Using a multidisciplinary approach to combat the burden of asbestos-related disease

Our plain-English summary of Using a multidisciplinary approach to combat the burden of asbestos-related disease, by N. van Zandwijk, M. Soeberg, G. Reid (The Medical Journal of Australia, 2016).

The study

• Authors: N. van Zandwijk, M. Soeberg, G. Reid
• Journal: The Medical Journal of Australia
• Published: 2016;204(2):52
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This was a short, commissioned 'Research news' update in the Medical Journal of Australia, not externally peer reviewed. Its authors work at the Asbestos Diseases Research Institute (ADRI), which was set up in Sydney in 2009, and it described the institute's work. It was not a new study, and most findings it mentioned were cited from other publications. The authors wrote that ADRI analysis of Australian Mesothelioma Registry data suggested the malignant mesothelioma epidemic was slowing. The number of older patients diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma was still projected to rise until 2020, and malignant peritoneal mesothelioma among men was projected to rise up to 2025. A team of 50 experts appraised 1110 publications and produced 40 recommendations and 23 clinical practice points. The institute also built a biobank of tissue and blood samples. Its researchers reported reduced levels of microRNA-16 in mesothelioma tissue, and found that synthetic miR-16 mimics halted tumour growth in cell cultures and mice. In an early dose-finding trial, a major clinical response was reported in a patient. The authors concluded that the institute showed how, with sufficient investment, a small institute could produce prominent research outcomes within a short time.

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: Commissioned news update (commentary) describing a research institute's activities; not original research and not externally peer reviewed
• Who was studied: No study population; the article describes the work of the Asbestos Diseases Research Institute, established in Sydney, Australia, in 2009
• Exposure: No specific exposure was studied and no fiber types were named; the article notes that Australia was the world's highest per capita consumer of asbestos in the previous century
• Main results:
  • ADRI analysis of Australian Mesothelioma Registry data suggested the malignant mesothelioma epidemic was slowing, but the number of older patients diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma was projected to increase until 2020
  • An increase in malignant peritoneal mesothelioma incidence among men was projected up to 2025
  • A team of 50 experts appraised 1110 publications, producing 40 recommendations and 23 clinical practice points (guidelines for malignant pleural mesothelioma, published 2013)
  • The ADRI biobank was described as Australia's largest repository of mesothelioma specimens
  • ADRI researchers reported significantly reduced microRNA-16 levels in mesothelioma tissues; in cell cultures and tumour-bearing mice, miR-16 mimics halted tumour growth (cited from an earlier publication, reference 4)
  • A phase I (dose-finding) trial began at the end of 2014; a major clinical response was reported in a patient (cited from reference 5), and a phase II study was in preparation
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the ADRI is an example of how, with sufficient investment, a relatively small, disease-oriented research institute can produce prominent research outcomes within a relatively short time

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Multidisciplinary Team.

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• Chest physician-reported, work-related, long-latency respiratory disease in Great Britain — M. Carder, A. Darnton, et al. (2017)
• A multidisciplinary approach for the diagnosis of benign asbestos pleural effusion: a single-center experience — W. Luo, Y. Zeng, et al. (2020)
• A comprehensive multidisciplinary approach for identifying asbestos exposure among underground workers — A. Salvado, L. Capone, et al. (2024)
• WHO/ILO work-related burden of disease and injury: Protocol for systematic reviews of occupational exposure to dusts and/or fibres and of the effect of occupational exposure to dusts and/or fibres on pneumoconiosis — D. Mandrioli, V. Schlünssen, et al. (2018)

Browse more research in The Medical Journal of Australia, or return to medical research.