Skip to main content
PMC home page
Occupational and Environmental Medicine logoLink to Occupational and Environmental Medicine
. 1998 Sep;55(9):599–604. doi: 10.1136/oem.55.9.599

Case-control study of occupational exposures and male breast cancer

P Cocco, L Figgs, M Dosemeci, R Hayes, M S Linet, A W Hsing
PMCID: PMC1757632  PMID: 9861181

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether risk of male breast cancer is associated with workplace exposures. METHODS: A case-control study of 178 cases of male breast cancer and 1041 controls was carried out with data from the United States national mortality follow-back survey, which collected questionnaire information from proxy respondents of a 1% sample of all 1986 United States deaths among subjects aged 25-74 years. Occupational exposure to electromagnetic fields, high temperatures, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), herbicides, other pesticides, and organic solvents was assessed by applying job- exposure matrices, based on the 1980 United States census occupation and industry codes, to the longest job held by study subjects as reported by the informants. A socioeconomic status index was created by combining information on annual family income, education, assets, and occupation to assess the association of socioeconomic status with male breast cancer. Relative risks were derived from logistic regression modelling, which included age, socioeconomic status, marital status, and body mass index, as well as occupational exposures. RESULTS: Risk for male breast cancer increased significantly with increasing socioeconomic status index (test for trend: p < 0.01), but the risks associated with individual socioeconomic status variables were smaller and the trends were not significant. A significant increase in risk of male breast cancer was associated with employment in blast furnaces, steel works, and rolling mills (odds ratio (OR) 3.4; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.1 to 10.1, based on six cases), and motor vehicle manufacturing (OR 3.1; 95% CI 1.2 to 8.2, based on seven cases). However, exposures to electromagnetic fields, high temperature, PAHs, herbicides, other pesticides, and organic solvents were not associated with risk of male breast cancer. CONCLUSIONS: The role of workplace exposures in increasing risk of breast cancer among men employed in motor vehicle manufacturing and in blast furnaces, steel works, and rolling mills deserves further investigation. The finding on socioeconomic status suggests that, as well as reproductive factors, other lifestyle factors such as diet that may be related to high socioeconomic status in men should be investigated further.

 

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (98.3 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Anelli A., Anelli T. F., Youngson B., Rosen P. P., Borgen P. I. Mutations of the p53 gene in male breast cancer. Cancer. 1995 May 1;75(9):2233–2238. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19950501)75:9<2233::aid-cncr2820750907>3.0.co;2-s. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Demers P. A., Thomas D. B., Rosenblatt K. A., Jimenez L. M., McTiernan A., Stalsberg H., Stemhagen A., Thompson W. D., Curnen M. G., Satariano W. Occupational exposure to electromagnetic fields and breast cancer in men. Am J Epidemiol. 1991 Aug 15;134(4):340–347. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a116095. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Dosemeci M., Cocco P., Gómez M., Stewart P. A., Heineman E. F. Effects of three features of a job-exposure matrix on risk estimates. Epidemiology. 1994 Jan;5(1):124–127. doi: 10.1097/00001648-199401000-00019. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Hansen J., Olsen J. H., Larsen A. I. Cancer morbidity among employees in a Danish pharmaceutical plant. Int J Epidemiol. 1994 Oct;23(5):891–898. doi: 10.1093/ije/23.5.891. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Heath C. W., Jr Electromagnetic field exposure and cancer: a review of epidemiologic evidence. CA Cancer J Clin. 1996 Jan-Feb;46(1):29–44. doi: 10.3322/canjclin.46.1.29. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Hsing A. W., McLaughlin J. K., Cocco P., Co Chien H. T., Fraumeni J. F., Jr Risk factors for male breast cancer (United States). Cancer Causes Control. 1998 May;9(3):269–275. doi: 10.1023/a:1008869003012. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Kelsey J. L., Horn-Ross P. L. Breast cancer: magnitude of the problem and descriptive epidemiology. Epidemiol Rev. 1993;15(1):7–16. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.epirev.a036118. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Lenfant-Pejovic M. H., Mlika-Cabanne N., Bouchardy C., Auquier A. Risk factors for male breast cancer: a Franco-Swiss case-control study. Int J Cancer. 1990 Apr 15;45(4):661–665. doi: 10.1002/ijc.2910450415. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Loomis D. P., Savitz D. A., Ananth C. V. Breast cancer mortality among female electrical workers in the United States. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1994 Jun 15;86(12):921–925. doi: 10.1093/jnci/86.12.921. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Mabuchi K., Bross D. S., Kessler I. I. Risk factors for male breast cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1985 Feb;74(2):371–375. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Matanoski G. M., Breysse P. N., Elliott E. A. Electromagnetic field exposure and male breast cancer. Lancet. 1991 Mar 23;337(8743):737–737. doi: 10.1016/0140-6736(91)90325-j. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. McLaughlin J. K., Malker H. S., Blot W. J., Weiner J. A., Ericsson J. L., Fraumeni J. F., Jr Occupational risks for male breast cancer in Sweden. Br J Ind Med. 1988 Apr;45(4):275–276. doi: 10.1136/oem.45.4.275. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Meyskens F. L., Jr, Tormey D. C., Neifeld J. P. Male breast cancer: a review. Cancer Treat Rev. 1976 Jun;3(2):83–93. doi: 10.1016/s0305-7372(76)80006-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Olsson H., Ranstam J. Head trauma and exposure to prolactin-elevating drugs as risk factors for male breast cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1988 Jul 6;80(9):679–683. doi: 10.1093/jnci/80.9.679. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Perera F. P., Estabrook A., Hewer A., Channing K., Rundle A., Mooney L. A., Whyatt R., Phillips D. H. Carcinogen-DNA adducts in human breast tissue. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 1995 Apr-May;4(3):233–238. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Poole C. Invited commentary: evolution of epidemiologic evidence on magnetic fields and childhood cancers. Am J Epidemiol. 1996 Jan 15;143(2):129–136. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a008719. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Rosenbaum P. F., Vena J. E., Zielezny M. A., Michalek A. M. Occupational exposures associated with male breast cancer. Am J Epidemiol. 1994 Jan 1;139(1):30–36. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a116932. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. SCHOTTENFELD D., LILIENFELD A. M., DIAMOND H. Some observations on the epidemiology of breast cancer among males. Am J Public Health Nations Health. 1963 Jun;53:890–897. doi: 10.2105/ajph.53.6.890. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Seeman I., Poe G. S., McLaughlin J. K. Design of the 1986 National Mortality Followback Survey: considerations on collecting data on decedents. Public Health Rep. 1989 Mar-Apr;104(2):183–188. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Stalsberg H., Thomas D. B., Rosenblatt K. A., Jimenez L. M., McTiernan A., Stemhagen A., Thompson W. D., Curnen M. G., Satariano W., Austin D. F. Histologic types and hormone receptors in breast cancer in men: a population-based study in 282 United States men. Cancer Causes Control. 1993 Mar;4(2):143–151. doi: 10.1007/BF00053155. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Stevens R. G. Electric power use and breast cancer: a hypothesis. Am J Epidemiol. 1987 Apr;125(4):556–561. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a114569. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Thomas D. B. Breast cancer in men. Epidemiol Rev. 1993;15(1):220–231. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.epirev.a036108. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Thomas D. B., Jimenez L. M., McTiernan A., Rosenblatt K., Stalsberg H., Stemhagen A., Thompson W. D., Curnen M. G., Satariano W., Austin D. F. Breast cancer in men: risk factors with hormonal implications. Am J Epidemiol. 1992 Apr 1;135(7):734–748. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a116360. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Tynes T., Andersen A. Electromagnetic fields and male breast cancer. Lancet. 1990 Dec 22;336(8730):1596–1596. doi: 10.1016/0140-6736(90)93387-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Wolff M. S., Toniolo P. G., Lee E. W., Rivera M., Dubin N. Blood levels of organochlorine residues and risk of breast cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1993 Apr 21;85(8):648–652. doi: 10.1093/jnci/85.8.648. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Occupational and Environmental Medicine are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES