Relative burden of lung and pleural cancers from exposure to asbestos: a cross-sectional analysis of occupational mortality in England and Wales.

Excess lung cancer in asbestos-exposed jobs is not in a simple proportion to deaths from pleural cancer, and the ratio may vary importantly according to intensity of exposure to different types of asbestos and concomitant smoking habits. The current burden of lung cancer from occupational exposure to asbestos in Britain may not be so high as previously thought.