Mortality from Lung Cancer in Asbestos Workers

Sixty-one cases of lung cancer have been recorded in persons with asbestosis In view of the infrequency of asbestosis, this large number of cases suggests-but does not prove-that lung cancer is an occupational hazard of asbestos workers. The strongest evidence that it may be a hazard has been produced by Merewether and by Gloyne. Neither author gave full details of the sex composition of the groups examined, but since women form a higher proportion of asbestos workers than of persons employed in occupations liable to give rise to silicosis (coal-miners, stonemasons, pottery workers, foundrymen, metal grinders) and since lung cancer is less common among women, the differences in the proportions of cancer cases cannot be accounted for by differences in sex distribution. In fact the proportions which are more properly com- parable with the findings in silicotic subjects are the proportions of lung cancer found among men with asbestosis, 17.2% in Merewether's series and 19.6% in Gloyne's.