Increased Risk of Gastric Cancer in Asbestos-Exposed Workers: A Retrospective Cohort Study Based on Taiwan Cancer Registry 1980–2015

Abstract

Asbestos has been recognized as a human carcinogen associated with malignant mesothelioma, cancers of lung, larynx, and ovary. However, a putative association between gastric cancer and asbestos exposure remains controversial. In this study, we aimed to explore gastric cancer risk of workers potentially exposed to asbestos in Taiwan. The asbestos occupational cohort was established from 1950 to 2015 based on the Taiwan Labor Insurance Database, and Taiwan Environmental Protection Agency regulatory datasets, followed by the Taiwan Cancer Registry for the period 1980–2015. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) for cancer were computed for the whole cohort using reference rates of the general population, and also reference labor population. Compared with the general population, SIR of the asbestos occupational cohort for the gastric cancer increased both in males (1.05, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.02–1.09) and females (1.10, 95% CI: 1.01–1.18). A total of 123 worksites were identified to have cases of malignant mesothelioma, where increased risk for gastric cancer was found with a relative risk of 1.76 (95% CI: 1.63–1.90). This 35-year retrospective cohort study of asbestos-exposed workers in Taiwan may provide support for an association between occupational exposure to asbestos and gastric cancer.

Status and prediction of disapproval of the Korean workers’ compensation insurance for diseases and injuries

“…Simultaneously, it is necessary to determine how exposure to the working environment affects the disease status to be recognized as an occupation‐related digestive system disease. 18 , 19 , 20 Moreover, it is difficult to perceive digestive problems caused due to work. This makes workers seldom register in the compensation insurance systems.…”

“…In the case of digestive system diseases, digestive disease‐causing substances, including asbestos, crystalline silica, and heavy metals, are limited to hazardous chemicals recognized by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Simultaneously, it is necessary to determine how exposure to the working environment affects the disease status to be recognized as an occupation‐related digestive system disease 18–20 . Moreover, it is difficult to perceive digestive problems caused due to work.…”