Women and Mesothelioma: Studies

As more and more cases of mesothelioma among women begin to surface and come to the public's attention, doctors and research scientists are spending more time studying asbestos and its affect on women. Many notable factors have arisen and the studies have assisted doctors around the world in diagnosing and treating women with mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.

Karain Village, Turkey

In 2002, the Departments of Public Health (Dr. S. Metintas), Chest Diseases (Drs. M. Metintas and Ucgun), and Pathology (Dr. Oner), and other members of the Osmangazi University Medical Faculty in Eskisehir, Turkey released the results of a study on the incidence of malignant pleural mesothelioma amongst a rural population in that country, specifically in villages where environmental exposure to naturally occurring asbestos was high.

In all, 1,886 villagers took part in the study, which lasted for 10 years. During the observation time, 377 deaths occurred and 24 cases of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) were diagnosed. Average annual mesothelioma incidence rates were calculated as 114.8/100,000 for men and 159.8/100,000 for women. This data, study coordinators note, indicate that the risk of mesothelioma in this region of Turkey is 88.3 times greater in men and 799 times greater in women, respectively, in comparison to world background incidence rates.

So why were women in rural Turkey so susceptible to the disease; much more so than their male counterparts? First of all, much of the soil in this area is contaminated with asbestos. Locals call it white soil or aktoprak. It is a woman's job to "whitewash" the home using this contaminated soil. Furthermore, the soil is also used as stucco material for walls as well as insulation or water proofing. The white soil is also sometimes used as baby powder. Because women are the caretakers of the home, it is their job to do the whitewashing and daily cleaning. During these procedures, asbestos fibers are inhaled. Men in rural Turkey, on the other hand, suffer exposure not in the home but at jobs that involve working with the dangerous material.

If exposure rates are similar, why do the ratios show such a high incidence in women? Researchers who conducted this study believe that there may be a physiological reason. Some say that lung volume influences retention of particles and that people who are taller and have longer tracheas and larger lungs, usually men, are better able to rid their bodies of the fibers. The role of body size in developing mesothelioma continues to be studied.

Women were also determined to be more likely to develop the peritoneal form of mesothelioma. Some believe this number is due to misdiagnosis in women because malignant peritoneal mesothelioma and ovarian cancer derive from the same tissue. However, according to the Karain Village study, an association between perineal talc usage and peritoneal mesothelioma was made in 1982 when these women were exposed to older talc preparations containing tremolite asbestos. An American study also showed that the ratio of peritoneal to pleural mesotheliomas is higher in women (1:2) than in men (1:5). The study determined latency time for the disease to be the same among the two sexes, averaging about 50 years for both men and women.

References:
  • Dodson, R. and Hammar, S. Asbestos: Risk Assessment, Epidemiology, and Health Effects. Taylor & Francis: Boca Raton. 2006.
  • Stahel RA,Weder W, Felip E; ESMO Guidelines Working Group. Malignant pleural mesothelioma: ESMO clinical recommendations for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up. Clinic and Policlinic of Oncology, University Hospital of Zurich, Switzerland. 2008.
  • Pass, I., Vogelzang, N., Carbone, M. Malignant Mesothelioma: Advances in Pathogenesis, Diagnosis, and Transitional Therapies. Springer: New York. 2005.
  • http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/malignantmesothelioma
  • http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mesothelioma.html

Last modified: December 09 2009.