Summary

The chemical make-up of the fibers are important in their carcinogenicity with iron playing an important role.

The translocation of asbestos fibers to the pleura occurs, but the details of this translocation are poorly understood.

Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species are key initiators of carcinogenesis.

Progress has been made in understanding some of the pathways involved in aberrant cell proliferation and its control in the mechanistic process but there are significant gaps in knowledge here as well.

Understanding the gene-environment interactions in relationship to asbestos is a key to identifying susceptible populations, and the understanding of the lack of threshold of exposure to asbestos in the development of the disease.