Table 2
Epidemiological studies suggesting that lung cancer can be attributed to asbestos exposure without radiographic evidence of asbestosis
| Reference | Study design | Subjects | Main findings |
|---|---|---|---|
| RR, relative risk; SMR, standardised mortality ratio. | |||
| *See also Anttila et al.7 | |||
| Martischnig4 | Case-referent | 201 cases of lung cancer without asbestosis;201 age/sex/area-matched hospital referents | Increased odds ratio at all levels of smoking for history of asbestos exposure |
| Liddell5 | Cohort mortality | 4559 chrysotile miners and millers with chest x ray | Of 52 excess cases of lung cancer, 33 showed no small opacities; 3-fold RR of cases with compared with those without small opacities |
| Karjalainen6* | Case-referent | 108 lung cancer patients with and without asbestosis | Lower lobe tumours predominate even in absence of fibrosis |
| Hillerdal8 | Cohort mortality | 1596 men with pleural plaques identified in health surveys, 1970–85 | RR for lung cancer increased significantly in men with and without small opacities (1.6 v 1.4) |
| Wilkinson9 | Case-referent | 271 cases of lung cancer and 678 hospital referents | RR for lung cancer increased significantly in men with and without small opacities |
| Finkelstein10 | Cohort mortality | 143 Ontario asbestos cement workers,20 with asbestosis | Lung cancer SMR for men with asbestosis 9.96 (95% CI 2.71 to 25.5); without 5.53 (2.86 to 9.66) |
| de Klerk11 | Cohort mortality;case-referent analysis | 55 cases of lung cancer and 841 referents for a cohort of 6910 Australian crocidolite miners | Significantly increased RR for lung cancer in subjects with and without asbestosis |
