Asbestos, smoking and lung cancer
In recent years, lung cancer has become the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. In the United States alone, approximately 222,520 cases of lung cancer were diagnosed in 2010, and more Americans die of lung cancer than breast, colon, lymphoma, and prostate cancers combined. While at present, there is no cure for the disease, scientists have known for a long time that certain behaviors and environmental factors contribute to its cause, including asbestos exposure. Cigarette smoke, with tobacco's dozens of likely carcinogens, including benzene, cadmium and cyanide, is the most obvious risk factor for developing lung cancer.
Exposure to asbestos is a causal factor for several lung-related illnesses, including asbestosis and mesothelioma. Asbestos exposure is universally accepted as a leading cause of mesothelioma cancer as well because of the ability of its separable, long, thin fibers to kill cells, damage chromosomes and injure the lungs and inner linings of the chest wall. Epidemiological research has also shown that the risk of developing asbestos-related lung cancer increases in a dose-dependent fashion people with higher or longer exposure to asbestos fibers have a higher the risk of developing the disease.
To learn more about mesothelioma, lung cancer and other asbestos-related cancers, order The Mesothelioma Center's free informational packet. The packet contains details about doctors, treatments, cancer centers and legal options for those who have mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease.
Cigarettes, Asbestos a Deadly Combination
For years, medical researchers tried to answer the question as to whether cigarette smoking and exposure to asbestos in combination increased the risk of contracting lung cancer, and if so, whether the result was additive or multiplicative. Studies in the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Finland and China, among other countries, have since supported the theory that individuals who both smoke and have been exposed to asbestos are at greater risk for developing the life-threatening cancer than people with either asbestos exposure or cigarette smoking alone and that the effect is, indeed, synergistic. One study revealed a five-fold increase of lung cancer in persons exposed to asbestos alone, while combined asbestos exposure and smoking was linked to a fifty-five fold increase in the risk of contracting the disease.
The lungs are self-cleaning organs that lift microscopic-sized foreign bodies, like asbestos fibers, out of the airways with the help of ciliated cells. Since cigarette smoking decreases the efficacy of this mechanism, asbestos fibers are removed less efficiently from the lungs of smokers than non-smokers, with more fibers getting deeper into the lung tissue, thus causing more harm. Cigarette smoke also irritates airways, causing them to produce more mucus. Mucus blocks the passage of air, further decreasing the removal of asbestos fibers.
In addition, the lungs react to all inhalation injuries by creating scar tissue or areas of fibrosis. This scarring of the lungs makes it harder to breathe and more difficult for oxygen and carbon dioxide to remove the cancer-causing chemicals in tobacco smoke. And since combined exposure of cigarette smoke and asbestos has been shown to cause more pulmonary fibrosis than exposure to either irritant alone, it is easy to see how the combination of cigarette smoke and asbestos exposure can cause a vicious cycle of lung dysfunction and increased risk of organ failure: Cigarette smoke increases the damage from asbestos, while asbestos exposure multiplies the destructive effects of tobacco.
Asbestos and Lung Cancer
There are documented cases of life-long smokers getting mesothelioma cancer and winning in court while fighting for asbestos-related benefits. A New York jury in 2011 awarded $22 million to families of two long-time smokers who were able to show their asbestos exposure through Goodyear Tire and Rubber and Goodyear Canada. Walter Koczur's family received $13.5 million. Eugene McCarthy's family won $8.5 million. Both men were diagnosed with lung cancer.
While quitting smoking may decrease the risk of lung cancer for anyone – up to 50 percent – after 10 years of not smoking, the benefits of quitting by those who have been exposed to asbestos are much greater. In one study of asbestos workers, reported in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, ex-cigarette smokers had substantially lower death rates than cigarette smokers who did not give up the habit.
Patient Resources
If the habit of smoking has mixed with exposure to asbestos to give you lung cancer, you might have a need for The Mesothelioma Center's Doctor Match Program. Fill out this form to get matched with a specialist in your area and to learn how to fight your particular cancer.
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© 2012 The Mesothelioma Center |
Last Modified Thursday, February 9th, 2012 | Disclaimer | Privacy Policy |
The information provided by The Mesothelioma Center is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Sponsored by a law firm concentrating in asbestos litigation, The Peterson Firm, LLP with offices at 1350 Connecticut Ave, NW, Fifth Floor, Washington DC 20036.
