Report and recommendations of the working group on asbestos and cancer; convened under the auspices of the Geographical Pathology Section of the International Union against Cancer

Our plain-English summary of Report and recommendations of the working group on asbestos and cancer; convened under the auspices of the Geographical Pathology Section of the International Union against Cancer (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1965).

The study

• Journal: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
• Published: 1965;132(1):706-21
• Cited by: 8 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy (J-M no. 002507).

In plain English

This is not a research study. It is the report and recommendations of an international working group on asbestos and cancer, convened under the Geographical Pathology Section of the International Union Against Cancer (UICC). Delegates from several countries split into three working parties, on epidemiology, pathology, and physics and chemistry, whose reports were then discussed. The group stated that evidence from several countries suggested exposure to crocidolite may be of particular importance for mesotheliomas, but that it could not be concluded that only this fiber type was involved. It said that the role of oils, waxes, other organic matter and trace metals found with asbestos fibers in tumor development was not yet clear. It also said that asbestos bodies and fibers show exposure to asbestos dust and are not evidence of asbestosis. The group recommended studies of populations exposed to only one fiber type, surveys in trades such as insulation, ship building and breaking, and asbestos cement, standard methods for diagnosing asbestosis and diffuse mesothelial tumors, and standard reference samples of asbestos fibers. The authors concluded that a more serious and widespread hazard from asbestos dust may exist than is widely appreciated.

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: Report and recommendations of an international working group (expert consensus report), not an original study
• Who was studied: No patients or workers were studied. The working group was made up of delegates from Canada, Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain and Ireland, Italy, South Africa and the United States, as listed in the report.
• Exposure: Asbestos dust in general, with discussion of chrysotile, amosite, crocidolite, tremolite and anthophyllite
• Main results:
  • For mesotheliomas, the group stated that evidence from several countries suggested exposure to crocidolite may be of particular importance, but that it could not be concluded that only this fiber type is concerned with these tumors.
  • Asbestos fibers may contain oils, waxes, other organic matter and trace elements such as nickel and chromium. The group said the role of these associated materials in tumor development was not yet clear.
  • The group stated that asbestos bodies and fibers indicate exposure to asbestos dust and are not evidence of asbestosis. It proposed the term 'asbestos bodies' in place of 'asbestosis bodies'.
  • The group judged that, in the light of present knowledge, quantitative assessment of asbestos bodies and fibers in sputum was not a very useful procedure.
  • For diffuse mesothelial tumors, the group said the main diagnostic problem was telling them apart from tumors that had spread from elsewhere.
  • The group agreed that various types of asbestos produce lesions in many animal species similar to those seen in human asbestosis, mesothelioma and possibly lung carcinoma, but it stressed the need for more precisely planned experiments.
  • The group recommended studies of populations exposed to only one type of fiber.
  • The group recommended surveys in trades with incidental asbestos exposure, including the insulating industry (including ships), ship building and breaking, and the asbestos cement industry.
  • The group recommended that at least six sections be examined from the lungs, from specified sites, before the degree of asbestosis is decided.
  • The group recommended that standard reference samples of asbestos be prepared and held at the Pneumoconiosis Research Unit in Johannesburg for distribution.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that, given the great increase in the use of asbestos for many purposes in all countries, a more serious and widespread hazard from exposure to asbestos dust may exist than is widely appreciated, and that further investigation is needed.

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Pathology.

Related studies

• Asbestos and cancer; the report and recommendations of a working group convened under the auspices of the Geographical Pathology Committee of the International Union Against Cancer — F. Turgeon, J. Devries, et al. (1965)
• Evaluation of asbestos exposure in the working environment. Recommendation of subcommittee on asbestosis of the permanent commission and international association on occupational health — (1972)
• Mineral phases and some reexamined characteristics of the International Union Against Cancer standard asbestos samples — N. Kohyama, Y. Shinohara, et al. (1996)
• Recommendations for uniform definitions of surgical techniques for malignant pleural mesothelioma: a consensus report of the international association for the study of lung cancer international staging committee and the international mesothelioma interest group — D. Rice, V. Rusch, et al. (2011)
• Assessing Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Solid Tumors: A Practical Review for Pathologists and Proposal for a Standardized Method from the International Immuno-Oncology Biomarkers Working Group: Part 2: TILs in Melanoma, Gastrointestinal Tract Carcinomas, Non-Small Cell Lung Carcinoma and Mesothelioma, Endometrial and Ovarian Carcinomas, Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck, Genitourinary Carcinomas, and Primary Brain Tumors — S. Hendry, R. Salgado, et al. (2017)
• Complete cytoreductive surgery plus HIPEC for peritoneal metastases from unusual cancer sites of origin: results from a worldwide analysis issue of the Peritoneal Surface Oncology Group International (PSOGI) — D. Goéré, G. Passot, et al. (2017)

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