Respiratory carcinogenesis: an epidemiologic appraisal

Our plain-English summary of Respiratory carcinogenesis: an epidemiologic appraisal, by J.F. Fraumeni (Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 1975).

The study

• Author: J.F. Fraumeni
• Journal: Journal of the National Cancer Institute
• Published: 1975;55(5):1039-46
• Type of article: Review
• Cited by: 78 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. 002322).

Summary of the article

In this solicited guest editorial, the author reviewed the epidemiologic evidence for causes of respiratory cancer other than cigarette smoking and noted opportunities for further research. He summarized studies of occupational agents: radioisotopes (including radon daughters in uranium and other miners), mustard gas, asbestos, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, halo ethers, nickel, chromium, inorganic arsenic, iron ore, wood dust, the shoe industry and isopropyl oil. For asbestos, he reported several findings. The risks of asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma were substantially raised among asbestos workers. Lung cancer incidence varied with the extent of exposure to all fiber types. Mesothelioma risk was thought to be greater after crocidolite exposure. Cigarette smoking greatly enhanced lung cancer risk after asbestos exposure. He also discussed community pollution, including mesotheliomas among family members of asbestos workers and neighborhood residents. Other factors covered were alcohol, nutrition, drugs, and genetic and immunologic susceptibility. He described county-level mapping of U.S. lung cancer mortality among white males in 1950-69, which showed clustering in the Northeast and along the southeast Atlantic and Gulf coasts. The author concluded that well-designed occupational studies would continue to be the most rewarding means of identifying risk factors in respiratory carcinogenesis. He called for record-linkage systems matching employment records with cancer registration and death certificates.

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 1975 guest editorial was a review, not an original study. The author surveyed published epidemiologic evidence on causes of respiratory cancer other than cigarette smoking, including asbestos, radioactivity, mustard gas, nickel, chromium and arsenic. On asbestos, the review stated that evidence had accumulated that the risk of asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma was substantially raised among workers in asbestos industries. It said lung cancer varied with the extent of exposure to all types of asbestos fibers, and that mesothelioma risk was thought to be greater after crocidolite than after chrysotile or amosite. It cited reports of mesothelioma in family members exposed to asbestos workers' dusty clothing and in residents near asbestos industries. It also cited reports that cigarette smoking greatly enhanced the risk of lung cancer after asbestos exposure. It noted that cancer mortality patterns were not unusual in a Minnesota county whose drinking water was contaminated with asbestos. The author recommended record-linkage systems that would match employment records with cancer registrations and death certificates.

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: Review (solicited guest editorial) of published epidemiologic evidence; not an original study
• Who was studied: No study population of its own; the article reviewed published studies of occupational, environmental and host factors in respiratory cancer
• Exposure: Many agents. For asbestos: work in asbestos industries (miners and millers, and insulation, textile, shipyard and cement workers), household and neighborhood exposure, and asbestos in drinking water. The review also covered radioisotopes, mustard gas, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, halo ethers, nickel, chromium, inorganic arsenic, iron ore, wood dust, the shoe industry and isopropyl oil.
• Main results:
  • The review stated that evidence had accumulated over 20 years that the risk of asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma is substantially raised among workers in asbestos industries
  • The review stated that the incidence of lung cancer varies with the extent of exposure to all types of asbestos fibers
  • The review stated that mesothelioma risk is thought to be greater after exposure to crocidolite than to chrysotile or amosite. It added that in laboratory animals all fibers produced mesotheliomas when injected into the pleural cavity.
  • The review stated that the carcinogenic activity of asbestos has been linked to the physical properties of the fibers rather than to chemical contaminants
  • The review stated that recent observations suggest asbestos also increases the risk of cancers of the larynx and various parts of the gastrointestinal tract
  • The review cited reports that mesotheliomas developed among family members exposed to the dusty clothing of asbestos workers and among residents in the neighborhood of asbestos industries
  • The review stated that asbestos bodies and calcified pleural plaques are present in large segments of the population
  • The review stated that cigarette smoking greatly enhances lung cancer risk after asbestos exposure. It cited a study of American insulation workers in which the elevated cancer risk was confined to cigarette smokers, and similar findings for men and women at a London asbestos factory.
  • The review cited a county-level analysis finding that cancer mortality patterns were not unusual in a Minnesota county where the drinking water was contaminated with asbestos
  • The review noted that patients with asbestosis tend to have impaired cellular immunity
• The authors' conclusion: The author recommended developing record-linkage systems that match individual employment records with cancer registration and death certificates

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Carcinogenesis, Lung Cancer, Mesothelioma, Crocidolite, Asbestos Exposure, Death Certificate.

Related studies

• Man-made vitreous fibers and risk of respiratory system cancer: a review of the epidemiologic evidence — I.M. Lee, C.H. Hennekens, et al. (1995)
• Host and environmental factors enhancing carcinogenesis in the respiratory tract — P. Nettesheim, D.C. Topping, et al. (1981)
• Type of asbestos and respiratory cancer in the asbestos industry — P.E. Enterline, V. Henderson (1973)
• Inhalation carcinogenesis from various forms of asbestos — A.L. Reeves, H.E. Puro, et al. (1974)
• Respiratory cancer in relation to occupational exposures among retired asbestos workers — P. Enterline, P. de Coufle, et al. (1973)
• Occupational lung cancer and smoking: a review in the light of current theories of carcinogenesis — A.C. Chovil (1979)

Browse more research in Journal of the National Cancer Institute, or return to medical research.