Abstract 1872: A prospective cohort study of shift work and pancreatic cancer risk in Japanese men

Abstract

Abstract The etiology of pancreatic cancer remains largely unknown. The lack of effective screening tools coupled with the dismal prognosis make it crucial to identify modifiable risk factors that can be incorporated into a prevention strategy for pancreatic cancer. Approximately 15-20% of the working population in industrialized countries engages in night-shift work, drawing considerable interest in the effect of such work patterns on health, including on the formation of cancers. We analyzed data from a large-scale, prospective cohort study of middle-aged and elderly Japanese individuals (the JACC Study) to test the hypothesis that rotating shift work might be associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer. Our analysis was restricted to 18,745 men who were 40-60 years of age at baseline (1988-1990) and who reported working full-time or were self-employed. Information on occupation and lifestyle factors was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Mortality from pancreatic cancer was ascertained from the causes of death recorded on death certificates. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate relative risk (RR) and confidence interval (CI) for the association between shift work and pancreatic cancer risk. A total of 70 pancreatic cancer deaths were observed until Dec 31, 2008. Overall, we found no statistically significant increase in the risk of death from pancreatic cancer associated with rotating shift work. As compared to day-shift workers, the RRs were 0.89 (95%CI: 0.40-1.96) for rotating shift workers and 0.27 (0.04-1.93) for fixed night-shift workers, after adjustment for potential confounding factors. In conclusion, shift work is not associated with the risk of death from pancreatic cancer in this cohort of Japanese men. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1872. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-1872