Mesothelioma Risk Among Maritime Workers According to Job Title: Data From the Italian Mesothelioma Register (ReNaM).

The study describes the 466 cases of malignant mesotheliomas (MM) collected by the National Mesothelioma Register (ReNaM) in Italy in the period 1993-2018 relating to subjects with exclusive asbestos exposure in merchant or military navy. The cases among maritime workers represent 1.8% of the total cases with defined exposure registred in the ReNaM, of which 212 cases (45.

Incidence of mesothelioma in young people and causal exposure to asbestos in the Italian national mesothelioma registry (ReNaM).

Introduction: The epidemiological surveillance of mesothelioma incidence is a crucial key for investigating the occupational and environmental sources of asbestos exposure. The median age at diagnosis is generally high, according to the long latency of the disease. The purposes of this study are to analyse the incidence of mesothelioma in young people and to evaluate the modalities of asbestos exposure.

Pleural mesothelioma risk in the construction industry: a case-control study in Italy, 2000-2018.

Objectives: Workers in the construction industry have been exposed to asbestos in various occupations. In Italy, a National Mesothelioma Registry has been implemented more than 20 years ago. Using cases selected from this registry and exploiting existing control data sets, we estimated relative risks for pleural mesothelioma (PM) among construction workers.

Mesothelioma Risk among Construction Workers According to Job Title: Data from the Italian Mesothelioma Register.

Background: An increased risk of mesothelioma has been reported in various countries for construction workers. The Italian National Mesothelioma Registry, from 1993 to 2018, reported exposure exclusively in the construction sector in 2310 cases. We describe the characteristics of these cases according to job title.

Asbestos Exposure and Malignant Mesothelioma in Construction Workers-Epidemiological Remarks by the Italian National Mesothelioma Registry (ReNaM).

Notwithstanding the ban in 1992, asbestos exposure for workers in the construction sector in Italy remains a concern. The purpose of this study is to describe the characteristics of malignant mesothelioma (MM) cases recorded by the Italian registry (ReNaM) among construction workers. Incident mesothelioma cases with a definite asbestos exposure have been analyzed.

Authors' response: Mezei et al's "Comments on a recent case-control study of malignant mesothelioma of the pericardium and the tunica vaginalis testis".

Mezei et al's letter (1) is an opportunity to provide more details about our study on pericardial and tunica vaginalis testis (TVT) mesothelioma (2), which is based on the Italian national mesothelioma registry (ReNaM): a surveillance system on mesothelioma, with individual asbestos exposure assessment. Incidence of pericardial mesothelioma has been estimated around 0.5 and 0.

The epidemiological surveillance of malignant mesothelioma in Italy (1993-2015): methods, findings, and research perspectives.

Background: as a legacy of the large asbestos consumption until the definitive ban in 1992, Italy had to tackle a real epidemic of asbestos related diseases. The Italian National Registry of Malignant Mesotheliomas (ReNaM) is a permanent surveillance system of mesothelioma incidence, with a regional structure. Aims, assignments and territorial network of ReNaM are described, as well as data collection, recording and coding procedures.

Association between asbestos exposure and pericardial and tunica vaginalis testis malignant mesothelioma: a case-control study and epidemiological remarks.

Objectives The purposes of this study are to describe the epidemiology of pericardial and tunica vaginalis testis mesothelioma and assess the role of asbestos exposure for these rare diseases. Methods Based on incident pericardial and tunica vaginalis testis mesothelioma cases collected from the Italian national mesothelioma registry (ReNaM) in the period 1993-2015, incidence rates, survival median period and prognostic factors have been evaluated. A case-control study has been performed to analyze the association with asbestos exposure (occupational and non-occupational) for these diseases.

The epidemiology of malignant mesothelioma in women: gender differences and modalities of asbestos exposure.

Introduction: The epidemiology of gender differences for mesothelioma incidence has been rarely discussed in national case lists. In Italy an epidemiological surveillance system (ReNaM) is working by the means of a national register.

Methods: Incident malignant mesothelioma (MM) cases in the period 1993 to 2012 were retrieved from ReNaM.

Remote sensing for mapping soil moisture and drainage potential in semi-arid regions: Applications to the Campidano plain of Sardinia, Italy.

The aim of this study is to investigate the potential of radar (ENVISAT ASAR and RADARSAT-2) and LANDSAT data to generate reliable soil moisture maps to support water management and agricultural practice in Mediterranean regions, particularly during dry seasons. The study is based on extensive field surveys conducted from 2005 to 2009 in the Campidano plain of Sardinia, Italy. A total of 12 small bare soil fields were sampled for moisture, surface roughness, and texture values.

Malignant mesothelioma due to non-occupational asbestos exposure from the Italian national surveillance system (ReNaM): epidemiology and public health issues.

Introduction: Italy produced and imported a large amount of raw asbestos, up to the ban in 1992, with a peak in the period between 1976 and 1980 at about 160,000 tons/year. The National Register of Mesotheliomas (ReNaM, "Registro Nazionale dei Mesoteliomi" in Italian), a surveillance system of mesothelioma incidence, has been active since 2002, operating through a regional structure.

Methods: The Operating Regional Center (COR) actively researches cases and defines asbestos exposure on the basis of national guidelines.

Epidemiological patterns of asbestos exposure and spatial clusters of incident cases of malignant mesothelioma from the Italian national registry.

Background: Previous ecological spatial studies of malignant mesothelioma cases, mostly based on mortality data, lack reliable data on individual exposure to asbestos, thus failing to assess the contribution of different occupational and environmental sources in the determination of risk excess in specific areas. This study aims to identify territorial clusters of malignant mesothelioma through a Bayesian spatial analysis and to characterize them by the integrated use of asbestos exposure information retrieved from the Italian national mesothelioma registry (ReNaM).

Methods: In the period 1993 to 2008, 15,322 incident cases of all-site malignant mesothelioma were recorded and 11,852 occupational, residential and familial histories were obtained by individual interviews.

[Epidemiologic surveillance of mesothelioma for the prevention of asbestos exposure also in non-traditional settings].

Objective: To show how malignant mesothelioma (MM) surveillance not only identifies settings of exposure representing past industrial history, but it may also detect conditions of current exposure relevant for the prevention, if the wide spectrum of asbestos uses is considered.

Design: Active search of MM cases and exposure assessment at individual level through a questionnaire; identification of exposure circumstances relevant for prevention.

Setting And Participants: Italy, all the Regions where a Regional Operating Centre (COR) is established to identify all MM cases diagnosed in the population and analyze their occupational, residential, household and environmental histories.

Pleural malignant mesothelioma epidemic: incidence, modalities of asbestos exposure and occupations involved from the Italian National Register.

Due to the large scale use of asbestos (more than 3.5 million tons produced or imported until its definitive banning in 1992), a specific national surveillance system of mesothelioma incident cases is active in Italy, with direct and individual anamnestic etiological investigation. In the period between 1993 and 2004, a case-list of 8,868 pleural MM was recorded by the Italian National Register (ReNaM) and the modalities of exposure to asbestos fibres have been investigated for 6,603 of them.

Incidence of extrapleural malignant mesothelioma and asbestos exposure, from the Italian national register.

Objectives: The epidemiology of extrapleural malignant mesothelioma is rarely discussed and the risk of misdiagnosis and the very low incidence complicate the picture. This study presents data on extrapleural malignant mesothelioma from the Italian National Mesothelioma Register (ReNaM).

Methods: ReNaM works on a regional basis, searching for cases and interviewing subjects to investigate asbestos exposure.

Asbestos exposure and malignant lymphoma: a multicenter case-control study in Germany and Italy.

Aims: To analyze the relationship between asbestos exposure and malignant lymphoma in a multicenter case-control study conducted in Germany and Italy according to a common core protocol.

Methods: Male and female patients with malignant lymphoma (n = 1,034) between 18 and 80 years of age were prospectively recruited in six study areas in Germany (Ludwigshafen/Upper Palatinate, Heidelberg/Rhine-Neckar-County, Würzburg/Lower Frankonia, Hamburg, Bielefeld/East Westphalia, and Munich) and in two study areas in Sardinia, Italy (Cagliari and Nuoro provinces). A total of 1,173 population control subjects were drawn from population registers.

Risk of malignant lymphoma following viral hepatitis infection.

We investigated lymphoma risk following hepatitis infection in a case-control study of 274 incident lymphoma cases, defined according to the WHO classification, and 336 population controls in Sardinia, Italy. Part of our study population (198 cases and 219 controls) was included in the EPILYMPH study of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in relation to non-Hodgklin's lymphoma risk. Based on questionnaire information on whether and at what age a diagnosis of hepatitis was posed by a physician, systematic anti-HCV antibodies testing in cases and controls by enzyme-linked immunoassay, and HCV-RNA assessment by PCR analyses in positive samples, we investigated more in detail whether hepatitis non-C is also associated with lymphoma risk, and whether risk varies by clinical form of hepatitis (acute or chronic infection).

Interleukin-1B (IL1B) and interleukin-6 (IL6) gene polymorphisms are associated with risk of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.

Common polymorphisms in genes encoding for cytokines implicated in the inflammatory response and Th1/Th2 balance might play a role in the development and prognosis of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). To test the hypothesis, we investigated 13 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in nine of such genes in a population-based case-control study, conducted in the Italian region of Sardinia in 1999-2003. Forty incident CLL cases and 113 population controls were available for study.

Stress testing in coronary artery disease by Magnetic Field Imaging: a 3D current distribution model.

Objective: Magnetic field imaging (MFI) combines depolarization and repolarization registration of the cardiac electromagnetic field with a 3D current distribution model. An interesting application for MFI is the possibility to detect myocardial ischemia under stress.

Methods: Using a new reconstruction technique, it is possible to generate a pseudo-current distribution on the epicardial surface: the comparison of the time evolution of such current distributions at rest and under stress shows difference in coronary artery disease (CAD).

Reproductive outcomes following environmental exposure to DDT.

We used official statistics of births and stillbirths in 1945-1954 to evaluate reproductive outcomes in the general population following use of DDT during a 1946-1950 anti-malarial campaign in the Italian region of Sardinia. Due to the disruption of registration systems in the World War II years, data in the pre-DDT years were available only for 1945-1946. Such a short period of observation, and social conditions in the war and post-war years, do not allow exclusion of adverse effects of DDT on birth rate; however, we did not observe an effect.

Cancer mortality among men occupationally exposed to dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane.

Several studies have evaluated cancer risk associated with occupational and environmental exposure to dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). Results are mixed. To further inquire into human carcinogenicity of DDT, we conducted a mortality follow-up study of 4,552 male workers, exposed to DDT during antimalarial operations in Sardinia, Italy, conducted in 1946 to 1950.

Reproductive outcomes in DDT applicators.

Objectives: To explore reproductive outcomes in relation to occupational exposure to DDT.

Methods: We inquired into the reproductive history, including total number of children, sex distribution in the offspring, time-to-pregnancy, and number of spontaneous abortions and stillbirths, of the spouses of 105 men first exposed to DDT in a 1946-1950 anti-malarial campaign in Sardinia, Italy. The time-to-pregnancy in months at the first successful conception was estimated from population Registrars.

Serum sex hormones in men occupationally exposed to dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro ethane (DDT) as young adults.

To explore endocrine effects in relation to para,para'-dichloro-diphenyl-dichloro ethylene (p,p'-DDE) body burden and past occupational exposure to its precursor dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro ethane (DDT), we assayed serum sex hormones, including serum luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), 17beta-estradiol (E2), testosterone and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), and p,p'-DDE levels in 107 male participants in a 1946-1950 anti-malarial campaign in Sardinia, Italy. Cumulative DDT exposure during the anti-malarial operations was retrospectively estimated from detailed reports of the anti-malarial agency. Ortho,para-DDE, and its precursor ortho,para-DDT were always below the detection limit.