Direct exposure to asbestos was determined from responses to three types of questions: specific queries as to any exposure to asbestos; occupational or non-vocational participation in any of nine specific activities thought to entail exposure to asbestos; and analysis of lifetime work histories. Indirect exposures were assessed through residential histories and reported contact with family members exposed to asbestos. Results-Among men with pleural mesothelioma the attributable risk (AR) for exposure to asbestos was 88% (95% confidence interval (95% CI) 76-95%).For men, the AR ofperitoneal cancer was 58% (95% CI 20-89%/6). For women (both sites combined), the AR was 23% (95% CI 3-72%). The large differences in AR by sex are compatible with the explanations: a lower background incidence rate in women, lower exposure to asbestos, and greater misclassification among women.Conclusions-Most of the pleural and peritoneal mesotheliomas in the men studied were attributable to exposure to asbestos. The situation in women was less definitive. (Occup Environ Med 1994;51:804-81 1)

Mortality through 1975 in US Army veterans released from prisoner-of-war camps following World War II (Europe, Pacific) and the Korean conflict and in several non-prisoner groups is compared using death rates and standard mortality ratios. The World War II Pacific and Korean conflict experience reveal increased risk of dying among former prisoners which, though diminishing with time, persist for 9 and 13 years, respectively. Mortality from tuberculosis and from trauma contributes to the increase among Pacific ex-prisoners, while for Korea the increase is limited to trauma. An excess of deaths due to cirrhosis of the liver in all three former prisoner groups appeared from about the 10th follow-up year. While the reported mortality experience for World War II spans 30 calendar years and for Korea 22 years, no evidence of increased aging among former prisoners of war is seen in mortality from the chronic and degenerative diseases.

In 1964 the Veterans Administration Surgical Adjuvant Group (VASAG) initiated a large-scale, controlled, randomized protocol to study the role of low-dose preoperative irradiation (2000-2500 rads/10fractions/12 days) in patients with operable adenocarcinoma of the sigmoid colon and rectum. This report analyzes the data in 700 patients, all at 5-year risk. There appears to be a definate benefit to irradiated patients who undergo abdominoperineal resections, when compared with the controls. This advantage is reflected in improvement of 5-year survival, and reduction in lymph node invasion, local recurrence, and distant metastases. A second protocol has been initiated in 30 VA hospitals employing a higher dose (3150 rads) to extended portals (toL2) to male patients who require abdominoperineal resections.