Researchers at the Ohio State University School of Environment and Natural Resources, along with other faculty and cancer specialists, have been studying the way in which inhaled asbestos fibers react with the body’s receptors in an effort to better understand how the development of mesothelioma cancer occurs following asbestos exposure.
Eric Taylor, co-author of the study and a doctoral candidate in earth sciences, says that the research team used “atomic force microscopy” as a means of observing what is really happening on a molecular level as cancer develops inside the body.
Taylor likens this process to “Braille,” because it allows researchers to “feel and observe” what is occurring on “molecular surfaces.”
Specifically, the Ohio State University team is examining what happens when an asbestos fiber is inhaled and first comes into contact with human cells.
“Does the binding (of the fiber and cell) occur over minutes, or hours? And what processes are triggered? We’re looking at what molecules are involved in the chain of events,” said Taylor, who presented the team’s research at the American Geophysical Union Meeting in San Francisco recently.
Scientists assume that single asbestos fibers “bind” with a certain receptor protein found on the surface of human cells within the mesothelium, where mesothelioma cancer tumors form. The mesothelium is the slick lining of the body’s internal organs, including the heart, abdomen and lungs.
The asbestos fibers supposedly “trigger” a “cascade of events” that leads to the eventual development of mesothelioma cancer. Scientists assume that these events take place very gradually, as the latency period associated with this form of cancer is between 20 and 50 years.
At Ohio State University, scientists have focused on crocidolite asbestos, one of the deadliest types of this naturally occurring mineral. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, there are six different forms of asbestos, some of which are considered to be “fibrous” and some that are said to be “fragmented.”
By studying all six types of asbestos, researchers hope to present findings that will impact asbestos-related legislation and better-protect workers who may come into contact with this material on the job. Currently, asbestos is not banned in the U.S., but usage laws were instituted by the Environmental Protection Agency and federal government in the early eighties.
The study is supported by the National Science Foundation and was conducted at the University of Maryland and the University of Vermont.
Mesothelioma.com encourages the continued study of how mesothelioma cancer develops, as a better understanding of this fatal disease may one day lead to a potential cure.
For more information about the dangers of asbestos exposure, mesothelioma cancer, and mesothelioma treatment options, please visit Mesothelioma.com.