| |

The Role of Asbestos in Mesothelioma Development in Nordic Countries

ByAlex Strauss

asbestos in mesothelioma developmentA new study of pleural mesothelioma in Nordic countries highlights the critical role of asbestos in mesothelioma development. 

Asbestos is the primary cause of mesothelioma around the world. There are many statistics on the incidence of mesothelioma in countries that use asbestos. But there is not much information on mesothelioma incidence, mortality, and survival prior to the popularity of asbestos. This makes it difficult to quantify the influence of asbestos in mesothelioma development. 

Researchers from the Czech Republic, Germany, Finland and China compiled the new information using the NORDCAN cancer database. The database includes statistics on mesothelioma in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden dating back as far as the 1940s. 

Their analysis, published in BMC Cancer, is a sobering reminder of the deadly legacy of asbestos. But it also contains some hopeful news that limiting asbestos exposure can reduce mesothelioma deaths. 

Mesothelioma Mystery Solved

As early as the 1930s and 40s, some workers started to get sick with a deadly lung disease. It was a disease doctors had never seen before. Many of the sick workers worked around asbestos in mines or factories. But it was many years before scientists made the connection to asbestos in mesothelioma development.

Asbestos is a naturally-occurring mineral that is plentiful, inexpensive, and strong. These qualities made it a popular component in insulation, construction products, and all kinds of fire-proofing materials. Thousands of homes, buildings, and ships were filled with asbestos-containing products. 

By the time the link between the mineral and the cancer was clear, many companies were already using asbestos heavily. Some of these companies went to great lengths to try to cover up the role of asbestos in mesothelioma development among their workers. 

Even today, some negligent companies still deny that they failed to protect or warn their employees about the risk of asbestos exposure. 

Studying Asbestos in Mesothelioma Development

The lowest incidence of mesothelioma in Nordic countries was among Norwegian women and Finnish men in the mid-1950s. At that time, mesothelioma occurred in 0.02 out of 100,000 women in Norway. Among men in Finland, the rate of mesothelioma was 0.05 in 100,000. The researchers note that these rates were “before the influence of asbestos”. 

Forty years later, the influence of asbestos in mesothelioma development was apparent. The highest rate of pleural mesothelioma occurred in Denmark in 1997 when 1.9 out of 100,000 people developed mesothelioma. 

“The regional incidence trends matched with earlier asbestos-related industrial activity, shipbuilding in Finland and Sweden, cement manufacturing and shipbuilding in Denmark and seafaring in Norway,” reports Kari Hemminki of Charles University in Prague. 

About 30 percent more mesothelioma patients now survive for a year in these countries. The five-year survival rate has not changed. Fewer than 10 percent of people diagnosed with mesothelioma in a Nordic country live for at least five years. 

But there is an up-side to the role of asbestos in mesothelioma development: When asbestos exposure is reduced, mesothelioma rates go down. The study bore this out. All the Nordic countries banned asbestos in the 1980s. Their rates of mesothelioma are now declining.

Source:

Hemminki, K, et al, “Incidence, mortality and survival in malignant pleural mesothelioma before and after asbestos in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden”, November 8, 2021, BMC Cancer, Open access online report, https://bmccancer.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12885-021-08913-2

 

Similar Posts

  • |

    Mesothelioma Still Rising Despite Ban in Ireland

    ByAlex Strauss

    A study in Ireland confirms that it can take many years for a ban on asbestos to have a measurable impact on a country’s rates of malignant mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is the most serious of a list of diseases – including lung cancer, pleural plaques, asbestosis, and others – linked with exposure to asbestos dust. Affecting the linings around the lungs and other organs, mesothelioma is often resistant to most cancer treatments and may be fatal within a year of diagnosis. According to the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat, Ireland is one of 55 countries that have enacted some type of asbestos ban. However, although Ireland banned asbestos in 2000, a new study published in Cancer Epidemiology shows that incidence of the…

  • |

    Website Aims to Protect Homeowners from Mesothelioma

    ByAlex Strauss

    Australia’s Cancer Council is trying to educate home renovators about their risk for mesothelioma with a new e-learning course. Australia has one of the highest per capita rates of mesothelioma in the world, largely because of several asbestos mining operations that were once located there. Although asbestos has been banned from building products in Australia since 1989, asbestos-linked diseases like mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis continue to pose a serious health concern. While mesothelioma has traditionally occurred among people exposed to asbestos on the job, Australia is now bracing for another “wave” of mesothelioma victims among homeowners who encounter asbestos while doing their own renovation projects. Cancer Council Australia has launched “kNOw asbestos in your home” in an effort to…

  • |

    Teacher’s Diagnosis Highlights Mesothelioma Risk in Schools

    ByAlex Strauss

    A recent mesothelioma diagnosis in the UK once again dramatically highlights the fact that even a small amount of asbestos can be deadly. Sixty-three-year-old school teacher Marion Potts of Brockenhurst died of mesothelioma in a Southampton hospital in June. According to an article in The Mirror, the Coroner recorded a verdict of “death from an industrial disease” after hearing evidence last week that Potts actually saw asbestos dust being released when she pinned work on the classroom walls. Most recently, Potts was head of the English department at Romsey School in Hampshire until her retirement two years ago. Mesothelioma is a growing threat among school teachers, administrators, maintenance workers, and even students in British schools. A government report released last…

  • | | |

    Mesothelioma Nurses Ready for New Cases in Australia

    ByAlex Strauss

    Australia is bracing for an expected new wave of mesothelioma cases in the next decade and the Lung Foundation of Australia is taking action now to get ready. The Foundation has paid for ten nurses from around the country to receive specialized training in helping patients and families cope with mesothelioma. The nurses, who have recently completed the training, are now equipped to lead treatment planning for these complex cancer patients and to help other nurses do the same. Pleural mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer that occurs in the lining around the lungs. It is caused by exposure to asbestos dust, a toxin that was once alarmingly prevalent in Australia where it was mined and heavily used in construction. Because…

  • | |

    Spanish Mesothelioma Deaths Likely to Continue for Decades

    ByAlex Strauss

    New research in Spain suggests that mesothelioma deaths will continue in the country until the “last surviving member” of the group of people exposed to occupational asbestos succumbs to the disease. Like many countries, Spain used asbestos heavily in the first half of the 20th century, especially in construction, where the mineral was prized for its durability, low cost, and resistance to fire and corrosion.  Asbestos was banned in Spain in 2002. Observing that more than 2.5 million metric tons of asbestos were imported into Spain from 1906 to 2002, researchers say deaths from mesothelioma have risen steadily. Between 1976 and 1980, a total of 491 Spanish people died of mesothelioma. By the 5-year period from 2006 to 2010, that…

  • | |

    Micro-RNAs May Offer New Way to Fight Mesothelioma

    ByAlex Strauss

    Scientists at one of the world’s top mesothelioma research centers, the Asbestos Diseases Research institute in Sydney, Australia, say that restoring the expression of certain micro RNAs in the cells of mesothelioma patients may offer a new way to fight the disease. A microRNA is a small RNA molecule which is involved in the regulation of gene expression. According to a new report in the Annals of Oncology, the Australian scientists found reduced expression of the micro RNA-15 family (miR-15/16) in the cells of mice with mesothelioma. “When malignant pleural mesothelioma cell lines were compared with the normal mesothelial cell line MeT-5A, the downregulation of miR-15/16 was 2- to 10-fold,” they report. This finding is consistent with previous cancer research…