Abstract
The precise etiology of multiple myeloma remains elusive, but both genetic and environmental factors have been suggested to contribute to disease risk. Several occupational categories and toxic agents have been implicated as potentially causative, yet findings from the literature are inconsistent. The aim of this review was to summarize and critically comment on the accumulated epidemiological evidence, across published meta-analyses, about the association between occupational exposure and risk of multiple myeloma. Overall, results from eleven meta-epidemiological studies underscore a significantly increased risk for firefighters, hairdressers, and employees exposed to engine exhaust, whereas farming and methylene chloride exposure have been non-significantly correlated with the disease. Further epidemiological studies are of utmost importance whilst emphasis should be placed on occupational hazard surveillance, as such studies will obtain a more accurate picture of disease occurrence in working populations, and will enable both the implementation of preventive actions and the evaluation of their effectiveness.
Highlights
Relevant keywords for the search algorithm were AND AND
No associations were found between MM and occupational exposure for iron and steel foundry workers and occupational exposure for asphalt workers
Several risk factors across five categories, including farming, firefighting, hairdressing, and organic solvents and Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) exposure have been studied for an underlying causal association with MM
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Multiple myeloma (MM), a proliferative disease of immunoglobulin-secreting mature. B cells, known as plasma cells, is the second most frequent hematologic malignancy, accounting for approximately 13% of neoplastic diseases of the blood and 1% of all cancers [1,2,3,4]. In 2018, there were about 160,000 cases of MM, translating to an agestandardized incidence rate of 1.8 per 100,000 persons, while the overall survival has been greatly improved over the past decade with the advances in treatment modalities, with an overall 5-year survival rate of 54% [5,6,7]. The precise etiology of the disease has not yet been established, the asymptomatic, premalignant monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS)
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