Asbestos Related Lung Cancer

For most of the last century, asbestos was known as the miracle mineral. It was used extensively in construction as insulation, and woven into nearly every type of item that could be manufactured. However, as early as 1897, there were growing reports that asbestos could cause serious lung damage in those that were exposed to it. By 1931, the British government started to address the concerns about lung cancer in those who worked with asbestos. By the early 1970s, the United States government followed suit and began to formulate safety rules for handling asbestos. Unfortunately, by that time, it was too late for thousands upon thousands who had been exposed to asbestos in the workplace, the home and the environment.

The effects of exposure to asbestos in the environment and the workplace include lung scarring, pleural plaques, asbestosis, lung cancer and a particularly virulent, aggressive cancer known as mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is related almost exclusively to exposure to asbestos. It's cancer of the pleura – the lining around the lungs rather than the lungs themselves. Even a short term exposure, decades ago, may result in mesothelioma.

Smoking dramatically increases the risk of developing mesothelioma. A smoker who was exposed to asbestos has a 50 to 90 times greater chance of developing lung cancer, including mesothelioma than a non-smoker. By contrast, a non-smoker exposed to asbestos has a five times greater chance of developing lung cancer.

Mesothelioma and other asbestos related lung cancers are diagnosed through a combination of medical history, imaging technologies such as X-rays, MRIs and CAT scans, and biopsy and tissue sampling. Those who know that they were exposed to asbestos in the workplace or environment should have regular screenings for lung abnormalities, as the incubation period between exposure and development of lung cancer can be as long as 50 years.

As with any lung cancer, early diagnosis is the best indicator of survival. The generally accepted statistics for those who are diagnosed with asbestos related lung cancer or mesothelioma are grim. In some cases, a patient diagnosed with mesothelioma may be told that his life expectancy is 8-12 weeks, but there are many mitigating factors. Patients in some clinical trials that use a multi-treatment approach to treating mesothelioma have approached a 40% five year survival rate – nearly that of those diagnosed with other types of lung cancer.

Mesothelioma seems to respond best to aggressive treatment that combines surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Because mesothelioma is so often diagnosed in the later stages, surgery is seldom an option, but there are some promising new advances in chemotherapy to treat asbestos related lung cancers.

In February of 2004, the FDA approved the first drug specifically to treat mesothelioma, Alimta manufactured by Eli Lilly. Clinical trials with Alimta showed that using Alimta in combination with another drug commonly used to treat lung cancers, cisplatin, increased the life expectancy of patients diagnosed with mesothelioma. In a time where new advances are happening nearly on a weekly basis, even a few months of extended life can offer hope for a cure.

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