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Diffuse Pleural Mesothelioma and Asbestos Exposure in the North Western Cape Province:

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... Mesothelioma (certainly pleural mesothelioma) has long been considered a hallmark disease of asbestos exposure in men, but this is not the case in women (Ilgren and Wagner, 1991;Pavlisko and Sporn, 2014;Price, 2022;Price and Ware, 2009;Wagner et al., 1960). The exposure-response relationship for asbestos and mesothelioma is believed to be consistent across genders. ...
... Relevant to understanding the risk associated with various exposures, there are drastic differences in the potency and the ability of asbestos fibers to cause disease based on the chemical composition and dimension of the fibers (Darnton, 2023;Garabrant and Pastula, 2018;Hodgson and Darnton, 2000;Korchevskiy et al., 2019;Stanton et al., 1977;Wagner et al., 1960;Yarborough, 2006). ...
... If heavily contaminated clothing was laundered by a spouse in the 1945-1975 era, for the plausible cumulative exposures of the launderer to pose a mesothelioma hazard, the fibers would need to be amphiboles. Take-home exposure to chrysotile has generally been believed to pose no mesothelioma hazard (Donovan et al., 2012;Goswami et al., 2013;Wagner et al., 1960) as the plausible doses (Ferracini and Sahmel, 2024;Sahmel et al., 2014) would not be sufficient to cause disease given the low potency of the fibers (Beckett et al., 2023;Darnton, 2023). ...
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Mesothelioma is a fatal disease that has historically been associated with exposure to airborne asbestos. Because occupational asbestos exposures dropped dramatically in the late 1960s and early 1970s, far fewer cases of mesothelioma today are due to these fibers but, instead, are usually a result of the aging process or genetic predisposition. In May of 2022, a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) was issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding malignant mesothelioma incidence in women from 1999 to 2020. While this MMWR alerted citizens to the continued presence of the disease, after reading this article one might have thought that the CDC was suggesting that the disease was increasing in women due to asbestos exposures (which it is not). In the present analysis, we investigate several factors related to the interpretation of epidemiological data for mesothelioma, including the role of asbestos as a risk factor over time. The authors conducted a review of the scientific community’s understanding of mesothelioma incidence and asbestos exposures amongst women, as well as an investigation of the methods and references in the MMWR article. Although various articles have recently discussed the incidence of both peritoneal and pleural mesothelioma in women, it is fortunate that the age-adjusted rates for mesothelioma have remained flat (neither increased nor decreased significantly) in women for the past 50 years. Incredibly few women in the U. S. have had appreciable cumulative exposures to any type of asbestos (chrysotile, amosite, or crocidolite) in the workplace or from the ambient environment, especially since about 1965–1970. In this paper, we highlight six factors that should be considered when evaluating the incidence of mesothelioma amongst American women in the current era. Without sufficient consideration of these factors, improper conclusions have been drawn over the past several years.
... Pleural malignancy represents either metastases from another primary site (often lung, breast, ovarian) or primary pleural malignancy from pleural mesothelioma [1]. Pleural malignancy, especially pleural mesothelioma, can be challenging to diagnose due to the patchy distribution of heterogenous tumour across the pleural surface [2]. ...
... Patients not experiencing the outcome in question (diagnosis or death) were censored at the time of their last follow-up. For time to diagnosis, death was modelled as a competing risk in a model stratified by site by modelling cause-specific cumulative incidence functions using time-dependent weights and comparison of the corresponding subdistribution hazards (or sub-hazards) according to Fine and Grey's propotional sub-hazards model [1]. ...
... 1 RD = risk difference, RR = risk ratio, SHR=sub-hazard ratio, HR=hazard ratio, IRR=incident rate ratio. 1 Time to chemotherapy and procedure-related adverse event outcomes were unchanged by excluding patients who did not receive the intervention, 2 Data missing for 1 patient (1,0), 3 Data missing for 2 patient (1,1) ...
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Background Pleural biopsy is the gold standard for diagnosis of pleural malignancy but a significant proportion will have a inconclusive biopsy despite ongoing clinical suspicion of malignancy. We investigated whether positron emission tomography computed tomography (PET-CT) targeted pleural biopsy is superior to standard CT-guided pleural biopsy following an initial non-diagnostic biopsy. Methods The TARGET trial was a multicentre parallel group randomised trial. Patients with a previous inconclusive pleural biopsy but an ongoing suspicion of pleural malignancy were randomised (1:1) to receive either CT-guided biopsy (standard care) or PET-CT followed by a targeted CT biopsy (intervention). The primary outcome was pleural malignancy correctly identified from the trial biopsy. Results Between September 2015 and September 2018, 59 participants were randomised from 8 UK hospital sites, 29 to CT-only followed by targeted biopsy, and 30 to PET-CT followed by targeted biopsy. The proportion of pleural malignancy correctly identified was similar between the groups (risk ratio 1.03, 95%C.I. 0.83–1.29, p=0.77). The sensitivity of the trial biopsy to identify pleural malignancy was 79% (95%C.I. 54–94%) in the CT-only group versus 81% (95%C.I. 54–96%) in the PET-CT group. Interpretation The results do not support the practice of PET-CT to guide pleural biopsies in patients with a previous non-diagnostic biopsy. The diagnostic sensitivity in the CT-only group was higher than anticipated and supports the practice of repeating a CT-guided biopsy following an inconclusive result if clinical suspicion of malignancy persists.
... Sin embargo, pueden causar enfermedades graves y la muerte, tanto a los trabajadores como a otras personas expuestas. Además de asbestosis y enfermedades pleurales "benignas", ya en 1960 se estableció el vínculo causal entre la exposición al asbesto y el mesotelioma pleural, marcando un hito en el reconocimiento científico de esta enfermedad profesional (11) . Aunque la relación entre el asbesto y el cáncer de pulmón es más controvertida, la IARC clasifica todas las formas de amianto como carcinógenas, con el tabaquismo complicando su atribución. ...
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Las neumoconiosis son enfermedades pulmonares laborales asociadas a la inhalación de polvo inorgánico. Su prevalencia varía ampliamente en el mundo, siendo más alta en sec-tores industriales sin regulación estricta. A pesar de las mejoras en países desarrollados, la incidencia de neumoconiosis persiste y aumenta en sectores emergentes, como la producción y manipulación de piedras artificiales. Estas patologías representan un riesgo para la salud pública global, especialmente en regiones con menores controles laborales. Pro-ponemos un Observatorio Internacional de Neumoconiosis para monitorear la prevalencia e incidencia, evaluar medidas preventivas, y coordinar regulaciones internacionales. Esta entidad facilitaría el desarrollo de estrategias preventivas, intercambiaría conocimientos, y respondería a nuevas exposiciones. Una acción global y sostenida es esencial para reducir casos de neumoconiosis y proteger a los trabajadores más vulnerables.
... Wagner et al. reported the association between asbestos exposure and mesothelioma in 1960 [13]. The publication is widely cited as establishing the causative link between asbestos exposure and mesothelioma, although there had been several previous case reports of pleural cancer in subjects with asbestosis. ...
... Mesothelioma is a highly lethal cancer almost always caused by asbestos exposure [1,2]. Early detection, critical for effective treatment, remains challenging [3,4]. ...
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Mesothelioma is a highly lethal and poorly biologically understood disease which presents diagnostic challenges due to its morphological complexity. This study uses self-supervised AI (Artificial Intelligence) to map the histomorphological landscape of the disease. The resulting atlas consists of recurrent patterns identified from 3446 Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) stained images scanned from resected tumour slides. These patterns generate highly interpretable predictions, achieving state-of-the-art performance with 0.65 concordance index (c-index) for outcomes and 85% AUC in subtyping. Their clinical relevance is endorsed by comprehensive human pathological assessment. Furthermore, we characterise the molecular underpinnings of these diverse, meaningful, predictive patterns. Our approach both improves diagnosis and deepens our understanding of mesothelioma biology, highlighting the power of this self-learning method in clinical applications and scientific discovery.
... Pleural mesothelioma is an asbestos induced cancer of the mesothelial lining of the lung and the deadliest cancer after diagnosis 1,2 . Patients have a bleak outlook as many are diagnosed late or with aggressive disease, limiting the efficacy of surgical intervention 3,4 . ...
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As the core, tumorigenic downstream effectors of the Hippo signalling pathway, YAP/TAZ and the TEAD family of transcription factors represent attractive targets for drug discovery efforts within cancer research. This is particularly true within the context of pleural mesothelioma, in which there are many recent preclinical developments and clinical trials evaluating the efficacy of TEAD inhibitors. The range of inhibitors have shown great promise, but comparisons of their performances are so far limited. Here we develop a high content pipeline that enables a comparative analysis of currently developed YAP/TAZ-TEAD inhibitors. We take advantage of isogenic cellular models that enable us to examine inhibitor specificity. We identify genetic compensation of the Hippo pathway transcriptional module, with implications for therapeutic targeting, and implement Cell Painting to develop a detailed morphological profiling pipeline that enables further characterisation, quantification, and analysis of off-target effects. Our pipeline is scalable and allows us to establish specificity and comparative potency within cancer relevant assays in a clinically relevant cellular model.
... showed that asbestos exposure was associated with malignant tumor development (Wagner et al., 1960). Since then, European countries have gradually restricted asbestos production, transportation, and demolition of asbestos-containing buildings (Bianchi & Bianchi, 2016; L. . ...
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This study assessed the global cancer burden due to occupational carcinogens (OCs) using data from Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2021. Mortality and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) were employed to assess the evolving trend of cancer attributable to occupational risk. The analysis was conducted by age, year, geographical location, and socio-demographic index (SDI). Subsequently, the estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) values were calculated. Globally, asbestos exposure showed the most severe impact on age-standardized death rate (ASDR) and age-standardized DALY rate but decreased significantly. Conversely, diesel engine exhaust exposure increased, with EAPCs of 0.80 for deaths. Trichloroethylene exposure, although low in absolute terms, exhibited the fastest growth with an EAPC of 1.21 in age-standardized DALY rate. Notably, diesel engine exhaust exposure in South Asia and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Oceania increased significantly in age-standardized DALY rate. Regions with low to middle SDI, such as South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, showed the highest increases in OC-related cancer burdens in age-standardized DALY rate. Lesotho, Kenya, and Egypt exhibited the fastest growth, with EAPCs in age-standardized DALY rate of 3.45, 2.13, and 2.95, respectively. High-income regions like the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Italy had the most severe OC-related cancer of ASDR burdens in 2021. OC exposure remains a major contributor to the global cancer burden, especially from asbestos and silica. Exposure to diesel engine exhaust was associated with increased risk of cancers, particularly in low -to -middle SDI regions such as South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
... Most cases of mesothelioma are attributed to occupational or environmental exposure to asbestos. The association of mesothelioma and exposure to asbestos fibers had been well documented by Wagner for the first time in 1960 [21]. The risk of mesothelioma onset after exposure to asbestos increases continuously with the time elapsed since exposure. ...
Article
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Background Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is a rare but lethal cancer strongly associated with asbestos exposure. This retrospective study examines mesothelioma trends and past asbestos exposure assessment in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy. Methods Between 1996 and 2023, 3,513 cases of MM were recorded by the Regional Operating Center, predominantly in males (72%) and older than 65 years (79%). MM diagnosis was defined as certain, probable, and possible. Information concerning asbestos exposure was collected through an analytical questionnaire administered to patients or proxies and classified as occupational and non-occupational. Results Occupational exposure accounted for 82% of cases, significantly increasing from 71% to 88% in the most recent period. A more accurate definition of occupational exposure indicates that specific exposure has gone from 49% in the first period to 62% and 58% in the last two periods; probable exposure decreased from 21% to 16%, while possible exposure decreased from 16% to 13%. Familiar exposure remained relatively constant at around 8%, environmental exposure slightly decreased from 4% to 2%, while non-occupational exposure remained stable at 2%. Among patients with exclusively occupational exposure (1,826 cases), 87% were male and aged between 65 and 75 years (36%) and 75+ (41%). Exposure rates for the province of residence see the province of Reggio Emilia with the highest occupational exposure rate (2.5 x 100,000 residents), followed by Ravenna (2.3 x 100,000 residents) and Parma and Piacenza, which have similar exposure rates with 2.2 x 100,000 residents. Occupational sectors such as construction, railway maintenance, and metalworking are identified as high-risk industries. Despite efforts to mitigate exposure, non-occupational and environmental exposures persist. The study highlights the importance of continuous surveillance and exposure monitoring to guide effective interventions and legal recognition of MM.
... Pleural mesothelioma (PM) is an invasive thoracic malignancy causally linked to prior asbestos exposure in most patients [1,2]. The association between asbestos and PM was first established by Wagner in South African miners in the 1960s, but exposure in most European patients reflects involvement in heavy industries or construction or environmental contamination [3]. Import and utilisation bans were implemented across Western Europe in the late 1990s or early 2000s, but many environments remain contaminated by asbestos-containing building materials. ...
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Pleural mesothelioma (PM) is an aggressive asbestos-associated thoracic malignancy with a median survival of 12–18 months. Due to continued asbestos use in many nations, global incidence is rising. Causes due to non-occupational, environmental exposure are also rising in many countries despite utilisation bans. For many years, platinum­–pemetrexed chemotherapy was the solitary licensed therapy, but first-line combination immune checkpoint blockade has recently demonstrated improved outcomes, with both regimes tested in predominantly late-stage cohorts. In the second-line setting, single-agent nivolumab has been shown to extend survival and is now available for routine use in some regions, while second-line chemotherapy has no proven role and opportunities for clinical trials should be maximised in relapsed disease. Surgery for “technically resectable” disease has been offered for decades in many expert centres, but the recent results from the phase III MARS2 trial have challenged this approach. There remains no robustly proven standard of care for early-stage PM. The clinical trial landscape for PM is complex and increasingly diverse, making further development of specialist PM multidisciplinary teams an important priority in all countries. The observation of improving outcomes in centres that have adopted this service model emphasises the importance of high-quality diagnostics and equitable access to therapies and trials. Novel therapies targeting a range of aberrations are being evaluated; however, a better understanding of the molecular drivers and their associated vulnerabilities is required to identify and prioritise treatment targets.
... There were many evidences from a number of studies conducted in several different countries that smokers with a history of occupational exposure to asbestos dust are at risk of developing asbestosis and mesothelioma and a very high risk of lung cancer (Doll, 1995;Wagner et al., 1960;andSelikoff et al., 1964 as cited in Hammond et al., 1979). Such aforementioned factual discussion and research findings should serve as an alarm and an eye-opener particularly to those workers exposed to asbestos to stop the habit of smoking to reduce the synergistic effect of this concomitant and deadly tandem. ...
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Lung cancer is currently the leading cause of global cancer death (Ries et al., 1995 as cited in Lee et al., 1997). The two major known risk factors bronchogenic carcinoma in humans are smoking and asbestos exposure. (Doll, 1955; Doll et al., 1976; and Hammond et al., (1979). Current epidemiologic data favor a synergistic model for the two risk factors (Saracci, 1977; and Selikoff et al, 1979). The interaction is considered synergistic if the combined effect is greater than the sum of the effect of each chemical given alone. Investigators have reported a 10-fold increase in the risk of lung cancer with smoking and a 3- to 4- fold increase associated with asbestos exposure and individuals who are exposed to both tobacco smoke and asbestos have roughly a 30- to 50- fold increase in risk of developing lung cancer. (Hammond et al, 1979 and Kjuus 1986). This was supported by book of Luttrell et al. (2008), when he cited that Selikoff et al. (1979) found that there was a 5-fold increase in lung cancer incidence among asbestos workers, an 11 fold increase among cigarette smokers, and a 55-fold increase among asbestos workers who were cigarette smokers. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (2006) also mentioned that both cigarette smoking and asbestos exposure can cause lung cancer. and when a cigarette smoker is exposed to asbestos, his/her risk of lung cancer increases by 50 to 84 times. This probability is way greater than those men who smoke alone who only have 23 times more likely to develop lung cancer, and likewise way greater than those who are exposed to asbestos alone who are about 13 times more likely to develop lung cancer. There were many evidences from a number of studies conducted in several different countries that smokers with a history of occupational exposure to asbestos dust are at risk of developing asbestosis and mesothelioma and a very high risk of lung cancer (Doll, 1995; Wagner et al., 1960; and Selikoff et al., 1964 as cited in Hammond et al., 1979). Such aforementioned factual discussion and research findings should serve as an alarm and an eye-opener particularly to those workers exposed to asbestos to stop the habit of smoking to reduce the synergistic effect of this concomitant and deadly tandem. Likewise, proper health care and vigilance should also be undertaken by men and women whose bread-and-butter expose them to the risk of asbestos-related illnesses. How to Cite: Aban, J. L. (2024). Exposure to asbestos and cigarette smoke that causes lung cancer: a short discussion. Saint Louis University Research Paper. Pp 1-4.
... Long latency and lack of accurate asbestos exposure data have considerably delayed the recognition of asbestos as a major lung cancer carcinogen. During the first half of the previous century several clinical observations had suggested that asbestos exposure could be the cause of lung and a novel type of pleural cancer (mesothelioma), but this suspicion was only fully confirmed several years later [1,2]. More recently, asbestos has also been causally related to other solid tumours such as cancers of the GI tract, the larynx and the ovary [3]. ...
... Asbestos was recognised in the 1960s as a causative agent for mesothelioma [6]. Subsequent laboratory investigations showed cells exposed to asbestos developed genetic abnormalities including chromosome breakages and aneuploidy [7]. ...
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In this article, we provide a comprehensive analysis of recent progress in the genetic characterisation of pleural mesothelioma, and the translation of these findings to clinical practice. Advancements in sequencing technology have allowed the identification of driver mutations and improved our understanding of how these mutations may shape the mesothelioma tumour microenvironment. However, the identification of frequently mutated regions including CDKN2A, BAP1 and NF2 have, to date, not yet yielded targeted therapy options that outperform standard chemo- and immunotherapies. Similarly, the association between mutational profile and the immune microenvironment or immunotherapy response is not well characterised. Further research into the link between tumour mutational profile and response to therapy is critical for identifying targetable vulnerabilities and stratifying patients for therapy.
... M alignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare neoplasm originating from the mesothelial cells and has a poor survival rate. It was first described by Wagner et al., [1] in 1960 with relation to asbestos exposure. Benign lesions of mesothelium are challenges to distinguish from malignant lesions of mesothelium, particularly in small biopsy specimens. ...
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Introduction: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare condition with a poor survival rate. This study was designed to determine the prognostic importance of glucose transporter-1 (GLUT-1) expression in operated patients with pleural mesothelioma. Methods: Patients operated with a diagnosis of pleural mesothelioma between January 2005 and September 2014 were retrospectively analyzed in terms of age, gender, diagnosis method, maximum standardized uptake value in positron emission tomography, operation, pathology, GLUT-1 expression in the specimen, morbidity, and mortality. Results: One hundred and twenty-nine patients were diagnosed as MPM. 75 (54 male and 21 female) of these patients underwent therapeutic operations. The mean age was 63 (range 41-89). Extrapleural pneumonectomy was performed in 27, pleurectomy/decortication in 25, and radical pleurectomy in 23 patients. The pathological diagnosis was epithelial in 67 and biphasic in 8 patients. All the patients were referred for adjuvant chemoradiotherapy and 69% completed the intended trimodality treatment. In 61 (81.3%) of the operated patients, the parietal pleura material was positive for GLUT-1. The morbidity was seen in 16 of the operated patients. The average survival time was 23.7 months after surgery. The average survival time was 24.5 months in patients with GLUT-1 expression <10% in extent, and 15.6 months in rest of the patients (p=0.001). Discussion and Conclusion: MPM has a poor prognosis even after surgery. However, lower expression of GLUT-1 was associated with significantly longer survival in our study. The survival time was found to be better if the GLUT-1 extent was <10%. Larger studies are needed to prove the prognostic significance of GLUT-1.
... Several scientists discredited using asbestos material due to its cancerous nature [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. It was shown that prolonged exposure to asbestos dust results in asbestosis [25], mesothelioma and other cancerous diseases [26][27][28][29][30][31]. Consequently, the US Environmental Protection Agency gave a ban on the use of asbestos in the late 1900s, resulting in a great revolution in the automobile industry. ...
Article
Asbestos has been a significant reinforcement material in producing automobile friction components due to its physical and mechanical properties. However, the replacement of asbestos and other toxic metals employed in producing conventional friction components has been called for due to health and environmental concerns. Research in this area has led to the development of more efficient non-asbestos-based organic friction materials for automobiles. In this study, recent progress in the manufacture of non-asbestos-based, eco-friendly automotive brake pads is reviewed. A thorough classification of conventional and non-conventional friction materials used in the development of brake pads is presented, and the production method and the roles of friction materials in the mechanical and tribological properties of the manufactured pads are discussed. The study shows that the performance of brake pads manufactured from plants, animals, or plants and animal materials (hybrid) varies depending on the physical, chemical and mechanical properties of the plants and animals.
... It was in the 1950s when the association between asbestos and lung cancer became apparent and more convincing to the general public [21]. Furthermore, it was not until the 1960s when mesothelioma was recognized as a new cancer entity related to asbestos exposure [22]. Unfortunately, currently there are no official guidelines for the screening of patients that have been exposed to asbestos in the past, representing a challenge for early detection in high-risk population. ...
Chapter
Asbestos refers to naturally occurring hydrated magnesium silicates which when inhaled as dust is associated with considerable toxicity for humans. The spectrum of diseases caused secondary to inhalation of asbestos dust include several pleuropulmonary conditions, of which malignant pleural mesothelioma and lung cancer are the most feared complications with significant morbidity and mortality. While the relationship between malignant pleural mesothelioma and asbestos exposure is well recognized, controversy exists with regards to the risk of lung cancer secondary to asbestos exposure. Nonetheless, current evidence is consistent with an increased risk of lung cancer secondary to asbestos exposure, and cigarette smoking has been proven to have a supra-additive effect within this context. The aim of the book chapter is to review asbestos, its associated toxicity, discuss about pleuropulmonary malignancies and their pathogenesis in relation to asbestos exposure.KeywordsAsbestosMiningAsbestosisMalignant pleural mesotheliomaLung cancerPathogenesis
... Chris Wagner, a renowned South African-born pathologist, made a breakthrough diagnosis of a mesothelioma case in 1956 (Wagner et al. 1960;Gildenhuys 2021). Mesothelioma is a tumour of the mesothelium, a thin tissue that lines the lung, chest wall and abdomen (National Cancer Institute 2023). ...
Article
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The South African National Institute for Occupational Health (NIOH), formerly the Pneumoconiosis Research Unit, has previously milled about 544 kg of anthophyllite, crocidolite, amosite and chrysotile asbestos fibre materials. This endeavour came about in an attempt to address a recommendation, made by the International Union Against Cancer (UICC), to make asbestos standard reference samples available for research. Some of these reference samples, as well as the bulk, unprocessed materials are still within the care of the NIOH and can be obtained for the purpose of Public Health research under strict terms and conditions. Considering the hazardous nature of asbestos and regulated prohibitions imposed on this mineral, the NIOH asbestos storage facility is being subjected to various occupational and environmental control measures to ensure that any potential fibre release, and subsequent risk of exposure, are prevented.
... It took approximately another 30 years for it to be widely recognized as a unique cancer entity. The definitive epidemiological study designed to connect mesothelioma to asbestos originated in South Africa, where J.C. Wagner, C.A. Sleggs, and P. Marchand published their findings in 1960 [6]. They ended up finding that mesothelioma was remarkably frequent in individuals who lived or worked in the crocidolite asbestos mining area. ...
Article
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Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare and extremely aggressive intrathoracic neoplasm that emerges from the mesothelial cells that line the ribs and the membrane that envelopes the lungs. We present the case of a 68-year-old male with complaints of breathlessness and fatigue. He had no history of exposure to asbestos and no association with familial exposure either. He was evaluated with a PET-CT scan, pleural cytology, and immunohistochemistry and was diagnosed with Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma. The patient was managed with chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and palliative care. A detailed report of malignant pleural mesothelioma was presented in this study.
... Although the causal relationship between mesothelioma and asbestos exposure is well known, most of the convincing evidence has been obtained in occupational contexts. [1][2][3] Several studies have assessed whether environmental exposures, including neighborhood, domestic, and household exposure, were associated with an increase in mesothelioma deaths. [4][5][6] However, different pathways of non-occupational exposures studied by researchers and potential misclassification of asbestos fiber types might result in the large heterogeneity of results across studies. ...
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A causal relationship between mesothelioma and the occupational asbestos exposure is well known, while few studies have shown a relationship to non-occupational exposures. The aim of this study was to quantify the risk of mesothelioma death associated with neighborhood asbestos exposures due to a large-scale asbestos-cement (AC) plant in Amagasaki, Japan, adjusting properly considerable risk factors including occupational exposures. We conducted a nested case-control study in which a fixed population of 143,929 residents who had been living in Amagasaki City between 1975 and 2002 were followed from 2002 to 2015. All 133 cases and 403 matched controls were interviewed about their occupational, domestic, household, and neighborhood asbestos exposures. Odds ratios (ORs) for mesothelioma death associated with the neighborhood exposure were estimated by a conditional logistic-regression model. For quantitative assessments for neighborhood exposure, we adopted cumulative indices for individuals' residential histories at each residence-specific asbestos concentration multiplied by the duration during the potential exposure period of 1957-1975 (crocidolite). We observed an increasing, dose-dependent risk of mesothelioma death associated with the neighborhood exposure, demonstrating that ORs in the highest quintile category were 21.4 (95% CI: 5.8 - 79.2) for all, 23.7 (95% CI: 3.8 -147.2) for males, and 26.0 (95% CI: 2.8 - 237.5) for females compared to the lowest quintile, respectively. A quantitative assessment for risk of mesothelioma deaths, adjusting for occupational and the other non-occupational exposures separately, showed a dose-dependent association with the neighborhood exposure and no substantial gender differences in magnitude.
... In particular, the author suggested that the fibers with low length (< 2.5 μm) were expected to be fully removed from the lungs, while longer fibers cause the fibrotic reaction. Wagner, Sleggs, Marchand (1960) in their pioneering paper on the asbestos-related etiology of mesothelioma emphasized that the suspected agent was the "fibrous" form. Timbrell (1965), exploring the deposition of asbestos fibers in the lungs, and the reasons why longer fibers can be found in the human alveoli vs. spherical particles that usually are limited in size, stated that " [t]he fibers most likely to be retained are those fibers that penetrate deeply before being deposited, namely those fibers most likely to escape deposition by inertial precipitation and sedimentation, namely those fibers of lowest falling speed, or smallest diameter". ...
Article
Context: Based on a decade-long exploration, dimensions of elongate mineral particles are implicated as a pivotal component of their carcinogenic potency. This paper summarizes current understanding of the discovered relationships and their importance to the protection of public health. Objectives: To demonstrate the relationships between cancer risk and dimensions (length, width, and other derivative characteristics) of mineral fibers by comparing the results and conclusions of previously published studies with newly published information. Methods: A database including 59 datasets comprising 341,949 records were utilized to characterize dimensions of elongate particles. The descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analysis, combined with Monte Carlo simulation, were used to select dimensional characteristics most relevant for mesothelioma and lung cancer risk prediction. Results: The highest correlation between mesothelioma potency factor and weight fraction of size categories is achieved for fibers with lengths >5.6 μm and widths ≤0.26 μm (R = 0.94, P < 0.02); no statistically significant potency was found for lengths <5 μm. These results are consistent with early published estimations, though are derived from a different approach. For combinations of amphiboles and chrysotile (with a consideration of a correction factor between mineral classes), the potency factors correlated most highly with a fraction of fibers longer than 5 μm and thinner than 0.2 μm for mesothelioma, and longer than 5 μm and thinner than 0.3 μm for lung cancer. Because the proportion of long, thin fibers in asbestiform vs. non-asbestiform dusts is higher, the cancer potencies of the former are predicted at a significantly higher level. The analysis of particle dimensionality in human lung burden demonstrates positive selection for thinner fibers (especially for amosite and crocidolite) and prevailing fraction of asbestiform habit. Conclusion: Dimensions of mineral fibers can be confirmed as one of the main drivers of their carcinogenicity. The width of fibers emerges as a primary potency predictor, and fibers of all widths with lengths shorter than 5 μm seem to be non-impactful for cancer risk. The mineral dust with a fibrous component is primarily carcinogenic if it contains amphibole fibers longer than 5 μm and thinner than 0.25 μm.
... The knowledge of its carcinogenic effects gradually increased. In 1960, the relationship between mesothelioma and previous asbestos exposure was documented by Wagner et al. 62,63 . With the confluence of the impact of the industrial revolution, the development of the construction industry, and new technologies, asbestos came to the fore and was extensively mined and exploited. ...
Article
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The association of mesothelioma, a lethal lung disease, with asbestos has led to an absolute ban on asbestos in at least 55 countries worldwide. The purpose of this paper is to review residual exposure to asbestos as well as other emerging causes of mesothelioma outside asbestos. The review provides detailed description of asbestos minerals, their geographical locations, mesothelioma in these areas, as well as contemporary possible sources of asbestos exposure. Second, we examine other emerging causes of mesothelioma including: ionizing radiation as the second most important risk factor after asbestos, particularly relevant to patients undergoing radiotherapy, third, carbon nanotubes which are under investigation and fourth, Simian virus 40. In the case of asbestos per se, the greatest risk is from occupational exposure during mining and subsequent processing. Of the non-occupational exposures, environmental exposure is most serious, followed by exposure from indoor asbestos minerals and secondary familial exposure. Overall, asbestos is still a major risk factor, but alternative causes should not be neglected, especially in young people, in women and those with a history of radiotherapy or living in high-risk locations.
... Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is an aggressive cancer of malignant mesothelial cells of the pleural lining, primarily associated with asbestos exposure [29]. It has a poor prognosis with less than 10% five year survival rates due to late diagnosis ( [14] ; [1]). ...
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Malignant mesothelioma is classified into three histological subtypes, Epithelioid, Sarcomatoid, and Biphasic according to the relative proportions of epithelioid and sarcomatoid tumor cells present. Biphasic tumors display significant populations of both cell types. This subtyping is subjective and limited by current diagnostic guidelines and can differ even between expert thoracic pathologists when characterising the continuum of relative proportions of epithelioid and sarcomatoid components using a three class system. In this work, we develop a novel dual-task Graph Neural Network (GNN) architecture with ranking loss to learn a model capable of scoring regions of tissue down to cellular resolution. This allows quantitative profiling of a tumor sample according to the aggregate sarcomatoid association score of all the cells in the sample. The proposed approach uses only core-level labels and frames the prediction task as a dual multiple instance learning (MIL) problem. Tissue is represented by a cell graph with both cell-level morphological and regional features. We use an external multi-centric test set from Mesobank, on which we demonstrate the predictive performance of our model. We validate our model predictions through an analysis of the typical morphological features of cells according to their predicted score, finding that some of the morphological differences identified by our model match known differences used by pathologists. We further show that the model score is predictive of patient survival with a hazard ratio of 2.30. The code for the proposed approach, along with the dataset, is available at: https://github.com/measty/MesoGraph.
... M alignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare neoplasm originating from the mesothelial cells and has a poor survival rate. It was first described by Wagner et al., [1] in 1960 with relation to asbestos exposure. Benign lesions of mesothelium are challenges to distinguish from malignant lesions of mesothelium, particularly in small biopsy specimens. ...
... La relación entre la exposición al asbesto y el daño pulmonar se conoce desde comienzos del siglo XX, cuando Montague Murray en 1906 y Cooke en 1927 reportaron los primeros casos de fibrosis pulmonar asociada a dicho mineral (10,11). Desde ese momento se han publicado numerosas investigaciones y reportes de casos que demuestran las diversas enfermedades ocupacionales causadas por las fibras de asbesto en personas expuestas: asbestosis, placas pleurales, cáncer de pulmón y mesotelioma (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17), por cuya razón la Agencia Internacional de Investigación en Cáncer (IARC, por la sigla en inglés de International Agency for Research on Cancer) ha clasificado este mineral como carcinógeno para los seres humanos (1,(18)(19)(20)(21). En Colombia, todas las formas de asbesto se consideran cancerígenos tipo A1 (22). ...
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El asbesto es un grupo de minerales no metálicos fibrosos, compuestos de silicatos de doble cadena que poseen gran resistencia a la tensión, a la degradación química y disminuida termoconductividad. A pesar de la evidencia tanto experimental como poblacional de que los minerales del grupo asbesto son agentes cancerígenos y de su reconocimiento como tales por la OMS, aún se sigue haciendo uso de éstos a costa de la salud de los trabajadores, lo que se ha convertido en un problema mundial observado en el desarrollo de enfermedades asociadas a estos minerales en individuos expuestos en un gran número de países, las cuales se espera sigan en aumento. En este artículo hacemos una revisión del asbesto y sus enfermedades asociadas, uso, exposición y normatividad existente frente al mismo a nivel mundial y concretamente en Colombia, y se plantea la posibilidad de evaluar la utilidad del monitoreo biológico genético como complemento para el seguimiento de individuos expuestos que permita reforzar la vigilancia en nuestro país del desarrollo de cáncer de pulmón, mesotelioma y otras patología asociado al asbesto
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Background and Objectives: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare and aggressive malignancy with a poor prognosis. Identifying reliable prognostic factors is crucial for risk stratification and optimizing treatment strategies. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of clinicopathologic factors and systemic inflammatory markers on survival outcomes in patients with MPM. Materials and Methods: This retrospective, multicenter study included 217 patients diagnosed with MPM between January 2009 and March 2024. Data on age, gender, histology, disease stage, treatment modalities, and inflammatory markers such as the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and C-reactive protein/albumin ratio (CAR) were collected. Survival outcomes were analyzed using Kaplan–Meier methods, and prognostic factors were evaluated using Cox regression analysis. Results: CAR was identified as an independent prognostic factor for both overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Patients with CAR < 0.98 had significantly longer OS (87.0 months vs. 14.0 months, p < 0.001) and PFS (17.61 months vs. 8.96 months, p = 0.010). While NLR was significant in univariate analysis (OS: 25.0 months for NLR < 2.58 vs. 21.0 months for NLR ≥ 2.58, p = 0.040), it did not retain significance in the multivariate model (p = 0.180). Epithelioid histology and early-stage disease were strongly associated with improved survival outcomes (OS: 32.0 vs. 11.0 months for epithelioid vs. non-epithelioid histology, p < 0.001; 32.0 vs. 12.0 months for early-stage vs. metastatic disease, p < 0.001). Conclusions: CAR is a strong independent prognostic factor in MPM, reflecting systemic inflammation and nutritional status. Epithelioid histology and early-stage disease are associated with significantly longer survival, underscoring the critical role of early detection in improving patient outcomes.
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This article argues for greater regulatory efforts to prevent unnecessary deaths from asbestos exposure in Australia. Despite asbestos-related diseases being responsible for a large number of deaths in Australia every year, the danger from exposure to asbestos is not well understood in the community and the regulatory response has been inadequate. A survey of 43,000 Australians between April 2020 and May 2021 found that only 28 percent of respondents knew that asbestos is dangerous to health and only 5 percent were aware that once diagnosed, most cases of asbestos-related disease are fatal within relatively short timeframes. Despite the significant risk to Australian lives posed by in situ asbestos, governments have failed to ensure that Australians are accurately informed about that risk, and responsible corporations have not been fully held to account.
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Naturally occurring asbestos (NOA) represents a matter of social and environmental concern due to its potential release in the atmosphere during rock excavation and grinding in quarry and road tunnel activities. In most cases, NOA occurs in serpentinites, i.e., rocks deriving from low-grade metamorphic hydration of mantle peridotites. The potential release of asbestos fibers from serpentinite outcrops depends on several features, such as serpentinization degree, rock deformation, weathering, and abundance of fibrous veins. In this study, we selected a set of serpentinite samples from a representative outcrop in Tuscany (Italy), and we analyzed them by Optical, Scanning, and Transmission Electron Microscopies. The samples were treated by grinding tests following the Italian guidelines Decrees 14/5/96 and 152/2006 for the determination of the Release Index (RI), i.e., the fiber amount released through controlled crushing tests. The fine-grained powder released during the tests was analyzed by quantitative Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to determine the variety and the amount of released fibers and to assess the potential hazard of the different serpentinite samples. Results indicate that the amount of released fibers is mostly related to serpentinite deformation, with the highest RI values for cataclastic and foliated samples, typically characterized by widespread occurrence of fibrous veins. Conversely, massive pseudomorphic serpentinite revealed a very low RI, even if their actual chrysotile content is up to 20-25%. Based on our original findings from the RI results, a preliminary investigation of the outcrop at the mesoscale would be of primary importance to obtain a reliable hazard assessment of NOA sites, allowing the primary distinction among the different serpentinites lithotypes and the effective fiber release.
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Abstract Objective To provide the most up-to-date data on the burden of malignant mesothelioma (MM) and the projections through 2029 in China. Methods Data on patients diagnosed with MM from China during 1990–2019 were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2019 database, including annual cases and deaths data and age-standardized rates of incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) associated with MM among different age groups. Temporal trends during 1990–2019 were analyzed by the Joinpoint regression models using 95% confidence interval (CI), while the projections through 2029 were calculated by the Bayesian age-period-cohort model. Data on the production and consumption of asbestos in China were obtained from the United States Geological Survey on Mineral Commodity Summaries during 1996–2023. Results We observed a significant elevation in incident new cases and deaths over the last 3 decades, increasing from 1193 in 1990 to 2815 in 2019 for incident cases and from 1134 in 1990 to 2773 in 2019 for death cases. We found a roughly 6% increase in the proportion of incident cases for those aged >70 years (30% in 2019 versus 24% in 1990), while for the proportion of deaths similar elevation for those aged >70 years was found. Additionally, men had significantly higher DALYs due to MM across age groups compared with women. Asbestos consumption in China dramatically dropped since 2012 and reached the bottom in 2017 with 230 kilotons. By 2029, the projected age-standardized rate for incidence and mortality is expected to reach 1.2 per million for both. Conclusion We found, for the first time using GBD data on the Chinese population, that the burden of MM has been significantly increasing in China over the last three decades and will continue to increase in the upcoming decade, suggesting an urgent need for a complete ban on chrysotile asbestos in China.
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Objective The main objective of this study was to describe the translation, cultural adaptation, and content validation process of the French National Surveillance Programme for Pleural Mesothelioma (FNSPPM) questionnaire for the Portuguese context. Methods A search was conducted in the PubMed database and Web of Science, in the period from January 1, 1960, to December 31, 2022, to select the questionnaire. Forward and reverse translations, calculation of the content validity index (CVI) by a panel of experts (n = 9), and cognitive interviewing with individuals with at least one exposure to asbestos (n = 10) were performed. Experts rated items on a Likert scale (1-4) based on their relevance. The item-level content validity index (I-CVI), scale-level content validity index based on the average method (S-CVI/Ave), and scale-level content validity index based on the universal agreement method (S-CVI/UA) were calculated. Results The final version of the FNSPPM questionnaire for the Portuguese context resulted from a translation and content validation process. The panel of experts considered the questionnaire relevant, with an I-CVI of up to 0.78 in 68 of 69 of the questions, an S-CVI/Ave of 0.98, and an S-CVI/UA of 0.90. The participants in the cognitive interviews reported an understanding of the questionnaire. Conclusion A validated FNSPPM questionnaire for the Portuguese context is now available to study individuals with pleural mesothelioma (PM) and asbestos exposure.
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Asbestos and BAP1 germline mutations are risk factors for malignant mesothelioma (MM). While it is well accepted that amphibole asbestos is carcinogenic, the role of serpentine (chrysotile) asbestos in MM has been debated. To address this controversy, we assessed whether minimal exposure to chrysotile could significantly increase the incidence and rate of MM onset in germline Bap1-mutant mice. With either crocidolite or chrysotile, and at each dose tested, MMs occurred at a significantly higher rate and earlier onset time in Bap1-mutant mice than in wild-type littermates. To explore the role of gene–environment interactions in MMs from Bap1-mutant mice, we investigated proinflammatory and protumorigenic factors and the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME). IHC and immunofluorescence staining showed an increased number of macrophages in granulomatous lesions and MMs. The relative number of CD163-positive (CD163+) M2 macrophages in chrysotile-induced MMs was consistently greater than in crocidolite-induced MMs, suggesting that chrysotile induces a more profound immunosuppressive response that creates favorable conditions for evading immune surveillance. MMs from Bap1-mutant mice showed upregulation of CD39/CD73-adenosine and C-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (Ccl2)/C-C motif chemokine receptor 2 (Ccr2) pathways, which together with upregulation of IL6 and IL10, promoted an immunosuppressive TIME, partly by attracting M2 macrophages. Interrogation of published human MM RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data implicated these same immunosuppressive pathways and connections with CD163+ M2 macrophages. These findings indicate that increased M2 macrophages, along with upregulated CD39/CD73-adenosine and Ccl2/Ccr2 pathways, contribute to an immunosuppressive TIME in chrysotile-induced MMs of Bap1-mutant mice, suggesting that immunotherapeutic strategies targeting protumorigenic immune pathways could be beneficial in human BAP1 mutation carriers who develop MM. Significance We show that germline Bap1-mutant mice have enhanced susceptibility to MM upon minimal exposure to chrysotile asbestos, not only amphibole fibers. Chrysotile induced a more profound immune tumor response than crocidolite in Bap1-mutant mice by upregulating CD39/CD73-adenosine and Ccl2/Ccr2 pathways and recruiting more M2 macrophages, which together contributed to an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Interrogation of human MM RNA-seq data revealed interconnected immunosuppressive pathways consistent with our mouse findings.
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Mesothelioma is classified into three histological subtypes, epithelioid, sarcomatoid, and biphasic, according to the relative proportions of epithelioid and sarcomatoid tumor cells present. Current guidelines recommend that the sarcomatoid component of each mesothelioma is quantified, as a higher percentage of sarcomatoid pattern in biphasic mesothelioma shows poorer prognosis. In this work, we develop a dual-task graph neural network (GNN) architecture with ranking loss to learn a model capable of scoring regions of tissue down to cellular resolution. This allows quantitative profiling of a tumor sample according to the aggregate sarcomatoid association score. Tissue is represented by a cell graph with both cell-level morphological and regional features. We use an external multicentric test set from Mesobank, on which we demonstrate the predictive performance of our model. We additionally validate our model predictions through an analysis of the typical morphological features of cells according to their predicted score.
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Theories of disease pathogenesis following asbestos exposure have focused on the participation of iron. After exposure, an open network of negatively charged functional groups on the fiber surface complexes host metals with a preference for iron. Competition for iron between the host and the asbestos results in a functional metal deficiency. The homeostasis of iron in the host is modified by the cell response, including increased import to correct the loss of the metal to the fiber surface. The biological effects of asbestos develop in response to and are associated with the disruption of iron homeostasis. Cell iron deficiency in the host following fiber exposure activates kinases and transcription factors, which are associated with the release of mediators coordinating both inflammatory and fibrotic responses. Relative to serpentine chrysotile, the clearance of amphiboles is incomplete, resulting in translocation to the mesothelial surface of the pleura. Since the biological effect of asbestos is dependent on retention of the fiber, the sequestration of iron by the surface, and functional iron deficiency in the cell, the greater clearance (i.e., decreased persistence) of chrysotile results in its diminished impact. An inability to clear asbestos from the lower respiratory tract initiates a host process of iron biomineralization (i.e., asbestos body formation). Host cells attempt to mobilize the metal sequestered by the fiber surface by producing superoxide at the phagosome membrane. The subsequent ferrous cation is oxidized and undergoes hydrolysis, creating poorly crystalline iron oxyhydroxide (i.e., ferrihydrite) included in the coat of the asbestos body.
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Malignant Mesothelioma is a difficult to diagnose and highly lethal cancer usually associated with asbestos exposure. It can be broadly classified into three subtypes: Epithelioid, Sarcomatoid, and a hybrid Biphasic subtype in which significant components of both of the previous subtypes are present. Early diagnosis and identification of the subtype informs treatment and can help improve patient outcome. However, the subtyping of malignant mesothelioma, and specifically the recognition of transitional features from routine histology slides has a high level of inter-observer variability. In this work, we propose an end-to-end multiple instance learning (MIL) approach for malignant mesothelioma subtyping. This uses an adaptive instance-based sampling scheme for training deep convolutional neural networks on bags of image patches that allows learning on a wider range of relevant instances compared to max or top-N based MIL approaches. We also investigate augmenting the instance representation to include aggregate cellular morphology features from cell segmentation. The proposed MIL approach enables identification of malignant mesothelial subtypes of specific tissue regions. From this a continuous characterisation of a sample according to predominance of sarcomatoid vs epithelioid regions is possible, thus avoiding the arbitrary and highly subjective categorisation by currently used subtypes. Instance scoring also enables studying tumor heterogeneity and identifying patterns associated with different subtypes. We have evaluated the proposed method on a dataset of 234 tissue micro-array cores with an AUROC of 0.89±0.05 for this task. The dataset and developed methodology is available for the community at: https://github.com/measty/PINS.
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Primary pericardial mesotheliomas are extremely rare, accounting for <1% of all mesotheliomas, and their molecular genetic features and predisposing factors remain to be determined. Here, we report the clinicopathologic, immunohistochemical, and molecular genetic findings of three pericardial mesotheliomas without pleural involvement. Three cases diagnosed between 2004 and 2022 were included in the study and analyzed by immunohistochemistry and targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS); corresponding non-neoplastic tissue was sequenced in all cases. Two patients were female and one male, aged between 66 and 75 years. Two patients each had prior asbestos exposure and were smokers. Histologic subtypes were epithelioid in two cases and biphasic in one case. Immunohistochemical staining identified expression of cytokeratin AE1/AE3 and calretinin in all cases, D2-40 in two cases, and WT1 in one case. Staining for tumor suppressors revealed loss of p16, MTAP, and Merlin (NF2) expression in two cases, and loss of BAP1 and p53 in one case. Abnormal cytoplasmic BAP1 expression was observed in an additional case. Protein expression abnormalities correlated with NGS results, which showed concurrent complete genomic inactivation of CDKN2A/p16, CDKN2B, MTAP, and NF2 in two mesotheliomas and of BAP1 and TP53 in one mesothelioma each, respectively. In addition, one patient harbored a pathogenic BRCA1 germline mutation which resulted in biallelic inactivation in the mesothelioma. All mesotheliomas were mismatch repair proficient and showed several chromosomal gains and losses. All patients died from disease. In summary, our studies demonstrate that pericardial mesotheliomas share common morphologic, immunohistochemical, and molecular genetic features with pleural mesothelioma including recurrent genomic inactivation of canonical tumor suppressors. Our study adds new insights into the genetic landscape of primary pericardial mesothelioma and highlights BRCA1 loss as a potential contributing factor in a subset of cases, thereby contributing to refined precision diagnostics for this rare cancer.
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The Fe content and the morphometry of asbestos are two major factors linked to its toxicity. This study explored the use of microbe-mineral interactions between asbestos (and asbestos-like) minerals and thermophilic chemolithoautotrophic microorganisms as possible mineral dissolution treatments targeting their toxic properties. The removal of Fe from crocidolite was tested through chemolithoautotrophic Fe(III) reduction activities at 60°C. Chrysotile and tremolite-actinolite were tested for dissolution and potential release of elements like Si and Mg through biosilicification processes at 75°C. Our results show that chemolithoautotrophic Fe(III) reduction activities by Deferrisoma palaeochoriense were supported with crocidolite as the sole source of Fe(III) used as a terminal electron acceptor during respiration. Microbial Fe(III) reduction activities resulted in higher Fe release rates from crocidolite in comparison to previous studies on Fe leaching from crocidolite through Fe assimilation activities by soil fungi. Evidence of biosilicification in Thermovibrio ammonificans did not correspond with increased Si and Mg release from chrysotile or tremolite-actinolite dissolution. However, overall Si and Mg release from chrysotile into our experimental medium outmatched previously reported capabilities for Si and Mg release from chrysotile by fungi. Differences in the profiles of elements released from chrysotile and tremolite-actinolite during microbe-mineral experiments with T. ammonificans underscored the relevance of underlying crystallochemical differences in driving mineral dissolution and elemental bioavailability. Experimental studies targeting the interactions between chemolithoautotrophs and asbestos (or asbestos-like) minerals offer new access to the mechanisms behind crystallochemical mineral alterations and their role in the development of tailored asbestos treatments. IMPORTANCE We explored the potential of chemosynthetic microorganisms growing at high temperatures to induce the release of key elements (mainly iron, silicon, and magnesium) involved in the known toxic properties (iron content and fibrous mineral shapes) of asbestos minerals. We show for the first time that the microbial respiration of iron from amphibole asbestos releases some of the iron contained in the mineral while supporting microbial growth. Another microorganism imposed on the two main types of asbestos minerals (serpentines and amphiboles) resulted in distinct elemental release profiles for each type of asbestos during mineral dissolution. Despite evidence of microbially mediated dissolution in all minerals, none of the microorganisms tested disrupted the structure of the asbestos mineral fibers. Further constraints on the relationships between elemental release rates, amount of starting asbestos, reaction volumes, and incubation times will be required to better compare asbestos dissolution treatments studied to date.
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The respirable fractions from 46 different crushed amphibole samples were separated by water elutriation. The dimensions of approximately 200 elongate mineral particles (EMPs) longer than 5 μm in each of these fractions were measured by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The data were used to address three questions: 1. Can amphiboles be classified on a scale that represents the level of inhalation hazard they present? 2. Can prismatic amphibole be discriminated from amphibole asbestos on the basis of EMP size distributions and concentration measurements? 3. How do different exposure indices (Phase Contrast Microscopy Equivalent (PCME), Berman & Crump protocol fibers, Chatfield extra-criteria EMPs) compare when applied to these amphibole samples? For each sample, the number of respirable EMPs longer than 5 μm per gram of respirable dust and the number of extra-criteria EMPs per gram of respirable dust were calculated. The number of respirable EMPs longer than 5 μm per gram of respirable dust and the proportion of those with dimensions associated with mesothelioma in animal studies were considered to be contributors to the inhalation hazard presented by amphibole dust. In addition to these concentration measurements, the median EMP width, median aspect ratio and the aspect ratio geometric standard deviation (GSD) were considered to be relevant parameters in discriminating prismatic amphibole from asbestiform amphibole. A plot of the aspect ratio GSD against either the concentration of respirable EMPs per gram of respirable dust, the median aspect ratio or the median width allowed discrimination. The data showed a close correspondence between exposures in terms of Chatfield extra-criteria EMPs and Berman and Crump protocol structures for all of the amphibole samples. However, although for commercial asbestos varieties exposures in terms of PCME fibers were comparable to those of the other two metrics, they greatly exceeded those for non-asbestiform amphiboles.
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Background: This article provides an overview of the current status and research progress of mesothelioma. Methods: A total of 2638 documents published from 1 January 2004 to 30 November 2022 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection and analyzed via Microsoft Office Excel 2019, VOSviewer 1.6.18, and Tableau 2022.2. Results: There was an obvious increase in the number of publications regarding mesothelioma in the last 18 years, with the United States dominating the research field with 715 publications and 23,882 citations, while the University of Turin contributed the most (118). Occupational & Environmental Medicine was the most popular journal (80), with Corrado Magnani being the most prolific author (52) and Michele Carbone obtaining the most citations (4472). “Oncology” and “Health Science of Environment & Occupation” were the two main subjects, while the keywords “asbestos”, “lung cancer”, “gene expression”, “apoptosis”, “survival”, and “cisplatin” were the most popular. Conclusions: The containment of mesothelioma calls for more participation from low- and middle-income countries, and further attention needs to be paid to clinical research.
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The discovery of the link between asbestos and mesothelioma, one of the major occupational health finds of the twentieth century, is usually attributed to the South African-born pathologist, Chris Wagner. The process of that discovery was more complex than has generally been recognized. Most of Wagner's subjects had no occupational exposure, nor was the link between mesothelioma and asbestos one that Wagner made alone. Evidence that asbestos causes mesothelioma eventually destroyed the market for South African fibre; it also exposed South African scientists, including Wagner himself, to political pressure of a kind all too familiar to researchers working on asbestos-related disease (ARD).
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Asbestos was once known as the 'magic mineral' because of its ability to withstand flames. Yet since the 1960s, it has become a notorious and feared 'killer dust' that is responsible for thousands of deaths and an epidemic that will continue into the millennium. This is the first comprehensive history of the UK asbestos health problem, which provides an in-depth look at the occupational health experience of one of the world's leading asbestos companies - British asbestos giant, Turner and Newall. Based on a vast company archive recently released in American litigation, Magic Mineral to Killer Dust gives an unprecedented insight into all aspects of the asbestos hazard - dust control, workmen's compensation, government regulation, and the development of medical knowledge. In particular, it looks at the role of industrialists, doctors, factory inspectors, and trade unionists, highlighting the failures in regulation that accompanied the commercial development of a material that was already known to be lethal at the start of the twentieth century.
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