Mesothelioma and Asbestos
Is there a connection between this form of cancer and the mineral?
An overview of this rare form of cancer and how it can be prevented.
This terrible and fairly rare form of cancer is almost always associated with exposure to asbestos, either through the inhalation of particles or contact in other ways, such as washing the clothes of someone exposed to asbestos or using asbestos cement products, which are often connected with home renovation. Recognized as a pathological entity as far back as the 18th century, French physician, Joseph Lieutaud (1703-1780), is credited with having described two cases of probable mesothelioma in a study done involving 3,000 autopsies in 1767. Mesothelioma as a clinical entity was the subject of much debate until the mid 20th century.
What Does Mesothelioma Mean?
The illness derives its name from the mesothelium, which is the protective lining that covers most of the body's internal organs. It is commonly found in the pleura (outer lining of the lungs and chest cavity) but it can also occur in the lining of the peritoneum (abdominal cavity) or the pericardium (sac that surrounds the heart). It is a silent killer that stalks slowly. In many cases, as much as twenty to fifty years may pass before a single symptom of mesothelioma occurs.
Mesothelioma and Absestos
The very first lawsuit against the manufacturers of Asbestos was brought about in the state of New Jersey in 1929. Eleven workers of the Johns-Manville plant sued their mother company for contracting lung disease. Both parties settled the suit, and as part of the agreement both attorneys agreed not to pursue further cases. As a result of this and subsequent cases, during the 1930s, insurance companies pressed for the passage of workmen’s compensation laws which would protect employers such as John Manville from being sued by their workers for the contraction of lung diseases. In 1935, the American Journal of Cancer published an article entitled: “Pulmonary Absestosis: Carcinoma of the Lung in Absestos-Silicosis,” and in 1939 another entitled: "Pulmonary Asbestosis: A Report of Bronchial Carcinoma and Epithelial Metaplasia", but it wasn’t until 1960 and an important study conducted by a South African pathologist named Carl Wagner and his associates that malignant mesothelioma became a well-recognized clinical entity.
Carl Wagner’s study, which is considered a primer in mesothelioma to this day, reported 33 cases involving South African men between the ages of 31 and 68 who had suffered from mesothelioma, many but not all of whom worked in mines. By 1965, the connection between the contraction of mesothelioma and those people residing in neighborhoods near asbestos factories and mines became tragically evident. Throughout the 1970s, reports increased of incidents of this new and different lung cancer associated with asbestos exposure.
Hope For The Future
Despite the repeated incidence of mesothelioma in the past twenty years, it remains a relatively rare cancer, affecting approximately one per 1,000,000. The disease can appear in men and women at any age although it occurs more often in older men. The major risk factor is working with asbestos. The rates of increase for the disease are somewhat difficult to determine because mesothelioma is easily misdiagnosed as another lung disease known as adenocarcinoma.
Today, the Occupational Safety Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sets very definite limits on the acceptable levels of asbestos exposure in the workplace in addition to detailed guidelines for protective clothing, exposure monitoring, hygiene facilities and practices, warning signs, labeling and medical exams.
One can only wonder: is any place really safe?
