Children exposed to asbestos are at higher risk of developing not only mesothelioma and lung cancer in adulthood but also a range of other cancers and even heart disease, Western Australian researchers have found.
Data from nearly 2,500 children who had lived at Wittenoom, a now-deserted Pilbara town where blue asbestos was mined until the mid-sixties, showed that for women the risk of mesothelioma was over 70 times greater than in the general WA population. But they also had a fourfold risk of brain cancer and a threefold risk of ovarian cancer, the study authors found.
Men also had very high rates of mesothelioma plus an increased risk of leukaemia as well as brain, colorectal and prostate cancer. Incidence and mortality for all cancers were significantly increased in both men and women even when asbestos-related respiratory cancers were taken out of the equation.
Women had a 20-47% greater risk of all cause mortality while for men the figures were even higher at 50-83% higher risk (depending on the censoring method used).
Men were more likely to have increased mortality from non-cancer causes, including circulatory disease and nervous system disorders.
The authors cautioned that compared with the overall WA population former Wittenoom children were now more likely to live in remote, rural areas where death rates were higher particularly for men, which might explain higher levels of cardiovascular disease. But this was unlikely to account for increased incidence of cancer, the authors said.
This was the first study to report on cancer incidence and mortality in adults exposed to asbestos as children, the authors noted. Although some increases in mortality may be influenced by lifestyle and location, the impact of early life asbestos exposure on non-lung cancer incidence could not be ignored, they argued.
American Journal of Industrial Medicine 2012; doi: 10.1002/ajim.22103
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22886909
Article source: http://www.oncologyupdate.com.au/latest-news/asbestos-exposure-raises-risk-of-non-lung-cancers
Source: http://www.alpharm.co.uk/2012/09/asbestos-exposure-raises-risk-of-non-lung-cancers/
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