Damage to asbestos employees and chromosome changes
Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer caused by asbestos exposure. Cancer cells develop in the mesothelium,a thin layer of tissue that the majority of the internal organs of the body covered. There are four types. Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (lung),Peritoneal Mesothelioma (abdomen),Mesothelioma Percardial (heart),and Tunica Vaginilas (testicles). An interesting study examined the disease is called,"An early,nonrandom karyotypic change In the immortal Syrian hamster cell lines transformed by asbestos:trisomy of chromosome 11 "- Cancer Genetics and Cytogenetics Volume 22,Issue 3,July 1986,Pages 225-237,by Mitsuo Oshimura,a,Thomas W. and J. Carl Hester Berga Barretta. Here's an excerpt:"Abstract –Cytogenetic studies were performed on eight early passage Syrian hamster embryonic cell lines independently derived by exposure to asbestos. The modal number of chromosomes in all immortal cell lines were near-diploid. On the first passage studied,six of the eight cell lines had only numerical chromosome changes. Cells in each of these six cell lines had an extra chromosome # 11,either as a single karyotypic change or other numerical changes. The remaining two cell lines displayed both numerical and structural chromosome changes,but without involvement of chromosome # 11. Abnormalities were-X or Y,3,and 8p in a cell line,and -13 and t (13;21) in the other cell line. A non-random gain of chromosome # 8 was also found in four cell lines. Three of the four cell lines,trisomy of chromosome # 8 seems to have occurred during karyotypic progression. The observation that non-random changes in the number of chromosomes is an early karyotypic change after carcinogen treatment supports our hypothesis that induction of aneuploidy by asbestos mechanistic importance in the transformation of Syrian hamster embryo cells in culture and,furthermore,suggests that trisomy 11 plays an important role in the early stages of immortalization and neoplastic progression. "
A second study called "The HL-A system in asbestos workers"by JA Merchant,Klouda PT,Soutar CA,Parkes WR,Lawler SD,Turner-Warwick M –Br Med J 1975;1:189-191 (January 25). Here's an excerpt:"In a study of the HL-A system in 56 selected asbestos workers referred to the Medical Panel pneumonia with certain or suspected asbestosis,the W 27 antigen was more often found than in a control population. Six of the 27 asbestos workers with the S antigen had clear radiographic evidence of asbestosis compared to 13 from 46,without the W 27 antigen. These observations,if confirmed,suggest that the W 27 antigen may be a useful marker of increased susceptibility to tissue-damaging effects of asbestos dust offer. "
A third study called "Mortality among the long-term employees of an Ontario asbestos-cement factory."by MM Finkelstein Br J Ind Med 1983,40:138-144. Here's an excerpt:"Abstract -. mortality was studied in a group of 328 employees of an Ontario asbestos-cement factory who was hired for 1960 and were deployed for a minimum of nine years,the group of 87 men who worked in the mineral wool / fiberglass operations,or who otherwise has minimal exposure to asbestos,mortality was similar to that of the general population,Ontario,while the group of asbestos exposed workers,all causes mortality rates of the Ontario population in half,death due to malignancies five times higher than expected,and deaths attributed to lung cancer eight times more common than expected. According to the best available evidence,10 of 58 deaths among the production workers were due to Malignant Mesothelioma and lung cancer to 20. The men dying of mesothelioma were younger than men die of lung cancer with an average age at death of 51 and 64 years respectively. An exposure model was constructed based on the available air sampling data,and individual exposure history were calculated. This exposure histories were used to the exposure-response relationships for asbestos-associated malignancies to investigate. "
If you thought one of these studies interesting,read in their entirety. We all are very grateful to the people who study these important issues.