PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - R Partanen AU - H Koskinen AU - K Hemminki TI - Tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in patients who have asbestosis and develop cancer. AID - 10.1136/oem.52.5.316 DP - 1995 May 01 TA - Occupational and Environmental Medicine PG - 316--319 VI - 52 IP - 5 4099 - http://oem.bmj.com/content/52/5/316.short 4100 - http://oem.bmj.com/content/52/5/316.full SO - Occup Environ Med1995 May 01; 52 AB - OBJECTIVES--Concentrations of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) were assayed by radioimmunoassay in serum samples collected between 1981 and 1987 from 111 patients with asbestosis who were at a high risk of cancer. Follow up of these patients until 1993 showed that 38 had developed cancer (27 lung, three mesotheliomas, and eight diverse malignancies). RESULTS--The mean serum concentrations of TNF-alpha given in fmol/100 microliters serum in all the cases with cancer (14.1) and the cases with lung cancer (13.6) were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than the mean concentrations in the exposed controls (10.5). A positive increase was considered to be any value that was > 2 SDs above the mean of the exposed controls. 22% (six of 27) of the cases with lung cancer were positive compared with 4% (three of 73) of the exposed controls, a significant difference (P < 0.001). The serum concentrations of TNF-alpha correlated moderately with cancer (r = 0.3), lung cancer (r = 0.3), and Neu oncoproteins and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) (r = 0.3, 0.5 respectively). Also, there was a significant correlation between development of cancer and severity or progression of asbestosis. There was no correlation between the concentrations of TNF-alpha and severity or progression of asbestosis. CONCLUSIONS--These results showed high concentrations of TNF-alpha in the patients who had cancer. TNF-alpha may offer an auxiliary method in early diagnosis of cancers related to asbestosis.