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A. Ratchford



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    P1.22 - Poster Session 1 - Epidemiology, Etiology (ID 166)

    • Event: WCLC 2013
    • Type: Poster Session
    • Track: Prevention & Epidemiology
    • Presentations: 1
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      P1.22-009 - Mesothelioma in Australia 2012: Data from the new Australian Mesothelioma Registry (ID 2553)

      09:30 - 09:30  |  Author(s): A. Ratchford

      • Abstract

      Background
      Australia has the highest incidence rates of malignant mesothelioma in the world. The exact mechanism of mesothelioma development is only partly understood, however it has been linked to occupational and increasingly, non-occupational exposures to asbestos. The Australian Mesothelioma Registry (AMR) was established to collect incidence and mortality data on all cases of mesothelioma in Australia, including detailed information on asbestos exposure. The Australian Mesothelioma Registry completed its second full year of data collection on cases from 1 July 2010.

      Methods
      The AMR compiles notifications from state/territory cancer registries. Clinicians may be requested to advise if their patients are suitable for recruitment to the asbestos exposure component. Consenting participants are assessed for past asbestos exposure by The Monash Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, after completing a job and residential history questionnaire and telephone interview using OccIDEAS, an online exposure assessment tool.

      Results
      More than 600 cases of mesothelioma have been notified to the Registry for 2011. At 30 June 2013, 619 diagnoses of mesothelioma had been reported to the AMR for 2012. Exposure assessments collected within the AMR framework will provide information not previously available. Data will be presented for 2012, the second calendar year of data collection, in addition to results for the exposure assessment component.

      Conclusion
      AMR information has the potential to provide an accurate assessment of sources of asbestos exposure currently contributing to causing newly diagnosed mesothelioma in Australia. The AMR is a national resource for researchers and may assist in preventing mesothelioma in the future.