Asbestos Causes Mesothelioma Cancer

More than 20 million people in the U.S., and around the world more, who have been exposed to asbestos are at risk of developing mesothelioma, malignant cancer of the membranes covering the lungs and abdomen that are resistant to current therapies. In addition, exposure to asbestos increases the risk of lung cancer among smokers. Over the last 40 years researchers have tried to understand why asbestos causes cancer. mesothelioma cancer info in my previous post.

The answer came in a study published in the latest edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, Drs. Haining Yang and Michele Carbone at the University of Hawaii Cancer Research Center led the research team included collaborators at New York University, University of Chicago, University of Pittsburgh, San Raffaele University of Milano, and Imperial College in London.

The researchers discuss the paradox of how the asbestos fibers that kill cells can cause cancer, because dead cells do not have to be able to grow and form tumors. They found that when asbestos kills cells, it does so by inducing a process called "programmed cell necrosis" which leads to the release of a molecule called high mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1). HMGB1 began to certain types of inflammatory reactions that cause the release of mutagens and the factors that encourage tumor growth. The researchers found that patients exposed to asbestos have elevated levels of HMGB1 in their serum. Therefore, they state that it is possible to target HMGB1 to prevent or treat mesothelioma and asbestos-exposed cohorts identified by simple HMGB1 serological testing.

In the article, the researchers propose that by interfering with the inflammatory reaction caused by asbestos and HMGB1, it is possible to reduce cancer incidence among cohorts exposed to asbestos and decrease the rate of tumor growth among those already exposed to mesothelioma. Drs. Yang and Carbone, the lead author, said that in order to test this hypothesis, they are now planning clinical trials in remote areas in Cappadocia, Turkey, where more than 50% of the population died of malignant mesothelioma. If results are positive, the approach will be extended to a cohort of asbestos-exposed individuals in the U.S.
This study emphasizes the role of inflammation in causing various types of cancer and provide new clinical tools to identify exposed individuals and preventing or reducing tumor growth. The researchers asked whether it would be possible to prevent mesothelioma, such as colon cancer, simply by taking aspirin or similar drugs that stop inflammation. They will test this hypothesis.

The article entitled "Programmed cell necrosis caused by asbestos in human mesothelial cells cause inflammation of the high mobility group box 1 protein release and the resultant," by Haining Yang, Zeyana Rivera, Sandro Jube, Masaki Nasu, Pietro Bertino and Michele Carbone at the University of Hawaii Cancer Research Center; Harvey I. Pass and Chandra Goparaju at New York University; Thomas Krausz at the University of Chicago, Michael T. Lotze at the University of Pittsburgh; Guido Franzoso at Imperial College London, England, and Marco E. Bianchi at the University of San Raffele Milano, Italy. It will be published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA week of June 28, 2010, and later in print. This research was supported by grants from the U.S. National Cancer Institute, and by the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation.