Infectious complications

Abstract

<h3>Objective</h3> Using data from the SYNERGY project, we evaluated the association between occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and the risk of lung cancer, adjusted for tobacco smoking. <h3>Methods</h3> For 16 901 lung cancer cases and 20 965 matched population or hospital controls, PAH exposure was estimated using a quantitative general population job-exposure matrix (‘SYNJEM’) based on five-digit ISCO-68 codes (4639 cases, 4713 controls ever exposed). Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were estimated using unconditional logistic regression models adjusted for age, sex, study centre, smoking behaviour, and ever employment in an occupation with known lung cancer risk. <h3>Results</h3> We observed a modest increased risk of lung cancer associated with occupational exposure to PAHs according to various exposure metrics (ever/never, duration, cumulative dose, time since last exposure). The ORs for ever exposure to PAH were 1.09 (95%CI, 1.04–1.15) overall, 1.08 (95%CI, 1.02–1.15) in men, 1.20 (95%CI, 1.05–1.38) in women, and 1.04 (95%CI, 0.88–1.22) in never smokers. These results are further supported by significant exposure response-relationships (p-value for trend &lt;0.05 for years of employment and cumulative exposure [(BaP) µg/m3-years]). When stratified by histological subtype, increased risks and positive exposure response-relationships were apparent only for squamous cell carcinoma and small cell lung cancer. <h3>Conclusions</h3> Our pooled analysis suggests that occupational exposure to PAH is associated with a modest increase in the risk of lung cancer, after adjustment for tobacco smoking and exposure to other occupational lung carcinogens.