesothelioma. Citing published literature, he listed other suggested agents in a table: metals, rubber, glass dust, pleural scars, sugar cane, dietary factors, man-made mineral fibers, lung infections, zeolite minerals and ionizing radiation. He noted that the share of mesothelioma cases not caused by asbestos had not been quantified exactly. He cited one study that reported 11 percent of the cases investigated had no exposure to asbestos. When probable, unclassified and nonoccupational asbestos exposures were included, this share might be around 20 percent, and some had suggested it could be larger. He also cited reports that the disease has a familial and spontaneous basis. He cited reports that nonasbestos cases differed from asbestos cases, with shorter survival, occurrence at a younger age and a different sex ratio. He concluded that there appear to be many potential causes of mesothelioma besides asbestos. An editor's note stated that Price and Ware were invited to respond but chose not to.

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 was a one-page letter to the editor, not a research study, and it reported no new data. The author responded to an article by Price and Ware on mesothelioma trends in the United States. According to the letter, that article suggested simian virus 40 may contribute to some cases of mesothelioma. The author wrote that other agents besides asbestos had also been suggested as causes. A table listed them, each with a published source: metals, rubber, glass dust, pleural scars, sugar cane, dietary factors, man-made mineral fibers, lung infections, zeolite minerals and ionizing radiation. The author cited an earlier study from south east England that reported 11 percent of its cases had no asbestos exposure, a share possibly around 20 percent when probable, unclassified and nonoccupational exposures were counted. The author also cited reports that non-asbestos cases had shorter survival, occurred at younger ages and had a different sex ratio. The author concluded that there appear to be many potential causes besides asbestos. Price and Ware chose not to respond.

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 commenting on a published article; no original data, cites other studies
• Who was studied: No population was studied; the letter discusses an article by Price and Ware on United States mesothelioma trends
• Exposure: Nonasbestos agents suggested in other publications as causes of mesothelioma: simian virus 40, metals, rubber, glass dust, pleural scars, sugar cane, dietary factors, man-made mineral fibers, lung infections, zeolite minerals, ionizing radiation
• Main results:
  • The author listed, in a table, agents other than asbestos that other publications had suggested may cause mesothelioma
  • Citing an earlier study (Yates et al., 272 cases in south east England), the author reported that 11 percent of the cases in that study had no exposure to asbestos
  • Citing the same earlier study, the author wrote that the percentage may be around 20 percent when probable, unclassified and nonoccupational asbestos exposures are included
  • Citing earlier studies, the author wrote that non-asbestos mesothelioma cases had been reported to have shorter survival, to occur at a younger age, and to have a different ratio by sex
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that there appear to be a large number of potential causes for mesothelioma besides asbestos
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The author acknowledged that the exact percentage of nonasbestos mesothelioma cases has not been quantified

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, Epidemiology, Mineral Fiber, Zeolite, Asbestos Exposure.

Related studies

• Mesothelioma trends in the United States: an update based on Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program data for 1973 through 2003 — B. Price, A. Ware (2004)
• Time trend of mesothelioma incidence in the United States and projection of future cases: an update based on SEER data for 1973 through 2005 — B. Price, A. Ware (2009)
• Changes in B-readings over time in the United States Navy Asbestos Medical Surveillance Program — J.G. Muller, W.G. Rudolph, et al. (2007)
• Mesothelioma in the United States: a Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare investigation of treatment patterns and overall survival — J.L. Beebe-Dimmer, J.P. Fryzek, et al. (2016)
• Trends in pleural radiographic findings in the Navy Asbestos Medical Surveillance Program (1990-1999) — J.G. Muller, B.K. Bohnker, et al. (2005)
• Navy Asbestos Medical Surveillance Program 1990-1999: demographic features and trends in abnormal radiographic findings — D.M. Dell, B.K. Bohnker, et al. (2006)

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