Heavy industry linked to lung cancer risk in women

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who have lived near heavy industry for a long time appear to have an increased risk of lung cancer, according to results of a study published in the medical journal Thorax.

"The incidence of lung cancer among women is high in the highly industrialized area of Teesside in northeast England," Dr. Richard Edwards, of the University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand, and colleagues write. "Previous research has implicated industrial pollution as a possible cause."

The researchers therefore studied 204 women younger than 80 years of age who had primary lung cancers and 339 women in the same age group who did have lung cancer and also lived in the Teesside district. Interviewer-administered questionnaires were used to obtain histories on residence, occupation and smoking.

The risk of lung cancer among women who lived near (within 0 to 5 km) heavy industry for longer than 25 years was more than twice as high as the risk in those who never lived near heavy industry.

After accounting for the effects of age and other potential risk factors, the risk was still almost twice as high for women who lived near heavy industry longer than 25 years. The greatest effect on risk was seen after the data were adjusted for the effects of smoking.

"These findings support those in much of the international literature of an increased risk of lung cancer with prolonged residence close to heavy industry," Edwards and colleagues conclude. "The effect of air pollution on the incidence of lung cancer merits continued study."

SOURCE: Thorax, November 2006.