Exposure to hazardous asbestos has been shown to cause various malignancies.  In fact, over 700,000 people have filed claims for asbestos related injuries in the United States alone.  One interesting study that examines cellular abnormalities is called, "Chromosomal abnormalities and their correlations with asbestos exposure and survival in patients with mesothelioma." By M. Tiainen, L. Tammilehto, J. Rautonen, T. Tuomi, K. Mattson, and S. Knuutila. - Br J Cancer. 1989 October; 60(4): 618–626.   Here is an excerpt: "Cytogenetic findings of our 30 previously reported and eight new patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma were summarised and correlated with asbestos fibre burden in lung tissue and survival. Successful cytogenetic analyses were performed on cells obtained from the tumours and/or pleural effusions of 34 of the 38 patients. Clonal chromosomal abnormalities were detected in 25 patients, 19 of them studied before treatment. Nine patients, seven of them studied before treatment, had normal karyotypes and/or non-clonal chromosomal abnormalities. Most of the karyotypic findings in the patients with clonal abnormalities were complex and heterogeneous, and no chromosome aberration specific to mesothelioma could be demonstrated.

The following numerical abnormalities in decreasing order of frequency were preferentially present in karyotypic changes: -22, +7, -1, -3, -9, +11 and -14 (-/+ denoting partial or total loss or gain). Translocations and deletions involving a breakpoint at 1p11-p22 were the most frequent structural aberrations. Statistically significant correlations were found between high content of asbestos fibres in lung tissue and partial or total losses of chromosomes 1 and 4, and a breakpoint at 1p11-p22 (P = 0.0001, P = 0.003, P = 0.009, respectively). The number of copies of chromosome 7 short arms was inversely correlated with survival (P = 0.02). In this study no diagnostic cytogenetic markers of mesothelioma were found, instead the copy number of chromosome 7 short arms turned out to be a possible prognostic factor in malignant mesothelioma."

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Pleural Asbestosis - Treatment for Mesothelioma Symptoms

An October 2005 report states that a new method that assists diagnosis of pleural mesothelioma is to measure the presence of osteopontin in blood. Visit here http://mesotheliomatreatment-option.blogspot.com

Pleural Mesothelioma provides detailed information on Malignant Diffuse Pleural Mesothelioma, Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma, Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma Survival Rate, Mesothelioma Pleural Brachytherapy and more.

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Continued research regarding mesothelioma and the link to asbestos exposure is necessary if we ever hope to find a cure.  Imagine someone you love returning home from the second world war.  They find a job as an auto mechanic, raise a family, and play by the rules.  Decades later, they tragically die from mesothelioma cancer because someone failed to warn them of the dangers of asbestos fibers.   Does any reasonable person believe this is fair or just?   Of course not.  Unfortunately, we cannot go back in time and prevent the asbestos exposure.  But what we can do is try to promote public awareness about this deadly disease and highlight some of the great research being done.

One interesting study is called, "Malignant mesothelioma: attributable risk of asbestos exposure." By R Spirtas, E F Heineman, L Bernstein, G W Beebe, R J Keehn, A Stark, B L Harlow, and J Benichou - Occup Environ Med 1994;51:804-811 doi:10.1136/oem.51.12.804.  Here is an excerpt:

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