TY - JOUR
T1 - Occupational exposure to electromagnetic fields and breast cancer in men
AU - Demers, Paul A.
AU - Thomas, David B.
AU - Rosenblatt, Karin A.
AU - Jimenez, L. Margarita
AU - Mctiernan, Anne
AU - Stalsberg, Helge
AU - Stemhagen, Annette
AU - Thompson, W. Douglas
AU - Curnen, Mary G.Mccrea
AU - Satariano, William
AU - Austin, Donald F.
AU - Isacson, Peter
AU - Greenberg, Raymond S.
AU - Key, Charles
AU - Kolonel, Laurence N.
AU - West, Dee W.
N1 - Funding Information:
GA. 11New Mexico Tumor Registry, Albuquerque, NM 12Epidemiology Program, Cancer Research Center of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI. 13Northern California Cancer Center, Alameda, CA. Reprint requests to Dr David B. Thomas, Program in Epidemiology, MP 474, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1124 Columbia Street, Seattle, WA 98104. This study was funded by a grant from the National Cancer Institute (RO1 CA35653). Paul A. Demers was supported by a Training Grant in Environmental Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (T32 ES07262). This paper was first presented at the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Epidemiologic Research, Snowbird, Utah, June 12-15, 1990. The authors thank Drs. David Savitz and Richard Stevens for their helpful comments.
PY - 1991/8/15
Y1 - 1991/8/15
N2 - Data from a population-based case-control study of breast cancer in men were used to examine the hypothesis that occupational exposure to electromagnetic fields increases the risk of breast cancer. Incident cases (n = 227) diagnosed between 1983 and 1987 were obtained from 10 population-based cancer registries of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program of the National Cancer Institute. Controls (n = 300) were selected by random digit dialing and from Medicare eligibility lists. Exposure status, defined as ever having been employed in a job which has been classified as involving potential exposure to electromagnetic fields, was assigned without knowledge of case/control status. An elevated risk was found for any job with exposure (odds ratio (OR) = 1.8, 95 percent confidence interval (CI) 1.0-3.7), and risk was highest among electricians, telephone linemen, and electric power workers (OR = 6.0, 95 percent CI 1.7-21) and radio and communications workers (OR = 2.9, 95 percent CI 0.8-10). Risk did not vary with duration of exposed employment. The risk was highest among subjects who were first employed in jobs with exposure before the age of 30 years and who were initially exposed at least 30 years prior to diagnosis. These results lend support to the theory that electromagnetic fields may be related to breast cancer in men. The hypothesis warrants evaluation in women.
AB - Data from a population-based case-control study of breast cancer in men were used to examine the hypothesis that occupational exposure to electromagnetic fields increases the risk of breast cancer. Incident cases (n = 227) diagnosed between 1983 and 1987 were obtained from 10 population-based cancer registries of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program of the National Cancer Institute. Controls (n = 300) were selected by random digit dialing and from Medicare eligibility lists. Exposure status, defined as ever having been employed in a job which has been classified as involving potential exposure to electromagnetic fields, was assigned without knowledge of case/control status. An elevated risk was found for any job with exposure (odds ratio (OR) = 1.8, 95 percent confidence interval (CI) 1.0-3.7), and risk was highest among electricians, telephone linemen, and electric power workers (OR = 6.0, 95 percent CI 1.7-21) and radio and communications workers (OR = 2.9, 95 percent CI 0.8-10). Risk did not vary with duration of exposed employment. The risk was highest among subjects who were first employed in jobs with exposure before the age of 30 years and who were initially exposed at least 30 years prior to diagnosis. These results lend support to the theory that electromagnetic fields may be related to breast cancer in men. The hypothesis warrants evaluation in women.
KW - Breast neoplasms
KW - Electromagnetic fields
KW - Employment
KW - Environmental exposure
KW - Men
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U2 - 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a116095
DO - 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a116095
M3 - Article
C2 - 1877594
AN - SCOPUS:0026015167
SN - 0002-9262
VL - 134
SP - 340
EP - 347
JO - American Journal of Epidemiology
JF - American Journal of Epidemiology
IS - 4
ER -