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Asbestos Selected Cancers (2006) / Chapter Skim
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12 Summary and Recommendations
Pages 230-232

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From page 230...
... 12 Summary and Recommendations SUMMARY In addressing its charge of whether asbestos exposure plays a causal role in the occurrence of pharyngeal, laryngeal, esophageal, stomach, or colorectal cancer, the committee reviewed a broad array of evidence from observational and experimental research. Its review emphasized epidemiologic studies of cancer rates in cohorts of asbestos-exposed workers and of risk factors in sets of individuals with cancer at the selected sites in comparison to the general population.
From page 231...
... Although inhaled asbestos fibers clearly pass by the tissues in question in this report, either directly or by swallowing secretions following clearance from the respiratory tract, investigations on fiber persistence in the target organs with definitive findings proved to be unfortunately sparse. Consequently, the epidemiologic data did, in large part, influence the committee's decision-making for these five sites.
From page 232...
... However, its potential to cause malignancy at other sites that may also be exposed to substantial numbers of asbestos fibers has not been as extensively investigated; little effort has gone into determining delivered or effective dose at these extrapulmonary sites. Much of the information reviewed by the committee came from cohort studies of workers that focused on investigating respiratory effects; information on risks of other diseases, including cancers at the site covered by this committee's charge, was reported only incidentally.

Key Terms

  • asbestos fibers


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