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Posted on Monday, Jun 15, 2009

Asbestos Exposure and Lung Cancer: New Results

A study of lung cancer patients in Japan has revealed that more of these patients show signs of asbestos exposure than has traditionally been recognized. 60,000 people die from lung cancer every year in Japan, but only a tiny percentage of them are regularly recognized as asbestos-related, and therefore, eligible for government aid. In 2007, less than 700 cases were deemed eligible. The results of this recent study suggest that the number of people with asbestos-related lung cancer is actually in the thousands.

The researchers derived this figure by examining 471 patients with primary (non-metastatic) lung cancer to see if they discovered any evidence of pleural plagues, which are a thickening of the lung membrane that is only caused by asbestos. They found that 28 (5%) patients showed evidence of pleural plaques on traditional chest x-ray, but that the number rose to 58 patients (12%) when they used CT scanning to make their diagnosis.

To learn more about this study, please see: http://www.physorg.com/news163091089.html