Synchronous double malignancy: adenocarcinoma of lung and malignant astrocytoma induced by asbestos exposure

Our plain-English summary of Synchronous double malignancy: adenocarcinoma of lung and malignant astrocytoma induced by asbestos exposure, by T. Kishimoto, H. Hashimoto, T. Ono, et al (Cancer Investigation, 1992).

The study

• Authors: T. Kishimoto, H. Hashimoto, T. Ono, K. Okada
• Journal: Cancer Investigation
• Published: 1992;10(2):129-33
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 4 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. 004836).

Abstract

A 54-year-old male died of cerebellar herniation induced by brain tumor. Radiological examination of this case showed two separate tumorous lesions in the brain and lung. Autopsy proved malignant astrocytoma in the brain and coincidental alveolar cell carcinoma in the lung. He had a history of asbestos exposure for 8 years doing piping work in a shipyard. Furthermore, we detected a large number of asbestos bodies in the lung and one asbestos body in the brain. Therefore, this rare case of double cancer (malignant astrocytoma and lung cancer) might have been induced by asbestos exposure.

In plain English

This brief clinical report from Kure Kyosai Hospital in Japan described one patient. He was a 54-year-old man who had been exposed to asbestos doing piping work in a shipyard from 1969 to 1977, and he was described as a heavy smoker of 40 cigarettes for 34 years. Scans showed masses in both the brain and the lung, and doctors made a clinical diagnosis of lung cancer that had spread to the brain. He died in May 1988. At autopsy the two tumors were separate cancers: an adenocarcinoma of the lung (alveolar cell type) and a malignant astrocytoma in the brain. Neither tumor had spread. No pleural plaques or lung fibrosis had been seen. In 5 g tissue samples, the authors counted 1825 asbestos bodies in the lung and 1 in the brain, which they called the first report of an asbestos body in brain tissue. The type of asbestos fiber was not reported. The authors concluded that the lung tumor was related to asbestos exposure. They stated they could not confirm that the double cancer was induced by asbestos, given the single asbestos body found in the brain.

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 (brief clinical report of a single patient, including autopsy and asbestos body counts)
• Who was studied: one 54-year-old man admitted to Kure Kyosai Hospital, Japan, with motor aphasia; he died on May 6, 1988
• Exposure: occupational asbestos exposure from piping work in a shipyard, 1969 to 1977; fiber type not stated. The patient was also described as a heavy smoker of 40 cigarettes for 34 years
• Main results:
  • Before death, the doctors made a clinical diagnosis of lung cancer with brain metastasis
  • At autopsy the lung tumor was an adenocarcinoma (alveolar cell type) and the brain tumor was a separate malignant astrocytoma
  • Neither tumor had spread (no metastasis of either tumor)
  • No pleural plaques or lung fibrosis were detected
  • In the patient's tissue, 1825 asbestos bodies were counted in the lung and 1 in the brain
  • The authors stated that the asbestos body in the brain was the first report of an asbestos body detected in brain tissue
  • The patient was described as a heavy smoker
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the lung adenocarcinoma was related to asbestos exposure because of the large number of asbestos bodies in the lung tissue
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors stated they could not confirm that the double cancer was induced by asbestos exposure, because only one asbestos body was found in the brain

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Adenocarcinoma, Asbestos Exposure, Autopsy, Carcinoma, Asbestos Bodies, Asbestos Body Formation, Lung Cancer.

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