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British Journal of Cancer (2005) 92, 580 586& 2005 Cancer Research UK All rights reserved 0007 0920/05 $30.00www.bjcancer.comCancer mortality in a cohort of asbestos textile workers[notdef]
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[notdef]E Pira1, C Pelucchi*,2, L Buffoni1, A Palmas1, M Turbiglio1, E Negri2, PG Piolatto1 and C La Vecchia2,31Dipartimento di Traumatologia, Ortopedia e Medicina del Lavoro, Universita` degli Studi di Torino, via Zuretti 29, 10126 Torino, Italy; 2Istituto di Ricerche
Farmacologiche Mario Negri, via Eritrea 62, 20157 Milano, Italy;3Istituto di Statistica Medica e Biometria, Universita` degli Studi di Milano, via Venezian
1, 20133 Milano, ItalyA cohort of 889 men and 1077 women employed for at least 1 month between 1946 and 1984 by a former Italian leading asbestos
(mainly textile) company, characterised by extremely heavy exposures often for short durations, was followed up to 1996, for a total
of 53 024 person-years of observation. Employment data were obtained from factory personnel records, while vital status and causes
of death were ascertained through municipality registers and local health units. We observed 222 cancer deaths compared with 116.4
expected (standardized mortality ratio, SMR 191). The highest ratios were found for pleural (SMR 4105), peritoneal
(SMR 1817) and lung (SMR 282) cancers. We observed direct relationships with duration of employment for lung and peritoneal
cancer, and with time since first employment for lung cancer and mesothelioma. Pleural cancer risk was independent from duration
(SMR 3428 for employment o1 year, 7659 for 14 years, 2979 for 59 years and 2130 for X10 years). Corresponding SMRs for
lung cancer were 139, 251, 233 and 531. Nonsignificantly increased ratios were found for ovarian (SMR 261), laryngeal
(SMR 238) and oro-pharyngeal (SMR 226) cancers. This study confirms and further quantifies the central role of latency in pleural
mesothelioma and of cumulative exposure in lung cancer.British Journal of Cancer (2005) 92, 580586. doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6602240 www.bjcancer.com
& 2005 Cancer Research UKKeywords: asbestos; cancer mortality; cohort study; lung cancer; mesotheliomaCohort studies found increased incidence and mortality from
mesothelioma among (chiefly male) asbestos workers employed in
mining (Piolatto et...