Occupational risk factors for prostate cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia: a case–control study in Western Australia

Objective: To assess the association of selected occupational exposures with risk of prostate cancer and with risk of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Methods: This population-based case–control study recruited 606 men with a diagnosis of confirmed prostate cancer, 400 men who had undergone their first prostatectomy for BPH and 471 male controls randomly selected from the electoral roll between 1 August 2001 and 1 October 2002 in Western Australia. χ2 tests and logistic regressions were used for univariate and multivariate analyses to investigate the association of the two outcomes with occupational exposure to pesticides, fertilisers, metals, wood dust, oils, diesel exhaust and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Results: Exposure to toxic metals at a non-substantial level increased the risk of BPH (odds ratio (OR) 1.39, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1 to 1.84) and led to a non-significant excess risk of prostate cancer (OR 1.25, 95% CI 0.96 to 1.61). Non-significant excess risks were observed for prostate cancer after exposure to oils other than mineral oil (OR 1.54, 95% CI 0.95 to 2.51) and for BPH after exposure to PAHs (OR 1.20, 95% CI 0.91 to 1.58). A non-statistically significant protective effect for prostate cancer was seen after exposure to organophosphate pesticides (OR 0. 69, 95% CI 0.43 to 1.12). No other associations were found for either prostate cancer or BPH and no dose–response relationships were seen for the exposures investigated. Conclusions: These results do not provide evidence that any of the occupational factors examined are risk factors for either prostate cancer or BPH.

[1]  C. Roehrborn,et al.  Benign prostatic hyperplasia. , 2020, BMJ.

[2]  L. Justine,et al.  Vietnam military service history and prostate cancer , 2006, BMC Public Health.

[3]  A. Blair,et al.  Cancer mortality among men occupationally exposed to dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane. , 2005, Cancer research.

[4]  D. Wegman,et al.  Prostate Cancer Incidence in Relation to Time Windows of Exposure to Metalworking Fluids in the Auto Industry , 2005, Epidemiology.

[5]  I. Kant,et al.  The influence of occupational exposure to pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, diesel exhaust, metal dust, metal fumes, and mineral oil on prostate cancer: a prospective cohort study , 2005, Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

[6]  E. Negri,et al.  Lifetime physical activity and prostate cancer risk , 2005, International journal of cancer.

[7]  L. Case,et al.  Cadmium and Prostate Cancer: A Critical Epidemiologic Analysis , 2005, Cancer investigation.

[8]  J. Willems,et al.  Prostate cancer among pesticide applicators: a meta-analysis , 2004, International archives of occupational and environmental health.

[9]  C. Friedenreich,et al.  Case-control study of lifetime total physical activity and prostate cancer risk. , 2004, American journal of epidemiology.

[10]  J. Willems,et al.  Occupation related pesticide exposure and cancer of the prostate: a meta-analysis , 2003, Occupational and environmental medicine.

[11]  O. Axelson,et al.  Prostate cancer and exposure to pesticides in agricultural settings , 2003, International journal of cancer.

[12]  Xianbin Ning,et al.  [A case-control study on the risk factors of benign prostatic hyperplasia in the suburb of Shenyang]. , 2003, Zhonghua liu xing bing xue za zhi = Zhonghua liuxingbingxue zazhi.

[13]  J. Beard,et al.  Health impacts of pesticide exposure in a cohort of outdoor workers. , 2002, Environmental health perspectives.

[14]  D. English,et al.  Smoking and prostate cancer: findings from an Australian case-control study. , 2001, Annals of oncology : official journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology.

[15]  J. McNeal,et al.  Reduced 1alpha-hydroxylase activity in human prostate cancer cells correlates with decreased susceptibility to 25-hydroxyvitamin D3-induced growth inhibition. , 2001, Cancer research.

[16]  F. Mostofi,et al.  Prostate cancer, benign prostatic hyperplasia and physical activity in Shanghai, China. , 2001, International journal of epidemiology.

[17]  R. Paffenbarger,et al.  A prospective cohort study of physical activity and body size in relation to prostate cancer risk (United States) , 2001, Cancer Causes & Control.

[18]  I. Bairati,et al.  Lifetime occupational physical activity and incidental prostate cancer (Canada) , 2000, Cancer Causes & Control.

[19]  S. Ciatto,et al.  Prostate cancer screening: the problem of overdiagnosis and lessons to be learned from breast cancer screening. , 2000, European journal of cancer.

[20]  J. Mclaughlin,et al.  Occupation and prostate cancer risk in Sweden. , 2000, Journal of occupational and environmental medicine.

[21]  W. Demark-Wahnefried,et al.  Early onset baldness and prostate cancer risk. , 2000, Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology.

[22]  M. Resnick,et al.  A meta-analysis of risk estimates for prostate cancer related to tire and rubber manufacturing operations. , 1999, Journal of occupational and environmental medicine.

[23]  E. Rimm,et al.  Alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, and risk of benign prostatic hyperplasia. , 1999, American journal of epidemiology.

[24]  A. Seidler,et al.  Association between diesel exposure at work and prostate cancer. , 1998, Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health.

[25]  E. Rimm,et al.  Physical activity and benign prostatic hyperplasia. , 1998, Archives of internal medicine.

[26]  R. Hayes,et al.  Occupational risk factors and prostate cancer in U.S. blacks and whites. , 1998, American journal of industrial medicine.

[27]  P. Demers,et al.  Cancer mortality and wood dust exposure among participants in the American Cancer Society Cancer Prevention Study-II (CPS-II). , 1998, American journal of industrial medicine.

[28]  C. Pinnock,et al.  Troublesome lower urinary tract symptoms in the community: a prevalence study , 1997, The Medical journal of Australia.

[29]  L. Shi,et al.  [A case-control study of prostate cancer]. , 1996, Zhonghua liu xing bing xue za zhi = Zhonghua liuxingbingxue zazhi.

[30]  M. Ilic,et al.  Case-control study of risk factors for prostate cancer. , 1996, British Journal of Cancer.

[31]  P. Stewart,et al.  A novel approach to data collection in a case-control study of cancer and occupational exposures. , 1996, International journal of epidemiology.

[32]  P. Ewings,et al.  A case-control study of cancer of the prostate in Somerset and east Devon. , 1996, British Journal of Cancer.

[33]  J. Siemiatycki,et al.  Occupational risk factors for prostate cancer: results from a case-control study in Montréal, Québec, Canada. , 1996, American journal of epidemiology.

[34]  .. PhD,et al.  Zinc and cadmium concentrations in indigenous blacks with normal, hypertrophic, and malignant prostate , 1989, Cancer.

[35]  B. Henderson,et al.  Case-control studies of prostate cancer in blacks and whites in southern California. , 1987, Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

[36]  R. Lahtonen.  Zinc and cadmium concentrations in whole tissue and in separated epithelium and stroma from human benign prostatic hypertrophic glands , 1985, The Prostate.

[37]  H Checkoway,et al.  Bias due to misclassification in the estimation of relative risk. , 1977, American journal of epidemiology.

[38]  M. Bryś,et al.  Zinc and cadmium analysis in human prostate neoplasms , 2007, Biological Trace Element Research.

[39]  J. Gulden,et al.  Farmers at risk for prostate cancer. , 1996, British journal of urology.

[40]  B. Ireland,et al.  "Farming and prostate cancer mortality". , 1994, American journal of epidemiology.

[41]  L. Hagmar,et al.  Cancer morbidity in nitrate fertilizer workers , 1991, International archives of occupational and environmental health.