Asbestos tissue burden study on human malignant mesothelioma

Abstract

Asbestos fibers in the lung and mesothelial tissues (mesotheliomatous tissue and hyaline plaque) taken from 151 human malignant mesothelioma cases were identified and characterized by high resolution analytical electron microscopy. Asbestos fibers were present in almost all of the lung tissue as well as in the mesothelial tissue. The most common asbestos types seen in the lung were an admixture of chrysotile with amphiboles followed by amphiboles alone and chrysotile alone. The majority of asbestos types seen in the mesothelial tissues were chrysotile alone, followed by chrysotile plus amphibole and amphibole alone. A disproportion of asbestos types between the lung and mesothelial tissues was frequently observed. The most common pattern of the disproportion was chrysotile plus amphibole(s) in the lung and chrysotile only in the mesothelial tissues, followed by amphibole(s) in the lung and chrysotile only in the mesothelial tissues. Such a disproportion was considered to have been caused by chrysotile fiber's strong capacity to translocate from the lung to mesothelial tissues. The number of asbestos fibers in the lung was 456.4 × 106 fibers/dry gram in maximum, 0.08 × 106 fibers/dry gram in minimum and 105 × 106 fibers/dry gram on average; in the mesothelial tissues it was 240.0 × 106 fibers/dry gram in maximum, 0.03 × 106 fibers/dry gram in minimum and 49.84 × 106 fibers/dry gram on average. These numbers were greater than those seen in the general population. The majority of asbestos fibers detected in the lung and mesothelial tissues were shorter than 5 μm in length. Asbestos fibers fit to Stanton's hypothetical dimensions (≥8.0 μm in length and ≤0.25 μm in diameter) were only 4.0%, since the majority of these fibers were shorter (<8 μm) and thinner (<0.25 μm) fibers. We concluded that such short, thin asbestos fibers should not be excluded from those contributing to the induction of human malignant mesothelioma. The present study supports that chrysotile asbestos can induce human malignant mesothelioma, since, in some of the mesothelioma cases, asbestos fibers detected in both the lung and mesothelial tissues, or lung tissue alone or mesothelial tissues alone were exclusively chrysotile fibers.