Asbestos and the histogenesis of lung carcinoma.

Individuals exposed to asbestos develop and die of bronchogenic carcinoma at rates well above individuals not exposed, but there is disagreement as to what factors other than the asbestos may be important in the histogenesis of the carcinoma. This report discusses the various theories as to how and why asbestos, cigarette smoke, asbestosis, and pleural disease may be involved in the development of the carcinoma. The authors conclude that other disease processes may mark individuals particularly likely to develop carcinoma of the lung, but that asbestos fibers have an independent role in the histogenesis of carcinoma of the lung.