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Document ID (ISN)111945
CIS number 11-0648
ISSN - Serial title 1351-0711 - Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Year 2010
Convention or series no.
Author(s) Girschik J., Glass D., Ambrosini G.L., Fritschi L.
Title Could mining be protective against prostate cancer? A study and literature review
Bibliographic information June 2010, Vol.67, No.6, p.365-374. Illus. 49 ref.
Abstract Prostate cancer is one of the most commonly-diagnosed cancers, with one in three Australian men developing this cancer before the age of 75. Currently, only increasing age, race and family history have been well established as risk factors. Mining employs a significant proportion of the work force in Western Australia. The aims of this study were to describe the characteristics of miners in the Western Australian Prostate Health Study, investigate mining as a risk factor for prostate cancer, to conduct a systematic search of the literature for studies that have investigated mining as an occupational risk factor for prostate cancer and to compare and contrast their methodologies and results. Data were obtained from a population-based case-control study conducted from 1 January 2001 to 20 August 2002 at The University of Western Australia. After controlling for age, family history and military service in Vietnam, miners had a statistically significantly reduced risk of prostate cancer (adjusted odds ratio 0.35). The systematic literature search of studies examining mining and prostate cancer found a reasonably consistent trend of a decreased risk of prostate cancer among miners. None of the published articles discussed their results regarding mining and prostate cancer in detail, and a biological mechanism to support these results has not previously been suggested. The relationship between mining and prostate cancer deserves further investigation.
Descriptors (primary) Western Australia; prostatic cancer; mining industry; risk factors
Descriptors (secondary) physical workload; physical fitness; case-control study; healthy worker effect; literature survey
Document type D - Periodical articles
Subject(s) Mines and quarries
Occupational pathology
Broad subject area(s) Occupational medicine, epidemiology
Browse category(ies) Cancer and carcinogens
Mining and quarrying