Does Asbestosis Cause Prostate Cancer?
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Several Types of Cancer
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Asbestos is very much a carcinogen and is capable of causing several known types of cancer, the two most common being lung cancer and mesothelioma, which is a cancer that invades the membranes surrounding other body organs such as the stomach, pancreas, esophagus, intestines and kidneys. Both types of cancer are often fatal due to the fact that their symptoms usually take many years to develop and by the time the person knows he is sick he may be dying already.
The Prostate is a Secondary Infection
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Prostate cancer is not listed as one of the mesothelioma cancers, and since the prostate is a gland rather than an organ, it is unlikely that exposure to asbestos could result in prostate cancer. Most of the time the organs affected by asbestos are in the digestive tract or lungs, because the asbestos fibers can be inhaled and swallowed. These fibers lodge inside the host organ and eventually damage the cells there causing cancer to begin.
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Smoking and Asbestos Exposure
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However, as with all cancers, the ones associated with asbestos exposure can spread to other parts of the body, a process known as metastasis. So if your cancer is not taken care of as soon as possible, the cancer could spread to the prostate gland. But it is unlikely that the disease would start there. In the case of lung cancer, of course, it is possible to make the disease worse by smoking, so it is always recommended that the patient cease smoking immediately after diagnosis.
Different Cancers, One Cause
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Stomach, colorectal, esophageal and Laryngeal cancers can be associated with the effects of asbestos exposure. All of them are caused by either swallowing or inhaling asbestos fibers. The severity of asbestos-related diseases will usually depend on how much asbestos exposure the patient has had, and typically this type of disease takes up to 15 years to show its affects in the first place.
Asbestosis is not Related to Prostate Cancer
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Asbestosis, the disease that affects the lungs due to exposure to large amounts of asbestos, is not a malignant disease, so although it is progressive and highly incapacitating, it is not a cause of cancer, prostate or otherwise. The two conditions are completely unrelated, though a person with asbestosis could also have asbestos-related cancers at the same time.
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