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. 2012 Aug;56(7):789-95.
doi: 10.1093/annhyg/mes017. Epub 2012 May 4.

Pulmonary carcinoid tumors and asbestos exposure

Bénédicte Clin  1 , Pascal Andujar, Issam Abd Al Samad, Chantal Azpitarte, Françoise Le Pimpec-Barthes, Marie-Annick Billon-Galland, Claire Danel, Françoise Galateau-Salle, Bruno Housset, Karinne Legrand-Cattan, Mireille Matrat, Isabelle Monnet, Marc Riquet, Jean-Claude Pairon
Affiliations

Pulmonary carcinoid tumors and asbestos exposure

Bénédicte Clin et al. Ann Occup Hyg. 2012 Aug.

Abstract

Objectives: The hypothesis that asbestos exposure may have more specific associations with particular histological types of lung cancer remains controversial. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationships between asbestos exposure and pulmonary carcinoid tumors.

Methods: A retrospective case-control study was conducted in 28 cases undergoing surgery for pulmonary carcinoid tumors and aged >40 years and in 56 controls with lung cancer of a different histological type, matched for gender and age, from 1994 to 1999, recruited in two hospitals in the region of Paris. Asbestos exposure was assessed via expertise of a standardized occupational questionnaire and mineralogical analysis of lung tissue, with quantification of asbestos bodies (AB).

Results: Definite asbestos exposure was identified in 25% of cases and 14% of controls (ns). Cumulative asbestos exposure was significantly higher in cases than in controls (P < 0.05), and results of the quantification of AB tended to be higher in cases than in controls (24 and 9% had >1000 AB per gram dry lung tissue, respectively, P = 0.09). Mean cumulative smoking was lower in cases than in controls (P < 0.05).

Conclusions: This study argues in favor of a relationship between asbestos exposure and certain pulmonary carcinoid tumors.

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Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

They authors declare that they have no competing interests, or other interests that might be perceived to influence the results and discussion reported in this paper.

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