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Biomedical subjects

A Sandén

Publications and source records attributed to A Sandén.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

The risk of lung cancer and mesothelioma after cessation of asbestos exposure: a prospective cohort study of shipyard workers.

A prospective cohort study of 3,893 shipyard workers, mainly exposed to chrysotile, indicated no increased risk of lung cancer 7-15 yrs after exposure to asbestos had ceased. The shipyard workers, however, had an increased risk of pleural mesotheliomas with 11 observed cases versus 1.5 expected. An explanation for these observations may be that asbestos may have different carcinogenic mechanisms in causing lung cancer and mesothelioma. A non-increased risk of lung cancer some years after exposure to asbestos has stopped is in accordance with asbestos acting as a promotor. The high risk of mesothelioma, on the other hand, may indicate that asbestos acts as a complete carcinogen in developing this disease.

Adult

A study of possible predictors of mesothelioma in shipyard workers exposed to asbestos.

In a prospective cohort study of 3893 shipyard workers, we estimated the value of medical monitoring, including chest radiograph, spirometry, and questions about smoking habits, asbestos exposure, and respiratory symptoms, as predictors of the risk of developing mesothelioma. There was no strong association between different exposure parameters and risk of mesothelioma. Impaired lung function and smoking were not predictors of risk of mesothelioma. Pleural plaque was not found to be associated with an increased risk of mesothelioma. Respiratory symptoms were of low value as predictors of risk of mesothelioma. Thus, traditional methods in health monitoring seem to be of low value in identifying persons with a high risk of mesothelioma in populations exposed to asbestos.

Adult

Cancer morbidity in Swedish shipyard workers 1978-1983.

The cancer morbidity in 3787 shipyard workers was studied between 1978 and 1983. In these shipyards the use of asbestos was abandoned in 1972. The overall cancer morbidity was found to be similar to that of the male population of the same city, but there were four cases of mesothelioma. There were 11 cases of lung cancer, as opposed to 9.8 expected cases. Men with both heavy and long exposure to asbestos had no increased risk of lung cancer. The occurrence of pleural plaques was not associated with the risk of developing cancer.

Adult

Estimating asbestos exposure: a comparison of methods.

The association between pleural plaques and asbestos exposure was investigated in a cross-sectional study of 951 male shipyard workers. Asbestos exposure was estimated by the men themselves and also by an expert panel whose judgment was based only on occupational title. The analysis was restricted to men who had had at least 20 years of exposure and who had not changed jobs during their period of employment in the shipyards. The results showed that there was a much closer correlation between the occurrence of pleural plaques and the men's own estimates of exposure than between the occurrence and the experts' estimates. Contrary to reports of other investigators, the authors found no association between smoking habits and the occurrence of pleural plaques (rate ratio = 1.0, chi 2 (1) = 0.3).

Asbestosis

Pleural plaques and respiratory function.

This cross-sectional study was comprised of 202 nonsmoking shipyard workers with varying exposures to asbestos. Their chest X-rays were normal or contained no abnormality other than pleural plaques. They participated in a health examination of workers exposed to asbestos, which comprised a total of 3,904 persons. One hundred and fifteen of the 202 workers had no deviations from normal X-rays, and 87 had pleural plaques but no other finding on their X-rays. Three out of the 115 workers with normal X-rays and 13 of the 87 with pleural plaques had FVCs below the reference limits (p less than 0.005). The workers with plaques had an average of 6.9% lower FVC. Even after stratification for asbestos exposure, men with plaques were found to have lower FVCs than men without plaques. This difference was largest for those with heavy exposure to asbestos.

Asbestosis

Mortality in lung and gastrointestinal cancer among shipyard workers.

The risk of shipyard workers acquiring lung cancer and gastrointestinal cancer was investigated retrospectively by analysing the mortality pattern of 365 deceased shipyard workers. Instead of using the proportional mortality ratio (PMR), the odds ratio (OR) was determined according to a method proposed by Axelson, Miettinen and Der Wang. The pattern of causes of death among Swedish males was used as a reference. The OR was 2.3 for lung cancer and 1.4 for gastrointestinal cancer, using death in cancers of other sites (ICD 170-209) as reference diseases. There was a heavy exposure to asbestos, which is the probable cause of the increased risk of lung cancer in this population.

Adult