Occupational and Environmental Determinants of Cancer among Women and Minorities

传统上，职业研究主要关注白人男性，尽管女性占美国平民劳动力的近一半，少数族裔经常受雇于危险暴露的工作。经济、社会和文化组织在过去一年中进行了一些以人口为基础的流行病学研究，其中包括妇女和少数群体，重点放在职业上。在农业健康研究中，正在评估直接职业接触和间接环境接触农药和其他接触与乳腺癌、卵巢癌、甲状腺癌和其他癌症的关系，这是一项涉及90 000多名受试者的前瞻性队列研究，其中包括大约32 000名妇女和2 000名少数民族。农用设备的柴油废气也被评估为与农民配偶中的肺癌有关。此外，正在评估居住在集中动物饲养作业(CAFO)附近的人与几种癌症类型的相关性，包括肺癌和其他呼吸系统癌症。上海女性研究是范德比尔特大学与NCI和上海癌症研究所合作对7.5万名女性进行的前瞻性队列研究。从近90%的参与者身上采集了血液/口腔细胞和尿液样本。苯暴露评估一直基于上海市政府维护的工业监测数据，目前正在评估是否与白血病和淋巴瘤有关。正在评估与就业职业和行业有关的癌症风险，包括最近一份关于在某些可能接触潜在工业致癌物质的职业中就业的肺癌风险的报告。在这项研究中还进行了两项研究，重点是夜班工作对褪黑素水平的影响和总体癌症风险。新英格兰膀胱癌研究是一项大型的多中心膀胱癌病例对照研究，正在进行中，以检查环境和职业风险因素以及这种癌症在新英格兰的发病率和死亡率持续上升的原因，并纳入了以往任何病例对照研究中最多的女性。美国的肾癌研究是第一次对这种癌症进行研究，其中包括足够数量的非裔美国人，以单独评估他们的风险，以及环境和职业风险因素对这种癌症发病率种族差异的贡献。NCI是加州儿童白血病病例对照研究的环境抽样部分的领导者。这项研究中约40%的西班牙裔和10%的亚裔参与者提供了一个机会来评估这些少数民族中的农业和其他风险因素。在爱荷华州妇女健康研究中，正在评估饮用水中的环境污染物与膀胱癌、卵巢癌、胰腺癌和结肠癌的关系。

Traditionally, occupational research has focused primarily on white men, even though women comprise nearly half of the U.S. civilian workforce, and minorities are often employed in jobs with hazardous exposures. The OEEB has undertaken a number of population-based epidemiologic studies which include women and minorities during the past year, with a substantial focus in occupation . In the Agricultural Health Study, a prospective cohort study of more than 90,000 subjects, including approximately 32,000 women and 2,000 minorities, both direct occupational exposure and indirect environmental exposure to pesticides and other exposures are being evaluated for association with breast, ovarian, thyroid and other cancers. Diesel exhaust from farm equipment has also been evaluated for associations with lung cancer among the spouses of farmers. In addition, living near concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are being evaluated for associations with several cancer types, including lung and other respiratory cancers. The Shanghai Women's Study is a prospective cohort study of 75,000 women conducted by Vanderbilt University in collaboration with NCI and the Shanghai Cancer Institute. Blood/buccal cell and urine samples have been collected from nearly 90% of participants. Exposure assessment to benzene has been based on industrial monitoring data maintained by the Shanghai municipal government and is being evaluated for associations with leukemia and lymphoma. Cancer risk in relation to occupation and industry of employment is being evaluated, including a recent report of lung cancer risk associated with employment in certain occupations that may have exposure to potential industrial carcinogens. Two studies have also been conducted within this study, focused on the effect of night shift work on melatonin levels and on overall cancer risk. The New England Bladder Cancer study, a large multicenter case-control study of bladder cancer is on-going to examine environmental and occupational risk factors and the reasons for the consistently elevated incidence and mortality of this cancer in New England and includes the largest number of women of any previous case-control study. The U.S. kidney cancer study is the first study of this cancer that included a sufficient number of African Americans for separate evaluation of their risks, and the contribution of environmental and occupational risk factors to the racial disparity in incidence of this cancer. NCI is leading the environmental sampling component of the California childhood leukemia case-control study. The approximately 40% Hispanic and 10% Asian participants in this study provide an opportunity to evaluate agricultural and other risk factors among these minorities. In the Iowa Women's Health Study, environmental contaminants in drinking water are being evaluated for associations with cancers of the bladder, ovary, pancreas and colon.