Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32021524›Full record

ReviewLung Cancer (Auckland, N.Z.)2020

The Current Understanding Of Asbestos-Induced Epigenetic Changes Associated With Lung Cancer.

Yuen Yee Cheng, Emma M Rath, Anthony Linton, Man Lee Yuen, Ken Takahashi, Kenneth Lee

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Lung Cancer (Auckland, N.Z.), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 16% of its field
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

19 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Review
  4. Immune modulatory potential ofToxicology research · 2025
    Article
  5. Review
  6. Marble Waste Dump Yard in Rajasthan, India Revealed as a Potential Asbestos Exposure Hazard.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025
    Article
  7. Review
  8. Review
  9. Review
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Review
  14. The evolving landscape of sex-based differences in lung cancer: a distinct disease in women.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2022
    Article
  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Review
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

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Yuen Yee ChengAsbestos Disease Research Institute, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Emma M RathGarvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-8430-5236
Anthony LintonAsbestos Disease Research Institute, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Man Lee YuenAsbestos Disease Research Institute, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Ken TakahashiAsbestos Disease Research Institute, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-7310-2257
Kenneth LeeAsbestos Disease Research Institute, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The University of Sydney · AUGarvan Institute of Medical Research · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral consisting of extremely fine fibres that can become trapped in the lungs after inhalation. Occupational and environmental exposures to asbestos are linked to development of lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining surrounding the lung. This review discusses the factors that are making asbestos-induced lung cancer a continuing problem, including the extensive historic use of asbestos and decades long latency between exposure and disease development. Genomic mutations of DNA nucleotides and gene rearrangements driving lung cancer are well-studied, with biomarkers and targeted therapies already in clinical use for some of these mutations. The genes involved in these mutation biomarkers and targeted therapies are also involved in epigenetic mechanisms and are discussed in this review as it is hoped that identification of epigenetic aberrations in these genes will enable the same gene biomarkers and targeted therapies to be used. Currently, understanding of how asbestos fibres trapped in the lungs leads to epigenetic changes and lung cancer is incomplete. It has been shown that oxidoreduction reactions on fibre surfaces generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) which in turn damage DNA, leading to genetic and epigenetic alterations that reduce the activity of tumour suppressor genes. Epigenetic DNA methylation changes associated with lung cancer are summarised in this review, and some of these changes will be due to asbestos exposure. So far, little research has been carried out to separate the asbestos driven epigenetic changes from those due to non-asbestos causes of lung cancer. Asbestos-associated lung cancers exhibit less methylation variability than lung cancers in general, and in a large proportion of samples variability has been found to be restricted to promoter regions. Epigenetic aberrations in cancer are proving to be promising biomarkers for diagnosing cancers. It is hoped that further understanding of epigenetic changes in lung cancer can result in useful asbestos-associated lung cancer biomarkers to guide treatment. Research is ongoing into the detection of lung cancer epigenetic alterations using non-invasive samples of blood and sputum. These efforts hold the promise of non-invasive cancer diagnosis in the future. Efforts to reverse epigenetic aberrations in lung cancer by epigenetic therapies are ongoing but have not yet yielded success.

Indexed as

DNA methylationepigenetic biomarkersFISHfluorescence in situ hybridizationIHCimmunohistochemistrylung cancermicroRNA

Identifiers

PMID32021524
PMCPMC6955579
OpenAlexW2999302779

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.