Short Communication

British Journal of Cancer (2008) 99, 173–175. doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6604450 www.bjcancer.com
Published online 24 June 2008

Magnitude of asbestos-related lung cancer mortality in Italy

A Marinaccio1, A Scarselli1, A Binazzi1, M Mastrantonio2, P Ferrante1 and S Iavicoli1

  1. 1Epidemiology Unit, Department of Occupational Medicine, Italian National Institute for Occupational Safety and Prevention, Via Alessandria 220/E, Rome 00198, Italy
  2. 2Unit of Toxicology and Biomedical Sciences, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and the Environment, Via Anguillarese 301, S.Maria di Galeria, Rome 00060, Italy

Correspondence: Dr A Marinaccio, E-mail: alessandro.marinaccio@ispesl.it

Revised 21 April 2008; Accepted 22 May 2008; Published online 24 June 2008.

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Abstract

An ecological study, based on a data set containing all lung and pleural cancer deaths in each Italian municipality in the period 1980–2001, was performed. The pleural to lung cancer ratio was estimated to be 1 : 1 and 3% (around 700) of all male lung cancer deaths were found to be asbestos-related.

Keywords:

asbestos, mortality, lung cancer, pleural cancer, Italy