Early Diagnosis of Lung Cancer and Mesothelioma in Prior Asbestos Workers

Occupational exposure to asbestos is known increase the risk of developing cancer of the lungs (bronchogenic carcinoma) or of the pleura (mesothelioma). Symptoms are subtle and non-specific, diagnosis is often late and the prognosis consequently is dismal. Currently there is no accepted non-invasive tool for the early diagnosis of mesothelioma or lung cancer in asbestos-exposed subjects. In the last decade, low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) has been successfully developed and validated for the early diagnosis of lung cancer in high-risk smokers. Malignant mesothelioma might, in an early stage, resemble a benign pleural plaque, which is a common finding after asbestos exposure. We target to develop low-dose CT as a tool to serially image the pleural plaques, quantify their individual and overall volume, compute the growth rate with time, and, as such, identify the presence of mesothelioma early, before symptoms occur.