The association of pleural mesothelioma and tuberculosis

Our plain-English summary of The association of pleural mesothelioma and tuberculosis, by G.C. Roviaro, F. Sartori, F. Calabrò, et al (The American Review of Respiratory Disease, 1982).

The study

• Authors: G.C. Roviaro, F. Sartori, F. Calabrò, F. Varoli
• Journal: The American Review of Respiratory Disease
• Published: 1982;126(3):569-71
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 36 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

The relationship between pleural mesothelioma and asbestosis is universally accepted. Less importance has been given to its connection with chronic pleural disease, particularly tuberculosis. In a group of 35 patients affected with mesothelioma, neoplasm arose in 3 patients with calcific pleural tuberculosis, at a ratio of 1:8.5. The cause may have been indirect chronic stimulation or even direct action from oncogenic substances contained in the pleura.

PubMed has no abstract for this study. This is the authors' abstract, copied from the article.

In plain English

This case report from Italy described three patients whose malignant pleural mesothelioma arose in thick, calcified pleura left by earlier tuberculosis. They came from 35 malignant pleural mesothelioma cases studied at the Universities of Padua and Milan between 1967 and 1980. The patients were a 49-year-old pharmacist and two housewives aged 56 and 41. The authors reported that none had worked with or near asbestos, all lived in rural areas, none had ever smoked, and no link to relatives working with asbestos was found. No asbestos fiber was found in specimens from the two women. When specimens from 12 of the authors' 32 other mesothelioma patients were examined, asbestos fiber was found in six, and at least 20 of those patients had worked where asbestos was present. The pharmacist died 11 months after symptoms began. The 56-year-old woman died 5 months after. The 41-year-old woman was alive 40 months after surgery. The authors suggested chronic stimulation or cancer-causing substances in the pleura as possible causes. They added that too few such cases exist for a statistical evaluation.

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 (three patients drawn from a series of 35 mesothelioma cases)
• Who was studied: 35 cases of malignant pleural mesothelioma studied at the University of Padua and the University of Milan, Italy, between 1967 and 1980. Three of them are described in detail: a 49-year-old pharmacist and two housewives aged 56 and 41, all with earlier tuberculosis that left calcified pleura.
• Exposure: Earlier tuberculosis that left calcified, thickened pleura (fibrothorax). Two of the three patients had collapse therapy. The authors state the three had no work exposure to asbestos, lived in rural areas away from industry, had no relatives found to work with asbestos, and had never smoked. No fiber type is named.
• Main results:
  • Of 35 patients with mesothelioma, 3 developed the tumor in calcified pleura left by tuberculosis.
  • Patient 1 (pharmacist, mixed fibrous and epithelial mesothelioma) died 4 months after surgery, 11 months after symptoms first appeared.
  • Patient 2 (56-year-old housewife, mixed fibrous and epithelial mesothelioma found at autopsy) died 5 months after symptoms first appeared.
  • Patient 3 (41-year-old housewife, mixed mesothelioma) had two operations and chemotherapy and was still in good health 40 months after surgery.
  • No asbestos fiber was found in the specimens from the two women. The article does not report this examination for the pharmacist.
  • Among the authors' other mesothelioma patients, specimens from 12 of 32 were examined, and asbestos fiber was found in six of them.
  • At least 20 of these other patients had worked in factories or environments where asbestos was present.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the cause may have been indirect chronic stimulation of the pleura, or direct action of cancer-causing substances held in the pleura. They wrote that patients with pleural after-effects of tuberculosis should be watched carefully so that mesothelioma can be spotted early.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors state that there are too few published cases of pleural mesothelioma linked to tuberculosis for a statistically acceptable epidemiologic evaluation.

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Pleural Mesothelioma, Mesothelioma, Neoplasm, Pleura.

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