[Mesothelioma and acceleration]

Abstract

Introduction: Taking a publication by Berry in 2007 (3) as a cue, this paper presents in didactic form the topic of acceleration of events as a consequence of a harmful exposure and extends the proposed approach to the case of the asbestos-mesothelioma relationship.

Methods: Berry's approach was applied to lung cancer and mesothelioma data.

Results: The effects of the acceleration of events are presented as a function of age at onset in exposed subjects, relative risk, scale factor, in addition to age and geographical variability of the relationship between age and mesothelioma rates.

Discussion: The discussion regards the general characteristics of the method of acceleration, its meaning and interpretation, and the difficulties associated with its application in the context of diseases with low occurrence; the conditions, applicability constraints, and specific results in the case of mesothelioma; the epidemiologic meaning of acceleration and the difficulties of its extension to individual subjects.