Exposure to asbestos in patients with malignant mesothelioma in Iran. (English)

Background: Cancer is the third cause of mortality in Iran. Approximately 5-10% of all human cancers are thought to be caused by occupational exposure to carcinogens. Diffuse mesotheliomas of the peritoneum and pleura are considered "signal tumors," or pa-thognomonic of exposure to asbestos. There is also evidence that nonasbestos agents can induce malignant mesotheliomas. Then, we need to study the history of exposure to asbestos in patients suffering from mesothelima to determine relationship between them in Iran, especially in occupational settings. Methods: We received the data of 272 mesothelioma's patients having been registered in 1385 to 1389 in Cancer Bureau, Ministry of Health. 154 of them had telephone number. We could finally interview with 60 families and gathered data about patient's history of occupation, cigarette smoking and residence based on our designed questionnaire. Then we brought out the variants of age, sex, the province of birth place and the involved organs from the data of Cancer Bureau. Analysis of frequency of variants was carried out and compared once in 272 patients being registered in Cancer Bureau and then in the interviewed 60 patients. Results: Frequency distribution of age, sex, the province of birth and living place and the involved organ were similar in cancer registry's data and the interviewed patients. Distribution of cigarette smoking and exposure to asbestos in the interviewed patients were 28% and 63% respectively. Occupational distribution of interviewed patients consisted of construction workers 20%, oil company employees 13.3%, administrative staff 8.3% and drivers 6.7%. Conclusion: The results of our study specified the jobs with high risks of exposure to asbestos and approved the relationship between the exposure to asbestos and the incidence of mesothelioma in Iran, according to researches in other countries. So the consumption of asbestos in Iran, like 20 other countries in the world is necessary to be banned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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