167 DOI 10.1080/10773525.2016.1151604 International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health 2016 VOL. 22 NO. 2 © 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group Critical Assessment/Perspective Estimating the incidence of malignant mesothelioma in Vietnam: a pilot descriptive cancer registration study Matthew J. Soeberg 1,2 , Mai Anh Luong 2 , Van Thuan Tran 3,5 , Anh Thanh Tran 2 , Thị Thu Huyen Nguyen 2 , Dieu Bui 5 , Thi Hoai Nga Nguyen 5 , Ken Takahashi 4 , Nico van Zandwik 1 1 Asbestos Diseases Research Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2 Health Environment Management Agency, Hanoi, Vietnam, 3 National Institute for Cancer Control, Hanoi Vietnam, 4 University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Fukuoka, Japan, 5 National Cancer Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam Introduction: Global asbestos consumption has shifted toward lower income countries, particularly in the Asian region including Vietnam where asbestos and asbestos-containing products have been imported since the late 1960s. Methods: This pilot descriptive epidemiological study aimed to provide contemporary estimates of malignant mesothelioma incidence (histological subtype M9050/3; ICD-O-3) by gender and age group as recorded across nine cancer registries in Vietnam. Results: We identifed 148 incident cases of malignant mesothelioma during 1987–2013. The majority of cases were recorded in the Hanoi region (n = 93) and were aged 55 years or older (n = 96). Discussion: By carefully reviewing existing cancer registry records in Vietnam, we identifed a larger number of malignant mesothelioma cases than previously estimated. We recommend the use of cancer registry data in tracking future asbestos-related disease in Vietnam. Keywords: Malignant mesothelioma, Vietnam, Cancer registration, Asbestos-related diseases, Incidence Introduction Despite the well-established evidence for its role as a human carcinogenic agent, asbestos continues to be used around the world with approximately 2 million metric tonnes consumed globally each year. 1,2 The majority of this asbestos consumption occurs in Asia. 3 Asbestos- related disease includes both malignant and non-malig- nant disease. 4 Malignant mesothelioma is an aggressive tumor originating in the serosal membranes that line the thoracic and abdominal cavities and is causally linked to asbestos fber exposure. 5,6 The link between historic asbes- tos consumption and the incidence and mortality of asbes- tos-related disease at the global level is well established. For instance, Lin and colleagues presented an ecological analysis that demonstrated that historical asbestos con- sumption was a signifcant predictor of malignant mes- othelioma mortality, regardless of gender. 7 There is also evidence for an increase over time in the global burden of asbestos-related disease. Lim and colleagues analyzed the global burden of disease attributable to a range of different risk factors including analyses of the number of deaths due to occupational exposure to asbestos in 1990 and 2010. 8 These analyses show that there was a 46% increase in the number of deaths due to occupational asbestos exposure between 1990 and 2010. The investigators estimated that 23,057 people died from occupational asbestos exposure in 1990, and that this rose to 33,610 in 2010, with men making up approximately 75% of all estimated deaths. Delgermaa and colleagues have also published data that show an increase over time in global malignant mesothe- lioma mortality rates between 1994 and 2008. 9 At the individual country level, there is a strong body of evidence of the occurrence of malignant mesotheli- oma in high-income Asian countries such as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China, Republic of Korea, and Taiwan Province of China. 10–12 There is also a group of middle- and low-income countries where the evidence is mounting for the presence of malignant asbestos-related disease through occupational asbestos fber exposure at the population level such as Argentina, Brazil, and China as well as for environmental exposure Correspondence to: Matthew J Soeberg, Asbestos Diseases Research Institute (ADRI) Bernie Banton Centre, Gate 3, Hospital Road, Concord Hospital, NSW 2139, Australia. Email: matthew.soeberg@sydney.edu.au