Over 20 million people in the U.S., and many more worldwide, who have been exposed to asbestos are at risk of developing mesothelioma, a malignant cancer of the membranes covering the lungs and abdomen that is resistant to current therapies. On the other hand, exposure to asbestos increases the risk of lung cancer among smokers. Over the past 40 years researchers have tried to understand what causes cancer of asbestos.
The answer appears in a study published in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, Drs. Haining Yang and Michele Carbone at the University of Hawaii Cancer Research Center led a research team that included colleagues at the University of New York, the University of Chicago, University of Pittsburgh, San Raffaele University of Milan, and the Imperial College in London. (more…)
