Even though asbestos fibers have been linked to mesothelioma, exact mesothelioma causes are not known with certainty. Animal models have provided some understanding of the role asbestos fibers can play in mesothelioma cause and development, but the exact mechanism for causation of this disease has not been found. After asbestos became a commercially successful product, it was soon apparent that asbestos workers were an at-risk population.
Mesothelioma Development on a Cellular Level
On a cellular and molecular level, some factors that may lead to the development of mesothelioma include:
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Mesothelioma Cause: The Role of Asbestos Fibers
Starting at the turn of the century, British investigators discovered a relationship between exposure to high levels of asbestos and respiratory disease. These early studies were often suppressed by government at the request of the asbestos industry. By the mid-1950s American medical researchers had joined the chorus of concerned professionals identifying asbestos exposure as hazardous, and citing it as a possible cause of mesothelioma. Much of their work was never published or was suppressed and/or disputed by scientists in the pay of the asbestos lobby.
Asbestos fibers have been detected in many resected surgical specimens from mesothelioma patients. In pleural mesothelioma, asbestos fibers are found trapped in the tissues from the lower parts of the lung and they are sometimes concentrated into nodules or spots on the parietal pleura, the primary location for mesothelioma in the thoracic cavity. These fibers are found using electron beam microscopy. They are invisible to the naked eye and are not routinely commented upon in a typical pathology report. Although smoking while exposed to asbestos is known to significantly increase lung cancer risks, smoking cannot be listed as a mesothelioma cause being that it does not promote the formation of the disease. It is not uncommon to find pleural plaques in the lungs of patients with primary peritoneal mesothelioma which is indicative of heavy asbestos exposure.
Genetic susceptibility may also contribute to the development of malignant mesothelioma. Populations of three small villages located in Turkey have been environmentally exposed to a rare asbestos-like fiber called erionite for generations.
50% of all deaths in these villages were attributable to malignant mesothelioma. All villagers lived in homes built with this mineral and research by Dr. Michele Carbone discovered that those who developed mesothelioma had a genetic predisposition to the disease . Predisposed individuals who lived in villages without erinote were not found to develop mesothelioma. Further research into the residents of these communities has confirmed an autosomal dominant pattern of susceptibility to malignant mesothelioma and disease develops in the presence of asbestos-like fibers.
Some important journal articles pertaining to mesothelioma cause and development include:
