The present invention is related to a method for assessing the presence of, or disposition to, an asbestos-related disorder in a subject. Particularly, the invention provides a method of identifying lung cancers associated with asbestos-exposure. The association is confirmed by the detection of allelic imbalance (AI) in at least one of the following chromosomal regions of lung cancer cells: 19p13.3-p13.1; 9q32-34.3; 2p21-p16.3; 16p13.3; 22q12.3-q13.1; and 5q35.3.
