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Cancer incidence among swedish brewery workers
Author(s) -
Carstensen John M.,
Bygren Lars Olov,
Hatschek Thomas
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.2910450302
Subject(s) - relative risk , rectum , medicine , cancer , colorectal cancer , cancer registry , confidence interval , incidence (geometry) , lung cancer , esophagus , gastroenterology , gynecology , physics , optics
In order to examine the risks of cancer, particularly of rectal cancer, among Swedish brewery workers, 6,230 men employed in the brewery industry in 1960 were followed‐up during 1961–79 by the Swedish Cancer Registry. Using all Swedish men as a reference group, relative risks (RR) were computed with standardization for year of birth, year of follow‐up, and geographic region. A total of 712 new cases of cancer were observed compared to 570.7 expected ( p < 0.001). Significantly increased risks were seen for several cancer sites, e.g. esophagus (RR = 2.5, 95% confidence interval (Cl) = 1.5–3.8), rectum (RR = 1.7, Cl = 1.3–2.3), pancreas (RR= 1.7, C1=1.2‐2.3), and lung (RR = 1.4, Cl = 1.1–1.7). An excess risk of liver cancer was almost significant ( p = 0.053, RR = 1.7, Cl = 1.0–2.8). The risk of colon cancer was not significantly increased (RR = 1.2, Cl = 0.9–1.5), and the difference between the relative risk of colon cancer and that of rectum cancer was nearly significant ( p = 0.07). Our results support the hypothesis that high beer consumption is associated with an increased risk of rectal cancer.