Asbestos Exposure Multiplies the Risk of Lung Cancer
Mesothelioma, a malignant neoplasm that occurs in the lining of the internal organs due to exposure to asbestos, has only recently been a type of cancer that most people in developed countries know about. The second most serious form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos behind mesothelioma is lung cancer.
Writer Jane E. Brody’s recent Personal Health column in the New York Times brought to light some of the facts about lung cancer that are often ignored by the media. Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer in the United States with the highest mortality rate. Lung cancers take over 160,000 lives each year. Smoking is the primary cause of lung cancer in most cases, although behavior, occupation and environmental exposures, diet, and gender can play roles as well.
The stigma of lung cancer being caused by smoking causes it to receive the “short shrift” when it comes to both advocacy and research funds. The stigma is that smokers brought it upon themselves even though most smokers became “hooked on nicotine long before it was recognized as an addictive drug and before smoking was clearly linked to cancer.”
The column brought to light many external factors that have been linked to lung cancer, including exposure to asbestos, radon, and air pollution from traffic and industry. Historically, one in ten men and one in fifteen women who develop lung cancer never even smoked. But for those men and women who did smoke and were exposed to asbestos the risk is greatly increased.
“Nonsmoking asbestos workers face a fivefold risk of developing lung cancer compared with other nonsmokers; the risk is greatly magnified in asbestos workers who smoke.” An alarming fact hidden by both the Asbestos Industry and Big Tobacco for years.
