Asbestos content of lung tissue and carcinoma of the lung: A clinicopathologic correlation and mineral fiber analysis of 234 cases

The aim of this study was to investigate the asbestos content of lung tissu e in a series of patients with lung cancer and some history of asbestos exp osure, This information was then correlated with demographic information, o ccupational and smoking history presence or absence of pathologic asbestosi s or pleural plaques, and pathologic features of the cancer, The pulmonary concentration of asbestos fibers in 234 cases of primary carcinoma of the l ung was determined by means of a tissue digestion technique, Asbestos body counts a ere performed in 229 eases and fiber analysis by scanning electron microscopy in 221 cases, Asbestos content was recorded as total asbestos f ibers, commercial amphibole fibers, noncommercial amphibole fibers, and chr ysotile fibers 5 mu m or greater in length per gram of net lung tissue, The study group included 70 patients with asbestosis (Group I), 44 patients wi th parietal pleural plaques but without asbestosis (Group II), and 120 pati ents with neither (Group III), The median asbestos body content of Group I was more than 35 times greater than Group IT and more than 300 times greate r than Group ITT, The total asbestos fiber count for Group I was nearly 20 times greater than Group IT and more than 50 times greater than Group III, The difference was due almost entirely to commercial amphiboles, In a series of primary lung cancer cases with some history of asbestos expo sure, a markedly elevated asbestos content was identified among those with pathologic asbestosis as compared with patients with pleural plaques alone or with neither plaques nor asbestosis, (C) 2000 British Occupational Hygie ne Society. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.