Clapper, Patti, Schweizer and Mason

Research into the use of vitamin supplements to prevent mesothelioma began twenty years ago in Wittenoom, Western Australia with thousands of former crocidolite asbestos workers.  Crocidolite is also known as “blue asbestos,” considered to be one of the most lethal types of asbestos. Exposure to all types of asbestos has been shown to cause serious illnesses, such as mesothelioma, asbestosis and lung cancer.  Miners and mill workers are at higher risk of developing mesothelioma because of repeated and close occupational exposure.

Crocidolite was primarily mined in Western Australia (the location of this study), South Africa and Bolivia.  Crocidolite was commonly used in making asbestos-cement products.  It was mined in Wittenoom, Western Australia from 1943 – 1966, causing risk of occupational exposure to an estimated 7,000 mining and mill workers.  Nearby residents also were at risk of environmental exposure.    Some studies show that up to 20% of Australian miners who worked around blue asbestos died of mesothelioma, a rate much higher than the standard. 

Studies were conducted to investigate if use of antioxidant supplements could decrease risk of developing mesothelioma among the workers and residents.  The studies used Vitamin A supplements in the forms of high dose beta carotene and retinol to explore whether this would reduce the occurrence of malignant mesothelioma, particularly pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma since these were the highest occurring types among workers. 

The studies, however, showed that there was no beneficial effect for supplementing Vitamin A or Vitamin E.  In fact, two studies, the CARET and ATBC trials, showed that the use of B-carotene actually increases incidence of lung cancer among workers who smoked.  Due to mixed results with trial variables, the latest research found it is unclear if retinol supplementation prevents mesothelioma and further evaluation would be needed to see if it has any therapeutic effect.