The 'Helsinki Criteria' for attribution of lung cancer to asbestos exposure: how robust are the criteria?

摘要

The authors of a recent editorial, dismissive of the cogency of the "Helsinki Criteria" for attributing "lung cancer" to asbestos exposure, based their argument largely on 2 main points: (1) what really matters in terms of causing an asbestos-related lung cancer is the amount of fibers deposited in the lungs and their retention and (2) the pathogenesis of asbestos-related lung cancer depends on the biologically plausible sequence of inflammation, fibrosis, and carcinogenesis.