Step I Asbestos mesothelioma mechanism

[Phloston]

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Can anyone explain the actual mechanism through which asbestos causes mesothelioma?

 

[dfib slim]

I've read it's possibly a combination of genetic predisposition, combination of inflammatory cytokines and ROS, and direct activation of the PI3K pathway.

Here's a good article

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22065079

 

[Phloston]

I've read it's possibly a combination of genetic predisposition, combination of inflammatory cytokines and ROS, and direct activation of the PI3K pathway.

Here's a good article

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22065079

Thanks for your time.

 

[seminoma]

Another thing you might want to look into is asbestos bodies being "traps" for carcinogens. It was mentioned in one of our lectures. If there's any truth to that concept, then the mechanism behind mesothelioma technically would depend on the inciting carcinogen on a case-by-case basis.

 

[syoung]

Looking back on a lecture, our Pulm Doc says asbestos amphibole fibers -> ineffective phagocytosis by macros -> release cytokines that lead to fibroblast proliferation -> probably constitutes that mesothelioma, which was described as increased mesothelial cell turnover and malignant transformation

 

[solitarius]

Goljan says it's a dormant foreign body that induces change in serosal cells. Claims the mechanism is unrelated to the carcinogenic pathology.