Asbestos linked to ovarian cancer

It has become almost common knowledge to most people that exposure to asbestos causes lung cancer.  However, many have long thought it could also be linked with other forms of cancer.  Now, new medical research has shown a causal connection between asbestos exposure and ovarian cancer.

Now, scientists believe that in addition to lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis, toxic asbestos exposure also causes and/or contributes to ovarian cancer.  The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) recently concluded there is sufficient evidence the connection between exposure to asbestos and ovarian cancer, and now a study led by Leslie Stayner, from the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago, seems to confirm this finding.

A barrier to this connection had been the difficulty in distinguishing between peritoneal mesothelioma and ovarian cancer.

Across these new studies, women exposed to asbestos were about one-and-three-quarter times more likely to develop ovarian cancer as those who were not.  It remains unknown how the fibers get into the ovaries.

If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with any form of cancer after occupational exposure to benzene, asbestos, or another harmful substance, contact our lawyers today.