Asbestos awareness important to prevent related cancer: Experts

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDNov 22 2010

Experts from Perth speculate Western Australia is yet to see the peak of asbestos-induced cancer, with renovators still failing to take proper precautions. According to director of the National Centre for Asbestos Related Diseases, Bruce Robinson, the next and third wave of mesothelioma patients would come out of those putting themselves and others at risk while taking on DIY home renovation projects.

Mesothelioma is a known malignant form of cancer that develops on the lining that protects the body’s internal organs like lungs, heart and stomach and is usually caused by exposure to asbestos. Professor Robinson added that Australia has one of the highest rates of malignant mesothelioma in the world and an estimated 18,000 people would get this cancer by 2020. He said, “The third wave is just the ordinary person in the street… There were always a few cases early on of housewives cleaning their husband’s overalls contracting the disease, but that has become the large part of mesothelioma sufferers at the moment… You’d expect mesothelioma to start to go away, but it’s not going to for many decades yet.”

At present West Australian medical researchers and academics have created an independent website, called the Australian Asbestos Network, which lists the latest medical research, stories of cancer sufferers and the risks involved in demolition or renovation work. Professor Robinson, “There are thousands of uses around the state and people aren’t even aware how exposed they are.” University of Western Australia clinical Professor Bill Musk added, “We might recognize an asbestos fence, but many people aren’t aware that asbestos was also used in carpet underlay for example, and rip it up without giving it a second thought.” Murdoch University's Associate Professor Gail Phillips also revealed that the website’s DIY renovator’s guide gave tips on how to recognize asbestos in the home and to dispose of it safely.

Launching Asbestos Awareness week, Workplace Relations Minister David O’Byrne said there was still a lot of work to do.

Tasmania does not expect to have a specific asbestos disease compensation scheme in a while and that has angered the exposed population. A scheme funded by an industry levy is not expected to begin until well into next year. The minister added, “At some stage in the next year we will be able to provide a fund that will provide justice and compensation for sufferers and also the families of sufferers…We know that we have got an enormous job to do and that's why we're consulting with industry and the community on an appropriate compensation fund that will, in the coming months and at some stage in the next year, will be able to provide a fund that will provides justice and compensation for sufferers and also the families of sufferers.”

About 15 Tasmanians die from asbestos-related diseases each year.

Research at the Asbestos Diseases Research Institute (ADRI), in the Bernie Banton Centre in Sydney, has identified a blood test that points to a mesothelioma patient’s survival prospects. ADRI director Professor Nico van Zandwijk said, “It is a biomarker in the blood - the lymphocyte and neutrophil ratio - which is also found to be predictive in other malignant diseases, even in heart disease…This helps to individualize treatment approaches ... a patient who has a poor prognostic profile with that marker, we would like to be very careful making plans for radical or chemotherapy treatment…For those patients with a better prognosis we would like to reserve more intense treatment for them.” He added that research was underway to identify further biomarkers that did not just point to survival but also to a patient’s individual sensitivity to the array of different anti-cancer drugs and treatments. He said, “Now we have separated the poor prognosis patient from the better prognosis patient, we would like to tailor that further…I think that in the next coming period we will be able to identify specific markers for an individual drug and say ‘will this patient respond on this particular drug? yes or no’…That is the next step.”

Home renovators in particular are urged go online to www.thinkasbestos.com.au for more information.