Japanese to Conduct Mesothelioma Risk Survey

January 19, 2007 - A group of researchers at Japan’s Juntendo University recently announced that they will soon commence a five-year study that will track about 40,000 individuals in an effort to find those who may be susceptible to mesothelioma.

The leader of the group, Okio Hino, a professor of oncology and pathology at the university, told the Kyodo News that the group hopes the data collected will reveal a model for diagnosing mesothelioma tumors at an early stage.

The Japanese government expects that mesothelioma – an asbestos-caused cancer – will peak soon, due to the rampant use of imported asbestos used in building materials in Japan in the 1970s.  Mesothelioma has an extended incubation period of 20 to 40 years, so those who were exposed in the 70s may begin showing signs of the disease shortly.

The diagnostic kits that will be distributed in survey participants will include a simple blood test that measures an antibody associated with a certain type of protein secreted by the tumor.  Those diagnosed with the antibody will be urged to undergo further testing at the university, says Hino. 

The Kyodo News reports that the group at Juntendo University will work with health-care institutions in Tokyo and ask construction and factory workers who may have inhaled asbestos particles to undergo diagnosis with the kit, free of charge.  Hino notes that this will be the first nationwide long-term survey of people susceptible to the mesothelioma tumor.

Juntendo Hospital was the first one in the country to open an outpatient department specifically for mesothelioma and has been on the leading edge of mesothelioma research in Japan.