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Occupational cancer among women: Research status and methodologic considerations
Author(s) -
Blair Aaron,
Zahm Shelia Hoar,
Silverman Debra T.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0274(199907)36:1<6::aid-ajim2>3.0.co;2-f
Subject(s) - medicine , occupational cancer , occupational medicine , environmental health , population , breast cancer , occupational exposure , cancer , gerontology
Occupational causes of cancer have not been well‐evaluated among women. An increase in the number of women in the work force in jobs with potentially hazardous exposures during the past few decades raises the question as to whether there is a need to enhance our efforts in this area. The inability to evaluate occupational causes of female gynecologic tumors in studies of men, plus the potential for variation in outcome responses between men and women because of gender‐based exposure and susceptibility differences, underscore the need for investigations specifically focused on women. Investigations of occupational exposures and cancer risk among women may require design considerations that differ somewhat from studies of men. Issues to consider include the impact of studying outcomes with high survival (e.g., breast cancer), gender‐specific exposure patterns and toxicokinetic processing of some chemicals, special limitations in the use of the general population as the referent, and the need to control for established risk factors for gynecologic tumors. Am. J. Ind. Med. 36:6–17, 1999. Published 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.