Asbestos exposure and histological subtype of malignant mesothelioma

Background: Malignant mesothelioma (MM) has distinct histological subtypes (epithelioid, sarcomatoid and biphasic) with variable behaviour and prognoses. It is well recognised that survival time varies with the histological subtype of MM. It is not known, however, if asbestos exposure characteristic...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Franklin, P., Alfonso, H., Reid, A., Olsen, N., Shilkin, K., Brims, Fraser, de Klerk, N., Musk, A.
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2016
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/25069
_version_ 1848751605189443584
author Franklin, P.
Alfonso, H.
Reid, A.
Olsen, N.
Shilkin, K.
Brims, Fraser
de Klerk, N.
Musk, A.
author_facet Franklin, P.
Alfonso, H.
Reid, A.
Olsen, N.
Shilkin, K.
Brims, Fraser
de Klerk, N.
Musk, A.
author_sort Franklin, P.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Background: Malignant mesothelioma (MM) has distinct histological subtypes (epithelioid, sarcomatoid and biphasic) with variable behaviour and prognoses. It is well recognised that survival time varies with the histological subtype of MM. It is not known, however, if asbestos exposure characteristics (type of asbestos, degree of exposure) are associated with different histological subtypes. Aim: To determine if the pathological MM subtype is associated with the type of asbestos or the attributes of asbestos exposure. Methods: Cases of MM for the period 1962 until 2012, their main histological subtype and their most significant source of asbestos exposure were collected from the Western Australian Mesothelioma Registry. Exposure characteristics included, degree of asbestos exposure (including total days exposed, years since first exposure and, for crocidolite only, calculated cumulative exposure), source of exposure (occupational or environmental), form of asbestos handled (raw or processed) and type of asbestos (crocidolite only or mixed fibres). Results: Patients with the biphasic subtype were more likely to have occupational exposure (OR 1.83, 1.12 to 2.85) and exposure to raw fibres (OR 1.58, 1.19 to 2.10). However, differences between subtypes in the proportions with these different exposure characteristics were small and unlikely to be biologically relevant. Other indicators of asbestos exposure were not associated with the histological subtype of mesothelioma. Conclusions: There was no strong evidence of a consistent role of asbestos exposure indicators in determining the histological subtype of MM.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T07:55:23Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-25069
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T07:55:23Z
publishDate 2016
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-250692017-09-13T15:21:25Z Asbestos exposure and histological subtype of malignant mesothelioma Franklin, P. Alfonso, H. Reid, A. Olsen, N. Shilkin, K. Brims, Fraser de Klerk, N. Musk, A. Background: Malignant mesothelioma (MM) has distinct histological subtypes (epithelioid, sarcomatoid and biphasic) with variable behaviour and prognoses. It is well recognised that survival time varies with the histological subtype of MM. It is not known, however, if asbestos exposure characteristics (type of asbestos, degree of exposure) are associated with different histological subtypes. Aim: To determine if the pathological MM subtype is associated with the type of asbestos or the attributes of asbestos exposure. Methods: Cases of MM for the period 1962 until 2012, their main histological subtype and their most significant source of asbestos exposure were collected from the Western Australian Mesothelioma Registry. Exposure characteristics included, degree of asbestos exposure (including total days exposed, years since first exposure and, for crocidolite only, calculated cumulative exposure), source of exposure (occupational or environmental), form of asbestos handled (raw or processed) and type of asbestos (crocidolite only or mixed fibres). Results: Patients with the biphasic subtype were more likely to have occupational exposure (OR 1.83, 1.12 to 2.85) and exposure to raw fibres (OR 1.58, 1.19 to 2.10). However, differences between subtypes in the proportions with these different exposure characteristics were small and unlikely to be biologically relevant. Other indicators of asbestos exposure were not associated with the histological subtype of mesothelioma. Conclusions: There was no strong evidence of a consistent role of asbestos exposure indicators in determining the histological subtype of MM. 2016 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/25069 10.1136/oemed-2016-103721 restricted
spellingShingle Franklin, P.
Alfonso, H.
Reid, A.
Olsen, N.
Shilkin, K.
Brims, Fraser
de Klerk, N.
Musk, A.
Asbestos exposure and histological subtype of malignant mesothelioma
title Asbestos exposure and histological subtype of malignant mesothelioma
title_full Asbestos exposure and histological subtype of malignant mesothelioma
title_fullStr Asbestos exposure and histological subtype of malignant mesothelioma
title_full_unstemmed Asbestos exposure and histological subtype of malignant mesothelioma
title_short Asbestos exposure and histological subtype of malignant mesothelioma
title_sort asbestos exposure and histological subtype of malignant mesothelioma
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/25069