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Malignant mesothelioma diagnosed at a younger age is associated with heavier asbestos exposure.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Dragani, TA; Colombo, F; Pavlisko, EN; Roggli, VL
Published in: Carcinogenesis
September 21, 2018

Asbestos exposure is the main etiology of malignant mesothelioma, but there are conflicting data on whether the intensity of exposure modulates the development of this disease. This study considered 594 patients with malignant mesothelioma for whom count data on asbestos bodies and fibers (per gram of wet lung tissue) were available. The relationships between age at diagnosis (a time-to-event outcome variable) and these two measures of internal asbestos exposure, along with other possible modulating factors (sex, tumor location, histological subtype and childhood exposure), were assessed on multivariable Cox proportional hazard models, stratifying by decade of birth year. For both measures of asbestos in lung tissue, younger age at diagnosis was associated with higher internal measures of exposure to asbestos. Stratified Cox analyses showed that for each doubling in asbestos body count patients were 1.07 times more likely to be diagnosed at a younger age [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.07; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.04-1.09; P = 2.2 × 10-7] and for each doubling in asbestos fiber count patients were 1.13 times more likely to be diagnosed at a younger age (HR = 1.13; 95% CI, 1.09-1.17; P = 8.6 × 10-11). None of the other variables considered were associated with age at diagnosis. Our finding that tumors become clinically apparent at a younger age in heavily exposed subjects suggests that asbestos is involved not only in the malignant mesothelioma tumor initiation but, somehow, also in the progression of the disease.

Duke Scholars

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Published In

Carcinogenesis

DOI

EISSN

1460-2180

Publication Date

September 21, 2018

Volume

39

Issue

9

Start / End Page

1151 / 1156

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • Oncology & Carcinogenesis
  • Occupational Exposure
  • Middle Aged
  • Mesothelioma, Malignant
  • Mesothelioma
  • Male
  • Lung Neoplasms
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Environmental Exposure
 

Citation

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Dragani, T. A., Colombo, F., Pavlisko, E. N., & Roggli, V. L. (2018). Malignant mesothelioma diagnosed at a younger age is associated with heavier asbestos exposure. Carcinogenesis, 39(9), 1151–1156. https://doi.org/10.1093/carcin/bgy089
Dragani, Tommaso A., Francesca Colombo, Elizabeth N. Pavlisko, and Victor L. Roggli. “Malignant mesothelioma diagnosed at a younger age is associated with heavier asbestos exposure.Carcinogenesis 39, no. 9 (September 21, 2018): 1151–56. https://doi.org/10.1093/carcin/bgy089.
Dragani TA, Colombo F, Pavlisko EN, Roggli VL. Malignant mesothelioma diagnosed at a younger age is associated with heavier asbestos exposure. Carcinogenesis. 2018 Sep 21;39(9):1151–6.
Dragani, Tommaso A., et al. “Malignant mesothelioma diagnosed at a younger age is associated with heavier asbestos exposure.Carcinogenesis, vol. 39, no. 9, Sept. 2018, pp. 1151–56. Pubmed, doi:10.1093/carcin/bgy089.
Dragani TA, Colombo F, Pavlisko EN, Roggli VL. Malignant mesothelioma diagnosed at a younger age is associated with heavier asbestos exposure. Carcinogenesis. 2018 Sep 21;39(9):1151–1156.
Journal cover image

Published In

Carcinogenesis

DOI

EISSN

1460-2180

Publication Date

September 21, 2018

Volume

39

Issue

9

Start / End Page

1151 / 1156

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • Oncology & Carcinogenesis
  • Occupational Exposure
  • Middle Aged
  • Mesothelioma, Malignant
  • Mesothelioma
  • Male
  • Lung Neoplasms
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Environmental Exposure