According to research carried out by the Institute of Medicine in the U.S. another cancer has been linked to asbestos.
The report says that exposure to asbestos can cause cancer of the voice box, or larynx.
The U.S. Senate had asked the Institute of Medicine to investigate the link between asbestos and cancers of several organs currently listed in stalled legislation in order to create a $140 billion asbestos injury compensation fund.
But it is unclear whether the findings will force lawmakers to further amend the bill to exclude some cancers that could not be definitively linked to the fibrous mineral.
A Senate Judiciary Committee is currently discussing a revised version of the legislation which would expand eligible claimants to New Yorkers exposed to asbestos from the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, as well as people exposed to construction debris in last year's Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
However committee Chairman Senator Arlen Specter who co-sponsored the bill, says helpful though the review is, a more definitive answer to the possible causal connection between asbestos and pharyngeal, stomach and colorectal cancers is needed.
Asbestos was widely used worldwide in building insulation and other products until the mid-1970s, and has long been considered a cause of lung cancer and mesothelioma, a cancer of tissue lining the lung and other organs.
Inhalation of its fibers has also been linked to other diseases and problems often take years to manifest themselves.
The suggested legislation would remove asbestos injury suits from the courts and claimants with occupational exposure to asbestos would be compensated from a trust fund financed by asbestos companies and their insurers.
Thousands of lawsuits have forced at least 70 companies into bankruptcy already.