Asbestos causes a variety of cancers in the respiratory and digestive systems. 

Anyone who was regularly exposed to asbestos should get screened for asbestos damage.

Asbestos has long been at the epicenter of a near-unprecedented public health crisis. 

While we now know that asbestos is a potent carcinogen, capable of causing cancer and ravaging the body from the inside-out, it was once a mainstay of American industry.

For nearly a century, companies across the country relied on asbestos to manufacture a startling array of products, from cigarette filters and consumer cosmetics to vinyl floor tile and roofing cement. Asbestos, at the time, was inescapable—a substance marketed as inexpensive, strong, and incredibly resilient. 

Between 1940 and 1979, an estimated 27 million workers were exposed to asbestos-tainted materials—an understated and scarcely-recognized risk that endangered entire families, and poisoned the physical foundations of communities throughout the United States. 

Today, few people contest that asbestos is anything but safe. Yet, in spite of proposed bans and sweeping federal regulation, it remains a common contaminant that continues to drive diagnoses of life-altering illnesses and potentially lethal cancers. 

The Origins of America’s Asbestos Epidemic

Asbestos is a type of naturally-occurring mineral that can be found around the world. 

Although asbestos comes in a half-dozen different forms, they all share certain common characteristics. These include a fibrous structure, which is resistant to fire, electricity, and corrosion. 

Asbestos Across the Ages

Since asbestos is fireproof and almost entirely heat-resistant, it has long been used in the manufacture of products. Even in ancient times, asbestos was worked into a startling array of materials, from Neolithic cookware to Roman candle wicks and tablecloths.  

However, for many thousands of years, the asbestos industry was little more than an unusual niche. But when manufacturing and trade began to modernize in the 19th and 20th centuries, asbestos was quickly identified as a promising and low-cost alternative to other inorganic insulators. Deposits were located across countries and continents, providing ready access to literal tons of asbestos—asbestos that fireproof steam engines, or reduce the risk of life-threatening conflagrations in densely-populated cities. 

In the United States, asbestos production rose precipitously during and after the Second World War, peaking sometime between the late 1960s and early 1970s. 

Asbestos, much like tobacco in decades past, was marketed as an attractive commodity without any apparent downside—it made homes safer, with its presence all but guaranteeing a certain measure of durability in consumer goods and playthings.

Asbestos, much like tobacco in decades past, was marketed as an attractive commodity without any apparent downside—it made homes safer, with its presence all but guaranteeing a certain measure of durability in consumer goods and playthings.

The Asbestos Industry’s Role in Creating a Modern Health Crisis

Even at the height of the asbestos industry’s heyday, scientists were skeptical that the “miracle mineral” was truly without its disadvantages. 

As early as 1924, a British physician published a short case study documenting pulmonary illness in an English woman, Nellie Kershaw, whose work as a rover required that she spend hours each day spinning raw asbestos into yarn. Kershaw died young, at the age of 33, after having waged a years-long fight against then-inexplicable respiratory symptoms. 

But an examination of Kershaw’s lungs proved what doctors had already suspected: her pleural tissue had been ravaged by asbestos dust, the particles from which caused the extensive scarring and inflammation we now know to be the telltale signs of asbestosis. 

Soon, a growing and seemingly-incontestable body of evidence showed that asbestos exposure was a risk factor for a far wider range of diseases, up to and including cancer. 

However, just as Kershaw’s employer had fought tooth-and-nail to avoid paying disability benefits, so too did American asbestos companies refuse to acknowledge that their products were anything but safe. Although they themselves quickly learned of asbestos’s dangers, they engaged in a protracted public relations campaign, suppressing new research and funneling millions of dollars to Congress to forestall more stringent asbestos regulations. 

By the time that the federal Environmental Protection Agency finally began restricting authorized uses of asbestos in the early 1970s, the damage had been done: some 27 million Americans had been exposed to asbestos in the workplace, while countless others developed disease through para-occupational and environmental sources of exposure. 

Asbestos-Related Illnesses

The death of Nellie Kershaw in 1924 provided compelling evidence of the role that asbestos plays in poisoning the body from the inside. But Kershaw’s probable cause of death was asbestosis—a condition that, while sometimes serious, can typically be managed through well-timed intervention and regular medical care. 

However, asbestos exposure presents risks far beyond asbestosis. 

Exposure, whether at home or in the workplace, is associated with a wide and diverse range of illnesses. These illnesses vary in both severity and long-term survivability, encompassing everything from asymptomatic forms of pleural disease to potentially life-threatening malignant mesothelioma. 

In some cases, asbestos fibers can even interact with other risk factors—like cigarette-smoking, or inherited genetic traits—to subtly influence an individual’s odds of developing certain conditions, not all of which can be exclusively attributed to a history of asbestos exposure.

“In some cases, asbestos fibers can even interact with other risk factors—like cigarette-smoking, or inherited genetic traits—to subtly influence an individual’s odds of developing certain conditions, not all of which can be exclusively attributed to a history of asbestos exposure.”

Since the term “asbestos-related illness” can refer to many different diseases with many possible explanations, conditions that arise from exposure are often generalized and placed into either of the following categories: 

  • Non-Malignant Asbestos Illnesses: A non-malignant illness is an illness that does not cause cancer, but which can still damage the respiratory tract or other parts of the body. 
  • Malignant Asbestos Illnesses: A malignant illness is an illness that causes cancer, which can affect the respiratory tract, the mesothelium, and many of the body’s major internal organs. 

Non-Malignant Asbestos-Related Illnesses

Asbestosis

An Overview of Asbestosis

Asbestosis is a chronic and progressive lung disease caused by the inhalation of asbestos fibers. These fibers, once inside the body, can cause extensive scarring across to and across the lungs. Symptoms can be mild, moderate, or severe, but are not typically life-threatening but in the most serious cases. 

Most people who are diagnosed with asbestosis have histories of prolonged and regular exposure to asbestos. 

Asbestosis Symptoms

In its early stages, asbestosis presents few—if any—noticeable symptoms, which usually appear anywhere between 10 and 40 years after an initial asbestos exposure. 

These symptoms could include: 

  • Shortness
  • A persistent and dry cough
  • Pain or tightness in the chest
  • A dry or crackling sound in the lungs when inhaling
  • Clubbing of the toes and fingertips 

Since asbestosis is a progressive disease, these symptoms may worsen with time. 

Asbestosis Treatment

Asbestosis cannot be treated, but its symptoms can be managed through the use of supplemental oxygen and pulmonary rehabilitation. Doctors may sometimes recommend surgery for patients with very severe symptoms. 

Pleural Plaques

An Overview of Pleural Plaques

A pleural plaque is a deposit of collagen fiber that forms in the parietal pleura—the outermost layer of the lungs’ pleural casing, which is partially attached to the chest wall. 

Pleural plaques are considered “indicative of asbestos exposure,” but usually only begin to form 20 or more years after an initial inhalation of asbestos fiber. They are likely a byproduct of pleural inflammation can sometimes be diagnosed through medical imaging tests.  

Pleural Plaques Symptoms

Pleural plaques rarely cause any noticeable symptoms, although some people report a “grating” feeling when breathing in and out. 

Pleural Plaques Treatment

Pleural plaques are not cancerous and rarely require any treatment. 

However, the presence of pleural plaques could be a harbinger of more serious problems. Some scientists have suggested that, as an obvious “biomarker of [asbestos] exposure,” plaques should serve as reason to obtain more regular cancer screenings.  

Pleural Thickening

An Overview of Pleural Thickening 

Pleural thickening, sometimes termed either “pleurisy” or “pleuritis,” is an inflammation of the pleural tissue surrounding the lungs. 

The pleural tissue is made up of two layers: an inner layer, and an out layer. These layers are separated by a small, thin space filled with fluid. 

If the pleural tissue becomes inflamed, the two layers of the pleura can rub against one another, causing sharp pain in the chest that worsens when breathing. 

Pleural Thickening Symptoms

The symptoms of pleural thickening could include: 

  • Chest pain, especially when breathing, coughing, or sneezing
  • Shortness of breath 
  • Recurring or persistent cough 
  • Recurring or persistent fever 

Pleuritis is sometimes accompanied by pleural effusions. 

Pleural Thickening Treatment

Treatment for pleural thickening is determined both by its cause and the presence of any related conditions, like asbestosis or malignant mesothelioma. 

If inflammation is a patient’s only noticeable complaint, and there is no cancer in or around the pleura, a regimen of anti-inflammatory medication can sometimes relieve symptoms.  

Pleural Effusions

An Overview of Pleural Effusions 

A pleural effusion is an accumulation of excess fluid between the two layers of pleural tissue surrounding the lungs. It is typically caused by increases in fluid pressure, infection, or cancer. 

Pleural Effusions Symptoms

Pleural effusions are sometimes termed “water on the lungs.” Symptoms could include: 

  • Chest pain, especially with coughing or when taking deep breaths
  • Shortness of breath
  • Difficult, labored breathing
  • Difficulty breathing when sitting up straight or standing up straight 

However, like pleural plaques, some people with effusions experience no symptoms and may not realize that they have “water on the lungs” until they are tested for another condition. 

Pleural Effusions Treatment

Pleural effusions are very common: every year, more than 1.5 million Americans are diagnosed with “water on the lungs.” 

Approaches to treatment vary. In some cases, antibiotics can help resolve infection-related complications. In others, a physician may use a needle or chest tube to drain excess fluid. 

Surgery is sometimes recommended if and when other approaches fail.  

Malignant Asbestos-Related Illnesses 

Asbestos and Cancer

Asbestos is classified as a carcinogen, a type of substance that can increase an individual’s long-term risk of developing certain kinds of cancer. 

Every carcinogenic substance, including asbestos, can damage cells by altering their cellular structure. Carcinogens prompt changes in a cell’s DNA, which can trigger genetic mutations. Some of these mutations can prompt cells to replicate at an abnormal rate, setting off a chain reaction that generates cancer cells and encourages the formation of tumors. 

Nobody knows exactly how or why asbestos fibers cause malignancies, but fiber-related scarring and inflammation likely play a key role by “creating an environment conducive to the development of cancer.” 

Asbestos exposure is associated with malignant illnesses including, but not limited to, the following: 

Malignant Mesothelioma

An Overview of Malignant Mesothelioma

Malignant mesothelioma is a term used to describe cancers of the mesothelium, the thin layer of tissue covering most of the body’s internal organs. About 80% of all mesothelioma diagnoses are attributed to occupational asbestos exposure.

Mesothelioma most often originates in the mesothelial casing of the lungs, but can emerge from—or spread to—other parts of the body. 

Medical researchers recognize several distinct types of mesothelioma. These include:

  • Malignant pleural mesothelioma, which affects the pleural layer of the lungs and accounts for an estimated 80% of all mesothelioma diagnoses reported annually 
  • Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma, which affects the mesothelial lining of the abdomen and abdominal organs, accounting for anywhere between 10% and 17% of all mesothelioma diagnoses reported annually 
  • Malignant pericardial mesothelioma, which affects the mesothelial tissue of the heart and accounts for less than 1-2% of all mesothelioma diagnoses reported annually
  • Malignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis, which affects the mesothelial lining of the pelvis and male genitals, accounting for less than 1% of all diagnoses reported annually 

In the past, the risk of mesothelioma was believed to be greatest in men who worked with or around asbestos. However, a recent review of diagnostic data by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that rates of mesothelioma-related death among women are underreported—and likely on the rise. 

Mesothelioma is a disease that tends to strike in old age, often decades after a patient’s last known exposure to asbestos. 

In the past, the risk of mesothelioma was believed to be greatest in men who worked with or around asbestos. However, a recent review of diagnostic data by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that rates of mesothelioma-related death among women are underreported—and likely on the rise. 

Malignant Mesothelioma Symptoms

The first noticeable symptoms of malignant mesothelioma are typically determined by the primary site of the cancer. These symptoms could include: 

Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma
Chest painRecurring coughingPainful coughingShortness of breathLumps under the skin of the chestFatigueUnexplained weight loss		Malignant Peritoneal Mesothelioma
Abdominal painAbdominal swellingNauseaFeverFatigueUnexplained weight loss

Since other types of mesothelioma—like pericardial mesothelioma, and mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis—are very rare, there is little reliable information on their initial symptoms. 

However, no matter its form, the early-warning signs of mesothelioma are deceptively vague and very to easy to overlook. 

Malignant Mesothelioma Treatment

Every type of mesothelioma is aggressive and unusually difficult to treat. 

Although some people do manage to conquer mesothelioma, remission and recovery are rare occurrences. According to most estimates, fewer than 10% of all mesothelioma patients live five or more years past their initial diagnosis. 

However, early detection and targeted treatment can significantly increase an individual’s likelihood of longer-term survival. 

Common treatment strategies include the use of: 

  • Surgery
  • Radiation therapy
  • Virotherapy 
  • Immunotherapy 

Some experimental medications—like the recently-F.D.A.-approved combination of Opdivo and Yervoy—have also shown promise in decreasing tumor growth. 

Mesothelioma treatment may include a combination of different treatment types. 

Anyone with a history of asbestos exposure could be at-risk for lung cancer—but people with histories of both asbestos exposure and cigarette smoking face a much higher risk than those with histories of only asbestos exposure or only cigarette smoking.

Lung Cancer

An Overview of Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is any cancer that begins in the lungs.

Although lung cancer is most closely associated with risk factors like cigarette smoking and tobacco consumption, asbestos exposure is a leading cause of occupation-related diagnoses. In fact, experts believe that up to 85% of all occupational cases of lung cancer can be traced back to asbestos exposure. 

Anyone with a history of asbestos exposure could be at-risk for lung cancer—but people with histories of both asbestos exposure and cigarette smoking face a much higher risk than those with histories of only asbestos exposure or only cigarette smoking.

Lung Cancer Symptoms

Lung cancer is usually asymptomatic in its early stages, becoming more noticeable only as tumors grow larger and the disease progresses. 

Its signs and symptoms could include any of the following: 

  • An unexpected cough that won’t go away or doesn’t respond to treatment 
  • Coughing up blood in any quantity 
  • Shortness of breath 
  • Chest pain
  • Sore throat or hoarseness
  • Unexpected weight loss 

Lung Cancer Treatment

Lung cancer treatment depends on a number of factors, including your age, health, and the stage of your cancer.

Common treatment strategies include: 

  • Surgery, including removal of a small section of a lung, a larger portion of a lung, or an entire lung
  • Radiation therapy 
  • Chemotherapy 
  • Targeted drug therapy 
  • Immunotherapy 

Ovarian Cancer

An Overview of Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is an accumulation of cancer cells in and around the ovaries. 

Strong evidence suggests that asbestos exposure is a direct cause of ovarian cancer, though scientists have yet to explain how or why. A popular hypothesis relates to inflammation: if asbestos fibers manage to travel to or around the ovaries, they can inflame the surrounding tissue and provoke potentially cancerous mutations. 

Ovarian Cancer Symptoms

Ovarian cancer may not cause any noticeable symptoms in its earliest stages. Even if symptoms occur, they may be attributed to more common and less insidious causes. 

The signs and symptoms of later-stage ovarian cancer could include: 

  • Abdominal swelling
  • Feeling full after eating small quantities of food 
  • Unexpected or unwanted weight loss 
  • Pain or other discomfort in the pelvic region
  • Fatigue
  • Constipation
  • Frequent urination

Ovarian Cancer Treatment

Ovarian cancer treatment typically involves a combination of surgery and chemotherapy. 

Throat Cancer

An Overview of Throat Cancer

Throat cancer is any cancer that develops in either the throat or the voice box. 

There are several distinct types and subtypes of throat cancer. Of these, asbestos exposure is associated with an increased risk for laryngeal cancer and pharyngeal cancer. 

Throat Cancer Symptoms

If and when asbestos exposure is identified as a probable cause of throat cancer, there is typically a latent period—a delay—between an initial exposure and the onset of symptoms. This latent period can last anywhere between 20 and 60 years. 

Once throat cancer begins to develop, its signs and symptoms could include: 

  • A persistent cough
  • Changes to the voice, including hoarseness or a sudden inability to speak clearly 
  • Difficulty swallowing food or water 
  • Ear pain
  • Sore throat 
  • A noticeable lump or sore spot in the throat 
  • Unexpected or unwanted weight loss

Throat Cancer Treatment

Treatment strategies for throat cancer may depend on factors like the exact location of the cancer, its stage, and the type of cells involved. 

A typical treatment plan could include: 

  • Radiation therapy 
  • Surgery, including the removal of cancer-infected tissue, small tracts of the throat, or entire lymph nodes 
  • Chemotherapy 
  • Targeted drug therapy 
  • Immunotherapy 

Most cases of throat cancer that are diagnosed in their earliest stages can be successfully treated, with 5-year survival rates exceeding 80%.