Mesothelioma historical perspective
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Parminder Dhingra, M.D. [2], Sujit Routray, M.D. [3], Fatima Shaukat, MD [4]
Overview
Wagner et al. were the first to discover the association between asbestos exposure and development of mesothelioma.
Historical Perspective
- The link between mesothelioma and exposure to asbestos fibers was elucidated by Wagner et al., in their seminal study of South African miners.[1]
- In the town of Wittenoom, asbestos-containing mine waste was used to cover schoolyards and playgrounds. In 1965, an article in the British Journal of Industrial Medicine established that people who lived in the neighbourhoods of asbestos factories and mines, but did not work in them, had contracted mesothelioma.
- Despite proof that the dust associated with asbestos mining and milling causes asbestos related disease, mining began at Wittenoom in 1943 and continued until 1966. In 1974 the first public warnings of the dangers of blue asbestos were published in a cover story called "Is this Killer in Your Home?" in Australia's Bulletin magazine. In 1978, the Western Australian Government decided to phase out the town of Wittenoom, following the publication of a Health Dept. booklet, "The Health Hazard at Wittenoom", containing the results of air sampling and an appraisal of worldwide medical information.
- By 1979 the first writs for negligence related to Wittenoom were issued against CSR and its subsidiary ABA, and the Asbestos Diseases Society was formed to represent the Wittenoom victims.
- In the landmark study by Vogelzang et al., cisplatin and pemetrexed led to an objective response rate of 41% and median survival of 12.1 months, compared to 17% and 9.3 months in patients treated with cisplatin alone.[2]
Legal issues
- The first lawsuits against asbestos manufacturers were in 1929.
- Since then, many lawsuits have been filed against asbestos manufacturers and employers, for neglecting to implement safety measures after the links between asbestos, asbestosis, and mesothelioma became known (some reports seem to place this as early as 1898).
- The liability resulting from the sheer number of lawsuits and people affected has reached billions of dollars.
- The amounts and method of allocating compensation have been the source of many court cases, and government attempts at resolution of existing and future cases.
References
- ↑ Thomas, Anish; Chen, Yuanbin; Yu, Tinghui; Gill, Ammara; Prasad, Vinay (2015). "Distinctive clinical characteristics of malignant mesothelioma in young patients". Oncotarget. 6 (18): 16766–16773. doi:10.18632/oncotarget.4414. ISSN 1949-2553.
- ↑ Saint-Pierre, Mathieu D.; Pease, Christopher; Mithoowani, Hamid; Zhang, Tinghua; Nicholas, Garth A.; Laurie, Scott A.; Wheatley-Price, Paul (2015). "Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma Outcomes in the Era of Combined Platinum and Folate Antimetabolite Chemotherapy". Lung Cancer International. 2015: 1–7. doi:10.1155/2015/590148. ISSN 2090-3197.