Short Answer: Yes, extensive health research shows that asbestos exposure can lead to various cancers, including throat cancer. One type of throat cancer (laryngeal cancer) is at particular risk from asbestos exposure. Another type of throat cancer (pharyngeal cancer) may also be caused by exposure to asbestos.

How Does Asbestos Exposure Cause Cancer?

Asbestos is a mineral available below the earth’s surface. Asbestos was a popular substance used in many industrial and household products in the 20^th century. However, doctors associated some diseases, including cancers, to asbestos exposure when they found evidence for the same, prompting around 60 countries to ban the use of asbestos.

Throat Cancer and the Health Dangers of Asbestos Fibers

Asbestos Fibers Get Embedded in the Body and Damage It

Researchers found that asbestos comprises very small fibers of varying thickness and length.

When there is damage to any asbestos containing material (ACM), it releases these fibers into the air. When you inhale this air, these fibers settle down in your lungs and airways, which then can cause diseases.

They can cause diseases, such as asbestosis, a non-cancerous disease and mesothelioma, a cancerous disease. Asbestos is the cause in over 80% of mesothelioma cases.

The American Lung Association has stated that once inhaled or swallowed, some asbestos fibers never leave the body.¹

“Some asbestos fibers may bypass…your body’s natural defenses…and lodge deep within your lungs. Those fibers can remain in place for a very long time and may never be removed.”

Source: American Lung Association

Finding Out If You Have an Asbestos Illness Like Throat Cancer

It is difficult to find out if you have any disease caused by asbestos. This is true for two reasons:

Asbestos diseases can take 20-50 years to develop in the body. This is called the latency of asbestos diseases.

Also, symptoms of asbestos illnesses can appear very late, many months after you have the disease. This is especially true in the case of mesothelioma patients.

“Generally, those who develop asbestos-related diseases show no signs of illness for a long time after exposure.”

Source: National Cancer Institute (NIH) ²

Screening for Asbestos Illnesses

However there are some imaging and function tests that doctors can use to help screen and prepare for asbestos illness. There are also tests to detect the presence of cancerous cells.

If you have ever been exposed to asbestos, speak to your healthcare professional about getting tested.

“The overall evidence suggests there is no safe level of asbestos exposure.”

Source: National Cancer Institute (NIH) ³

What Type Of Cancers Does Asbestos Cause?

Asbestos causes several types of cancers. The most prominent one is mesothelioma. In fact, doctors claim that asbestos is the sole cause of mesothelioma. This cancer affects the membrane surrounding your lung or the stomach. This cancer is one of the most dangerous cancers, which does not have a cure.

Asbestos can also cause lung cancer, although tobacco is the main cause. While mesothelioma affects the lining of the lungs, lung cancer occurs inside the lungs.

Both these cancers show symptoms after a very long time, up to 40 years by which time the cancer would have spread.

Smokers who are exposed to asbestos are up to fifty times more likely to develop lung cancer than nonsmokers not exposed.⁴

Asbestos exposure can also contribute to cancers of the larynx, pharynx, stomach, colon, esophagus, prostate, rectum and ovaries.

What is Throat Cancer?

You can suffer from throat cancer if any part of the throat has cancer. The throat comprises a pharynx and a larynx. The pharynx connects the nose and the mouth and the larynx is the voice box.

Throat cancer, called pharyngeal cancer, usually occurs on the inside of your throat. When the cancer hits the voice box, then you have a cancer of the larynx, called laryngeal cancer.

What Are The Different Types Of Throat Cancer?
There are different types of throat cancer based on the location of the cancer in the throat.

Pharyngeal cancer is throat cancer because it occurs in the throat. These can have subtypes based on their location near the nose, tonsils, or the windpipe.

Laryngeal cancer is the cancer that occurs in the voice box. These can have subtypes based on their location in the voice box inside the vocal chords, below the vocal chords or the epiglottis.

What Are The Causes Of Throat Cancer?

When the cells in your throat undergo change to cancer cells, they can multiply very fast. They grow faster than healthy cells and stay back when healthy cells die. These can form a tumor in your throat resulting in throat cancer.

Risk Factors for Throat Cancer Include Asbestos Exposure

Though doctors do not know why throat cancer occurs, they can point to some risk factors. Risk factors are things that make it more likely a person will develop a particular disease.

Risk factors for throat cancer include:

Exposure to toxic substances, including asbestos
Smoking and chewing tobacco
Excessive consumption of alcohol

NOTE: Other factors like genetics can also cause throat cancer.

Is Laryngeal Cancer Common?

Laryngeal cancer is a rare type of cancer, affecting the larynx. Studies have shown that asbestos exposure may increase the risk by 40%.

2-3 Times More Likely

People with high and long exposure to asbestos have more than double or triple the chance of developing laryngeal cancer than those not exposed to asbestos.

In a 2006 report, a government expert panel added cancer of the larynx to the list of ailments directly linked to asbestos exposure. It determined that asbestos is a definite cause of laryngeal cancer, with risk increasing with increase in exposure. The same report noted that the panel could not say that asbestos is a definite cause of pharyngeal cancer.

It also said that smoking alone or in combination with drinking might contribute to the accumulation of asbestos fibers in the lining of the larynx.

Is Asbestos Exposure A Cause of Throat Cancer?

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the EPA have determined that asbestos is a human carcinogen. Breathing asbestos can increase the risk of cancer in people.

The American Cancer Society also says that exposure to asbestos is an important risk factor for lung cancer and mesothelioma.

The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies undertook a study to answer questions related to ailments associated with asbestos exposure. The National Institutes of Health sponsored the study.

The study determined that asbestos exposure is a definite cause of laryngeal cancer. However, laryngeal cancer is itself very rare, and in the majority of cases, the main cause is smoking and alcohol consumption.

If you smoke, consume alcohol, and work in a place where exposure to asbestos is high, you have a high risk of laryngeal cancer.

If you may have been exposed to asbestos, speak with your healthcare provider about tests and screening to help detect the presence of asbestos fibers and asbestos-related damage.

AsbestosClaims.Law

AsbestosClaims.law is your comprehensive resource for all things asbestos. We hope this information is helpful.

If you have any additional questions or concerns related to asbestos, check out our website and YouTube page for videos, infographics and answers to your questions about asbestos, including health and safety, asbestos testing, removing asbestos from your home and building, and legal information about compensation for asbestos injuries.

And if you believe that you were exposed to asbestos, or have been diagnosed with an asbestos illness, you could be entitled to significant compensation—money you could use to cover the costs of asbestos removal services, pay for medical treatment, and preemptively protect your physical well-being.

All without filing a lawsuit.

If you’d like help with filing a claim, please get in touch by email at [email protected], or call or text us at (833) 4-ASBESTOS (427-2378) or (206) 455-9190. We’ll listen to your story and explain your options. And we never charge for anything unless you receive money in your pocket.

Sources:

1 https://www.asbestos.com/cancer/laryngeal/
2 https://www.asbestos.com/cancer/pharyngeal/.
3 https://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20060606/asbestos-linked-to-throat-cancer
4 https://journals.lww.com/oncology-times/fulltext/2006/07250/iom_report__asbestos_can_cause_laryngeal_cancer.12.aspx
5 https://www.wardblacklaw.com/asbestos-disease-claims/asbestos-related-throat-cancer/.
6 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK20323/
7 https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/substances/asbestos/asbestos-fact-sheet.
8 https://rmqlawfirm.com/mesothelioma-lawyer/asbestos-related/throat-cancer/
9 https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/asbestos.html
10 https://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=11665.
11 https://www.umt.edu/bioethics/libbyhealth/Resources/science/toxicity.aspx#:~:text=The%20Department%20of%20Health%20and,risk%20of%20cancer%20in%20people
12 https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/throat-cancer/symptoms-causes/syc-20366462
13 https://www.asbestos.com/cancer/lung-cancer/#:~:text=Asbestos%20lung%20cancer%20is%20caused,non%2Dsmall%20cell%20lung%20cancer.&text=Watch%3A%20Learn%20how%20exposure%20to%20asbestos%20can%20lead%20to%20lung%20cancer.
14 https://www.cancer.org/healthy/cancer-causes/chemicals/asbestos.html