Das Krebsrisiko von Feuerwehreinsatzkräften – Ein systematisches Review und Metaanalyse epidemiologischer Studien

The cancer risk of firefighters – a systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological studies Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the general and specific cancer risk of firefighters by taking different types of study into consideration. Methods: A PubMed search was used to find original scientific articles on cancer risks among firefighters. Publications on case control studies with reported odds ratios (OR) and cohort studies with reported standardised incidence ratios (SIR) or standardised mortality ratios (SMR) for male professional firefighters were taken into consideration for this meta-analysis. Risk estimators (mOR, mSIRs, mSMRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using meta-analyses with random effects. Results: This meta-analysis summarises the results of 46 studies (20 case control studies, 26 cohort studies). The general cancer risk of firefighters is comparable to that of the general population. However, there was a moderately increased risk for individual types of cancer. The highest risks were found for malignant melanoma of the skin (mOR 1.56, 95% CI 1.45–1.69, 3 studies) and thyroid cancer (mOR 1.52, 95% CI 1.03–2.24, 3 studies). In the cohort studies the incidence risk was highest for mesotheliomas (mSIR 1.46, 95% CI 1.01–1.90, 2 studies). The mortality risk was increased only for rectal cancers (mSMR 1.36, 95% CI 1.07–1.65, 6 studies). Conclusions: Despite the general cancer risk of firefighters being comparable to that of the general population, there is a general possibility of an individually increased cancer risk from firefighting. Further efforts must be made to minimise firefighting risks. Keywords: firefighting – cancer risk – incidence – mortality – odds ratio