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  • Home > Blog > Asbestos > Idaho State University Professor to Study Additional Health Effects of Mesothelioma-Causing Asbestos
Posted on Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Idaho State University Professor to Study Additional Health Effects of Mesothelioma-Causing Asbestos

Idaho State University announced this month that Jean Pfau, assistant professor of biological sciences, has been awarded a $191,962 U.S. National Institutes of Health grant to explore the health effects of asbestos at the cellular level.  Asbestos is an established cause of mesothelioma, a rare, aggressive form of lung cancer.

Inhalation of airborne asbestos fibers can lead to various lung diseases including mesothelioma.  Often called “asbestos cancer,” mesothelioma is highly aggressive and is resistant to many standard cancer treatments. Most cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed 30 years or more after exposure, with the latency period sometimes being as long as 50 years.  Currently there is no known cure for mesothelioma, and the average survival time varies from 4 – 18 months after diagnosis.

Pfau said that understanding “the way asbestos affects the immune system” may lead researchers to limit the negative health impacts from asbestos exposure.  It could also lead to improved treatment of autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, that have been found in people who have been exposed to asbestos.

The grant, titled “The Role of System xc in Asbestos-Induced Autoimmune Responses” funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (part of the NIH) will last two years and funds Pfau and three ISU undergraduate researchers.

Pfau has worked on various other studies on the effects of asbestos including her current work involving Libby residents who were exposed to asbestos only in their environment, and not in their place of work.  Asbestos contamination in the Libby area has been blamed for the deaths of more than 200 people, some from mesothelioma, and the illnesses of more than 1,000 to date.   This research project is supported by a grant from the Agency of Toxic Substances and Disease Registry of the federal Center for Disease Control and Prevention.