Evidence map›Paper›PMID 21708512›Full record

SynthesisEnvironmental health perspectives2011

A meta-analysis of asbestos and lung cancer: is better quality exposure assessment associated with steeper slopes of the exposure-response relationships?

Virissa Lenters, Roel Vermeulen, Sies Dogger, Leslie Stayner, Lützen Portengen, Alex Burdorf, Dick Heederik

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisReview
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Environmental health perspectives, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
32citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

32 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Asbestos and disease - a public health success story?Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health · 2024
    Review
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Epidemiology beyond its limits.Science advances · 2022
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Comparison of Asbestos Victim Relief Available Outside of Conventional Occupational Compensation Schemes.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021
    Article
  14. Article
  15. Ongoing downplaying of the carcinogenicity of chrysotile asbestos by vested interests.Journal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England) · 2021
    Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Virissa LentersInstitute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Division of Environmental Epidemiology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Roel Vermeulen
Sies Dogger
Leslie Stayner
Lützen Portengen
Alex Burdorf
Dick Heederik

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAsbestos is a well-recognized cause of lung cancer, but there is considerable between-study heterogeneity in the slope of the exposure-response relationship.

objectiveWe considered the role of quality of the exposure assessment to potentially explain heterogeneity in exposure-response slope estimates. DATA SOURCES: We searched PubMed MEDLINE (1950-2009) for studies with quantitative estimates of cumulative asbestos exposure and lung cancer mortality and identified 19 original epidemiological studies. One was a population-based case-control study, and the others were industry-based cohort studies. DATA EXTRACTION: Cumulative exposure categories and corresponding risks were abstracted. Exposure-response slopes [KL (lung cancer potency factor of asbestos)] were calculated using linear relative risk regression models. DATA SYNTHESIS: We assessed the quality of five exposure assessment aspects of each study and conducted random effects univariate and multivariate meta-regressions. Heterogeneity in exposure-response relationships was greater than expected by chance (I2 = 64%). Stratification by exposure assessment characteristics revealed that studies with well-documented exposure assessment, larger contrast in exposure, greater coverage of the exposure history by exposure measurement data, and more complete job histories had higher meta-KL values than did studies without these characteristics. The latter two covariates were most strongly associated with the KL value. Meta-KL values increased when we incrementally restricted analyses to higher-quality studies.

conclusionsThis meta-analysis indicates that studies with higher-quality asbestos exposure assessment yield higher meta-estimates of the lung cancer risk per unit of exposure. Potency differences for predominantly chrysotile versus amphibole asbestos-exposed cohorts become difficult to ascertain when meta-analyses are restricted to studies with fewer exposure assessment limitations.

Indexed as

Occupational ExposureAsbestos, AmphiboleAsbestos, SerpentineCarcinogens, EnvironmentalCase-Control StudiesCohort StudiesLung NeoplasmsResearch DesignRisk AssessmentAsbestos, AmphiboleAsbestos, SerpentineCarcinogens, Environmental

Identifiers

PMID21708512
PMCPMC3226488

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.