Occupation, industry, and the risk of prostate cancer: a case-control study in Montréal, Canada

Abstract

BackgroundAge, family history and ancestry are the only recognized risk factors for prostate cancer (PCa) but a role for environmental factors is suspected. Due to the lack of knowledge on the etiological factors for PCa, studies that are both hypothesis-generating and confirmatory are still needed. This study explores relationships between employment, by occupation and industry, and PCa risk.MethodsCases were 1937 men aged ≤75 years with incident PCa diagnosed across Montreal French hospitals in 2005-2009. Controls were 1994 men recruited concurrently from electoral lists of French-speaking Montreal residents, frequency-matched to cases by age. In-person interviews elicited occupational histories. Unconditional logistic regression estimated odds ratios (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) for the association between employment across 696 occupations and 613 industries and PCa risk, adjusting for potential confounders. Multinomial logistic models assessed risks by PCa grade. Semi-Bayes (SB) adjustment accounted for the large number of associations evaluated.ResultsConsistently positive associations—and generally robust to SB adjustment—were found for occupations in forestry and logging (OR 1.9, 95 % CI: 1.2–3.0), social sciences (OR 1.6, 95 % CI: 1.1–2.2) and for police officers and detectives (OR: 1.8, 95 % CI 1.1–2.9). Occupations where elevated risk of high grade PCa was found included gasoline station attendants (OR 4.3, 95 % CI 1.8–10.4) and textile processing occupations (OR 1.8, 95 % CI 1.1–3.2). Aside from logging, industries with elevated PCa risk included provincial government and financial institutions. Occupations with reduced risk included farmers (OR 0.6, 95 % CI 0.4–1.0) and aircraft maintenance workers (OR 0.1, 95 % CI 0.0–0.7).ConclusionsExcess PCa risks were observed across several occupations, including predominantly white collar workers. Further analyses will focus on specific occupational exposures.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12940-016-0185-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Prostate cancer surveillance by occupation and industry: the Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohort (CanCHEC)

“…We observed a reduced risk in the mining industry across both age‐groups, which is consistent with previous findings . Few studies in the past have examined prostate cancer risk in natural resource‐based jobs, aside from agriculture, and these studies observed mixed findings . Given the limited evidence, further investigation into these natural resource‐based occupations is needed to understand what chemical exposures or lifestyle factors are involved.…”

“…These types of jobs included workers in government, senior management, office, business, finance, law, and education. Some studies have previously shown similar elevated risks in men employed in white-collar jobs [19,[34][35][36][37]. As white-collar jobs are recognized as having few chemical exposures, findings may reflect other factors of physical activity, socioeconomic factors, and screening.…”

Prostate cancer: an occupational hazard in Romania?

“…In our study, subjects ever employed in electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply activities have a high risk of prostate cancer. These findings are similar with those reported in previous case-control studies for electrical power erecting, installing and repairing operators, and hydroelectric power plants [23,24]. n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Table 1.…”

Occupational exposure to benzene, toluene, xylene and styrene and risk of prostate cancer in a population-based study

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