NUMBERS OF ASBESTOS BODIES IN URBAN PATIENTS WITH LUNG-CANCER AND GASTRO-INTESTINAL CANCER AND IN MATCHED CONTROLS

The numbers of asbestos bodies extracted from the lungs of 103 patients with lung cancer and 50 patients with gastrointestinal malignant neoplasms were compared to the numbers of bodies extracted from lungs of control patients matched for age, sex, smoking habits and, in some cases, occupations. All patients were urban dwellers over the age of 40 yr and none was a primary asbestos worker. No differences in the counts of asbestos bodies were observed between the tested and control population. The numbers of asbestos bodies correlated with occupations; the highest counts found in male manual laborers. In the urban population studied, the numbers of asbestos bodies alone apparently do not correlate with the presence of pulmonary or gastrointestinal carcinoma; however, uncoated asbestos fibers are known to be present in the lung, and the possibility that such tumors may be related to the numbers of these fibers in lungs remains to be explored.