Relation between Exposure to Asbestos and Mesothelioma

Abstract

IN 1960 Wagner, Sleggs and Marchand¹ reported 33 cases of diffuse pleural mesothelioma from the North Western Cape Province of South Africa. The collection of such a large number of cases of a rare tumor within a short time (1956–1960) in one area was considered unusual enough. Even more striking was the fact that close questioning and investigation revealed that 32 patients had evidence, admittedly circumstantial in most cases, of some potential or actual contact with asbestos by virtue either of residence in mining areas or in industry twenty to forty years before.This remarkable concentration of cases in one . . .