Abstract 5475: National survey of malignant mesothelioma and asbestos exposure in Japan

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Abstract A newspaper article published in June 2005 reported that 5 residents who lived near the now-closed asbestos cement pipe plant in Amagasaki developed pleural mesothelioma. The asbestos-related problems that the article described caused much social concern resulting in the so-called ‘Kubota shock.’ Patients who have a history of occupational asbestos exposure and have developed malignant mesothelioma are provided worker's compensation in Japan. However, among 878 cases of death due to mesothelioma in 2003, only 85 cases were actually compensated. Based on this, we initiated this retrospective survey and extracted 6,030 cases of death due to MM between 2003 and 2008 to clarify the clinical features of MM including the association with asbestos exposure (AE). Among them, clinical diagnosis of MM was confirmed in 929 cases. The origin of MM included the pleura in 794 (85.5%) cases, the peritoneum in 123 (13.2%) cases, the pericardium in 7 (0.8%) cases, and the testicular tunica vaginalis in 5(0.5%) cases. The histological subtype of MM included 396 (55.9%) epithelioid, 154(21.7%) sarcomatoid, 126 (17.8%) biphasic, and 33 (4.7%) cases classified as other types. AE was indicated in 76.8% and pleural plaques were detected in 34.2% of all MM cases. Asbestos particles were determined in 103 MM cases. More than 1,000 asbestos particles per gram dried lung tissue were detected in 74.8%, and more than 5,000 particles were detected in 43.7% of the cases. We compared the patient characteristics and the diagnostic procedures of MM before and after the ‘Kubota shock’. Compared to the early phase of this study (2003-2005), the median age at diagnosis of MM was higher, the number of cases without definite diagnosis of MM was lower, the proportion of cases diagnosed by thoracoscopy was higher, and the percentage of the cases in which the occupational history was described in the medical record was significantly higher in the late phase (2006-2008). Our study confirmed that more than 70% of MM cases in Japan are associated with AE. The ‘Kubota shock’ might affect some features pertaining to MM. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 5475. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-5475