Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vol 1, 695-700, Copyright © 1983 by American Society of Clinical Oncology
Malignant mesothelioma following radiation exposure
KH Antman, JM Corson, FP Li, J Greenberger, A Sytkowski, DE Henson and L Weinstein
Mesothelioma developed in proximity to the field of therapeutic radiation
administered 10-31 years previously in four patients. In three,
mesothelioma arose within the site of prior therapeutic radiation for
another cancer. Mesothelioma in the fourth patient developed adjacent to
the site of cosmetic radiation to a thyroidectomy scar. None of these four
patients recalled an asbestos exposure or had evidence of asbestosis on
chest roentgenogram. Lung tissue in one patient was negative for
ferruginous bodies, a finding considered to indicate no significant
asbestos exposure. Five other patients with radiation-associated
mesothelioma have been reported previously, suggesting that radiation is an
uncommon cause of human mesothelioma. Problems in the diagnosis of
radiation-associated mesotheliomas are considered.