Does asbestos exposure cause gastrointestinal cancer?

Abstract

The relationship between asbestos exposure and gastrointestinal malignancies is unlike the well-established correlation between occupational asbestos exposure and the subsequent development of pleuropulmonary neoplasms and mesotheliomas. Cohort studies on occupationally exposed workers suggest an association between asbestos and gastrointestinal cancer, but evaluation of dose-response, tissue analysis, animal experiment, and cell culture data yield inconsistent conclusions. No simplistic cause-effect relationship can be ascribed to asbestos at the present time, and the answer to the question, “Does asbestos exposure cause gastrointestinal cancer?” must await the results of additional studies.