Urinary apparatus tumours and asbestos: the Ramazzini Institute caseload

Many studies have drawn attention to the possible association between occupational exposure to asbestos and tumours of the urinary apparatus. Besides the main etiological agents recognised today--such as smoking, obesity and hypertension--experimental and epidemiological evidence converges on the view that tumours of the kidney and bladder are largely due to occupational exposure to industrial agents: these and their transformation products linger in the body and are eventually eliminated by those organs. That one such agent targeting the urinary system is asbestos has found confirmation in the discovery of asbestos fibres in the urine of populations at risk. We here present 23 cases of work exposure to asbestos in a range of exposure scenarios where the workers developed tumours of the kidney and bladder. The cases came to the attention of the Ramazzini Institute casually.