Recent researchers studying mesothelioma cancer are proposing a genetic component to this aggressive cancer long associated with asbestos.  Dr. Jill Ohar MD at Wake Forest School of Medicine reported in 2010 at an International Symposium about her research that supported the possibility that people who develop mesothelioma may have a genetic predisposition and susceptibility.

Between 1940 and 1980, asbestos was commonly used as a material in the construction, particularly in shipbuilding, aircraft fabrication, plumbing, insulation, railroad and automotive brakes and clutches, ceiling tile, floor tile, drywall, fireproofing materials, cement, and many, many other uses.  It is estimated that 40% of U.S. employees or nearly 27 million Americans , have been unknowingly exposed to asbestos in their place of work; even when employers and manufacturers of asbestos products knew the danger.  Fortunately, many of the persons exposed to asbestos have not developed mesothelioma cancer.  So, the frequency of new mesothelioma cases identified in recent years has stabilized at a constant of approximately 3,000 per year.

Because so few persons who have been exposed to asbestos develop mesothelioma cancer leads researchers to wonder why and ask what could differ among workers who have experienced equal exposure to asbestos?  Why does a majority of asbestos exposed workers not develop mesothelioma cancer, and the remainder do?

Dr. Ohar and fellow researchers studied a database of 5,000 people who have been exposed to asbestos in which only 6.5% or 327 incurred the mesothelioma cancer.  The researchers questioned all 5,000 individuals regarding their exposure to asbestos at work and at home, and about the status of their health.  The answers reveal some interesting patterns:

• Age of first exposure: those workers who developed mesothelioma tended to be younger at their first exposure to asbestos. In the 1940’s, they were the young men and women who volunteered out of high school, at age 17 or 18 to join the military, or work in defense industries. Cells in younger people tend to be more vulnerable to carcinogenic (cancer-causing) agents.  Even a few years’ delay, time spent in college or in work that did not involve exposure to asbestos, seems to have had a protective effect.
• Military service: Mesothelioma patients were more likely to have served in the military.  Service in the military increased the odds of exposure to asbestos.
• Other cancer diagnoses: Mesothelioma patients were three times more likely than other workers exposed to asbestos to have had another cancer diagnosis at the time of diagnosis of their mesothelioma.  This suggests a greater vulnerability, probably genetically mediated, to carcinogenic agents.
• Cancer in first-order relatives: People diagnosed with mesothelioma were also three times more likely than other workers exposed to asbestos to have a first-order relative (a parent, a brother or a sister, or a child) who had a cancer diagnosis.  Children of people with a mesothelioma diagnosis were seven times more likely to have a cancer diagnosis.

The conclusion, based on Dr. Ohar’s study, is that getting mesothelioma cancer caused by exposure to asbestos could possibly be attributed to a genetic predisposition and susceptibility to cancer-causing agents.  Genetic susceptibility alone does not determine a diagnosis of mesothelioma cancer; and exposure to asbestos does not always assure that a person will get mesothelioma cancer.  However, the combination of asbestos exposure, especially at a young age, with genetic predisposition and susceptibility increases the likelihood of a person developing mesothelioma cancer.

If you or a loved one has been exposed to asbestos fibers, especially in the workplace, and has received a diagnosis of mesothelioma, you need to consult with an experienced asbestos mesothelioma lawyer to determine whether you may have an actionable case against the employer.

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