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Alpha-TOS, een soort vitamine E, heeft in experimenten met muizen mesothelioomkankercellen gedood en de groei van tumoren tegengehouden, zegt de Australische celbioloog Dr. Neuzil. Hij hoopt dat het middel over ongeveer 2 jaar bij mensen kan worden getest.

Bron: The Courier Mail, Daily Telegraph, 23 mei 2005.

The Courier Mail (Queensland, Australia)

May 23, 2005 Monday

HEADLINE: Vitamin cancer treatment hope

BODY:

A VITAMIN E-related compound may kill deadly cancer cells caused by asbestos exposure, says an Australian cell biologist who has already established its success in trials using mice.

Gold Coast-based Griffith University researcher Jiri Neuzil said alpha-TOS, which is closely related to vitamin E, killed mesothelioma cancer cells in experiments with mice.

Most victims of mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer that destroys a protective membrane covering internal organs including the lungs, have inhaled asbestos particles.

Dr Neuzil said alpha-TOS also halted growth of mesothelioma tumours, for which there is currently no cure, under a five-year study involving researchers from Australia, Italy and the Czech Republic.

He said the compound had also showed hints of suppressing breast cancer, melanoma, lung cancer and colon cancer tumours in animal experiments. Dr Neuzil said alpha-TOS would ultimately be put to the test in human trials, which he hoped to begin within two years.

Alpha-TOS was selective because it pursued mesothelioma cancer cells but caused only minor damage, if any, to normal cells in mice, he said.

Dr Neuzil said he stumbled on the compound’s promising qualities “by mistake five years ago.

In de West-australische plaats Wittenoom werd van 1943 tot 1966 het gevaarlijke blauwe asbest gewonnen (crocidoliet). In 2002 werden 1885 inwoners, waarvan 1042 (ex-)werknemers onderzocht op asbestose (stoflongen) en bepaalde vitamine-niveaus in het bloed (retinol, caroteen en vitamine E). De onderzoekers vonden een relatie tussen chronisch lagere vitamine-niveaus en een grotere kans om aan asbestose te overlijden. Van de onderzoeksgroep overleden 76 personen aan asbestose, een te kleine groep om causaliteit te kunnen bepalen. Meer onderzoek is nodig.

Bron: Alfonso, H.S. et al. (2005). Plasma Concentrations of Retinol, Carotene, and Vitamin E and Mortality in Subjects With Asbestosis in a Cohort Exposed to Crocidolite in Wittenoom, Western Australia. Journal of occupational and environmental medicine. vol. 47, afl. 6, pag. 573-579 (7)

Alfonso, Helman S.. Fritschi, Lin. de Klerk, Nicholas H.. Ambrosini, Gina. Beilby, John. Olsen, Nola. Musk, A William (2005). Plasma Concentrations of Retinol, Carotene, and Vitamin E and Mortality in Subjects With Asbestosis in a Cohort Exposed to Crocidolite in Wittenoom, Western Australia. Journal of occupational and environmental medicine. vol. 47, afl. 6, pag. 573-579 (7).

Abstract

Objective:We sought to examine the relationships between plasma concentrations of retinol, carotene, and vitamin E and mortality associated with asbestosis in people previously exposed to crocidolite.

Methods:Cox regression modeling was applied to examine these relationships at the first measurement of each vitamin, at the measurement at each visit, and with the rate of change of each vitamin during the follow-up.

Results:There were 76 deaths of people with asbestosis during the follow-up period and 1885 subjects censored. Mortality in subjects with asbestosis was inversely related to plasma levels of retinol and Vitamin E concentrations and to their rate of increase during the follow-up. Carotene concentrations at first visit were associated with lower mortality but not during the follow up period.

Conclusions:Chronically low levels of these vitamins are associated with an increased risk of dying with asbestosis.

Australische onderzoekers hebben een bloedtest ontwikkeld die kan helpen bij het opsporen van mesothelioom. De niet invasieve test, Mesomark genaamd, werd ontwikkeld door onderzoekers van de Universiteit van West Australië. In Australië krijgen ongeveer 700 mensen per jaar deze ziekte.

Bron: The Advertiser, 20 april / The West Australian, 19 april.

The Advertiser

April 20, 2005 Wednesday

HEADLINE: Breakthrough

AUSTRALIAN researchers have developed a world-first blood test which could help people worldwide in the early detection of mesothelioma, a deadly asbestos-related cancer of the lung lining. The non-invasive blood test developed by University of Western Australia Professor Bruce Robinson and researchers is a breakthrough in the early detection of the disease. About 700 people each year are diagnosed with the disease in Australia, which has the highest reported incidence in the world.

The West Australian (Perth)

April 19, 2005 Tuesday

HEADLINE: Test offers hope on mesothelioma

Rockingham man David Saw believes a new blood test for mesothelioma, which is being launched today, could have saved him a three-day hospital visit and a lot of trauma.

Mr Saw went to his doctor last year believing he had pulled a muscle.

He was suffering chest pain and shortness of breath.

After a CAT scan and biopsy, it was revealed the 49-year-old had contracted the deadly lung cancer from working with asbestos as a young man.

“A test would have been a lot easier, I ended up in hospital and they had to cut me open,” he said.

The test, called MESOMARK, will be available from general practitioners or specialists who can order it from a pathology provider.

The head of the mesothelioma research team at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital which developed the test, Professor Bruce Robinson, said it would not only help in diagnoses of the disease, but also in treatment.

“Until now you could only gauge whether treatment was working effectively by doing a CAT scan, and they’re difficult to do. With this test, we can gauge treatment and also diagnose it at an earlier stage,” Professor Robinson said. Biopsy would be needed to confirm diagnosis.

The blood test measures levels of a substance called soluble mesothelin-related peptide, a distinctive biomarker released by mesothelioma cells.

About 700 Australians are diagnosed with the disease every year and WA has the highest rate of mesothelioma in the world.

Asbestos Diseases Society of Australia president Robert Vojakovic said the test could help the possible 6000 people who were children in Wittenoom when the town still had an active blue asbestos mine.

Bij mannen die geen asbestose (“stoflongen” door asbest) hebben komt asbestgerelateerde longkanker vaker voor dan was verwacht. “Pleurale plaques” (een goedaardige verdikking van het borstvlies) is een belangrijke voorspeller van asbestgerelateerde longkanker. Deze nieuwe inzichten komen uit een onderzoek van meer dan 10 jaar onder 4000 Amerikaanse mannen die aan asbest blootgesteld zijn geweest.
Increased lung cancer among asbestos workers with no evidence of asbestosis

Below, details of a new paper on asbestos and lung cancer, forwarded by Frank Mirer, director of health and safety at the US autoworkers’ union UAW.

The paper looks important for two reasons – firstly because of the lung cancer without asbestosis finding – in some jurisdictions official workers’ compensation schemes only pay benefits to lung cancer sufferers who also have asbestosis.

Secondly, the paper is valuable because it establishes the importance of pleural plaques as a predicator of lung cancer. Insurers and employers in the UK, USA and elsewhere are at this moment trying to play down the significance of the association between pleural plaques and asbestos.

Their motive is to reduce their compensation liabilities. One consequence of this might be a lower likelihood of diagnosis of pleural plaques (many of the health checks are the result of compensation inquiries), so we could lose our early warning system or “sentinel health event” for an enormous lung cancer risk. In the UK at the moment there are several thousand asbestos related lung cancers ever year – the combined annual death toll for asbestos related lung cancers and mesothelioma is expect to reach 10,000 within 20 years.

Yours, Rory

Rory O’Neill

International Federation of Journalists

Increased lung cancer among asbestos workers with no evidence of asbestosis

A very important study giving quantitative measures of risks of asbestos exposure was just published. The study is an important data source for evaluating medical criteria for compensation of asbestos exposed workers, now being discussed in Congress.

The project was a chemoprevention test whether Vitamin A – an antioxidant – protected against future effects of past asbestos exposure. The investigators had enrolled over 4,000 asbestos workers and followed them for over a decade. Recruitment must have been a huge task The chemoprevention study was terminated because Vitamin A increased the risk of lung cancer.

The study confirmed excessive rates of lung cancer among men with radiographic asbestosis, but also among workers with no evidence of asbestosis. Among workers with no evidence of asbestosis at baseline, men with more than 40 years’ exposure in high-risk trades had a risk approximately fivefold higher than men with 5-10 years. Pleural plaques on the baseline x-ray and abnormal baseline flow rate were strong independent predictors of subsequent lung cancer.

Hopefully, people with access to the full text of this study will comment further.

American Journal of Epidemiology 2005 161(3):260-270.

Predictors of Lung Cancer among Asbestos-exposed Men in the µ-Carotene and

Retinol Efficacy Trial

Mark R. Cullen1 , Matt J. Barnett2, John R. Balmes3, Brenda Cartmel1, Carrie

A. Redlich1, Carl A. Brodkin4, Scott Barnhart4, Linda Rosenstock5, Gary E.

Goodman2,6, Sam P. Hammar7, Mark D. Thornquist2 and Gilbert S. Omenn8,9

Despite numerous published studies, debate continues regarding the risk of developing lung cancer among men exposed occupationally to asbestos, particularly those without radiographic or functional evidence of asbestosis. The µ-Carotene and Retinol Efficacy Trial (CARET), a study of vitamin supplementation for chemoprevention of lung cancer, has followed 4,060 heavily exposed US men for 9-17 years. Lung cancer incidence for 1989-2002 was analyzed using a stratified proportional hazards model. The study confirmed excessive rates of lung cancer among men with radiographic asbestosis. Comparison of study arms revealed a strong, unanticipated synergy between radiographic profusion category and the active intervention. In the large subgroup of men with normal lung parenchyma on chest radiograph at baseline, there was evidence of exposure-related lung cancer risk: Men with more than 40 years’ exposure in high-risk trades had a risk approximately fivefold higher than men with 5-10 years, after adjustment for covariates. The effect in these men was independent of study intervention arm, but pleural plaques on the baseline radiograph and abnormal baseline flow rate were strong independent predictors of subsequent lung cancer. Residual confounding by subclinical asbestosis, exposure to unmeasured lung carcinogens, or differences in smoking are unlikely to explain these observations better than a carcinogenic effect of asbestos per se.

Dit artikel in de Lancet beschrijft de hypothese dat asbestblootstelling een oorzaak is van bindweefseltoename rond organen achter het buikvlies. De onderzoekers concluderen dat dat beroepsmatige asbestblootstelling een belangrijke oorzaak van deze aandoening is. RPF zou daarom als een beroepsziekte moeten worden gezien.

Bron: the Lancet, mei 2004.
Asbestos exposure as a risk factor for retroperitoneal fibrosis

Summary

Background Retroperitoneal fibrosis (RPF) is an uncommon disease with unknown causation in most cases. The pathognomonic finding is a fibrous mass covering the abdominal aorta and the ureters. Our aim was to clarify the possible role of asbestos exposure in the development of RPF. The hypothesis was based on the ability of asbestos to cause fibrosis in pulmonary and pleural tissue. Methods We undertook a case-control study of 43 patients with the disease (86% of eligible cases) treated in three university hospital districts of Finland in 1990-2001. For every patient, five population-based controls were selected, matched by age, sex, and central hospital district. We assessed asbestos exposure and medical history using a postal questionnaire and a personal interview. Of the 215 eligible controls, 179 (83%) participated in the study. Findings The age-standardised incidence of RPF was 0-10 (95% CI 0-07-0-14) per 100 000 person-years. The disease was strongly associated with asbestos exposure. The odds ratio (OR) was 5-54 (1-64-18-65) for less than 10 fibre-years of asbestos exposure and 8-84 (2-03-38-50) for 10 or more fibre-years, the attributable fraction being 82% and 89%, respectively. Other risk factors were previous use of ergot derivates (OR 9-92 [1-63-60-26]), abdominal aortic aneurysm (OR 6-73 [0-81-56-08]), and smoking for more than 20 pack-years (OR 4-73 [1-28-17-41]). Interpretation Our results show that occupational asbestos exposure is an important causal factor for RPF. For patients with work-related asbestos exposure, RPF should be considered an occupational disease.

Toomas Uibu, Panu Oksa, Anssi Auvinen, Eero Honkanen, Kaj Metsärinne, Heikki Saha, Jukka Uitti, Pekka Roto. Lancet 2004. 363: 1422-26.

Dit onderzoek beschrijft het geval van een 76 jarige vrouw met buikvlieskanker door het eten van met asbest besmet voedsel. Zij vertelde dat ze gewend was groenten te koken in regenwater dat verzameld werd uit een dakgoot van asbestgolfplaat.

Bron: Van Kesteren et al. (2004). International Journal of Gynecological Cancer.
Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma in a 76-year-old woman with a history of asbestos fiber ingestion

Author(s): P. Van Kesteren . J. Bulten . C. Schijf . H. Boonstra . L. Massuger

Source: International Journal of Gynecological Cancer Volume: 14 Number: 1 Page: 162 — 165

DOI: 10.1111/j.1048-891x.2004.14149.x

Publisher: Blackwell Publishing

Abstract: Abstract. van Kesteren P, Bulten J, Schijf C, Boonstra H, Massuger L. Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma in a 76-year-old woman with a history of asbestos fiber ingestion.

We report on a woman with malignant mesothelioma of the peritoneum. This is the first report of a subject with this disease who revealed a history of asbestos ingestion by asbestos-contaminated food. She presented with episodes of sweating and fever, ascites, and weight loss. At laparotomy, small tumor deposits were noted on the peritoneum. The omental cake was removed, together with the uterus, ovaries, and tubes which were all macroscopically normal. The diagnosis was established by immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy. Postoperatively, her complaints of fever and sweating disappeared. She refused further chemotherapy. After questioning her for asbestos exposure, she told us that, years ago, she used to prepare vegetables for cooking in rain water collected from a roof made of asbestos.