A 59th identified case of mesothelioma, a rare lung cancer usually caused by exposure to asbestos, has been confirmed in a group of Iron Range miners.
Minnesota Department of Health spokesman Buddy Ferguson said the case came to light when the 72,000 Iron Range miners monitored in a Health Department study were matched against the Minnesota Cancer Surveillance System, the state's cancer registry.
"It's a newly identified case of mesothelioma, I would put it that way," Ferguson said.
Last year when the miners group was matched against the cancer registry, there were 58 known cases of the cancer, which almost always is fatal. It was unclear Thursday night if the 59th identified case of mesothelioma had resulted in an additional death. Ferguson said he could not provide any information about the 59th victim.
Mesothelioma has a long latency period, so this case could "reflect exposure to asbestos that would've occurred a long time ago," Ferguson said.
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The miners in the Health Department study worked in Iron Range mines between the 1930s and 1982. Seventeen miners were known to have developed mesothelioma between 1988 and 1996. In March 2007, the health department revealed that 35 more had died of the cancer -- information it had known for a year.
The case comes to light as a multiyear mesothelioma study led by University of Minnesota researchers gets under way. The study seeks to determine if there is a relationship between taconite dust exposure and mesothelioma. Pawlenty approved $4.9 million for the study on April 29.
