Table 3 Airborne occupational exposures and risk of oesophageal and gastric cardia cancers.
| Airborne occupational exposure | Controls (n) | Adenocarcinoma of oesophagus* | Adenocarcinoma of gastric cardia* | Squamous cell carcinoma of oesophagus* | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cases (n) | OR† (95% CI) | p Value‡ | Cases (n) | OR† (95% CI) | p Value‡ | Cases (n) | OR§ (95% CI) | p Value‡ | ||
| Wood dust | ||||||||||
| No exposure | 732 | 166 | 1.0 (reference) | 233 | 1.0 (reference) | 149 | 1.0 (reference) | |||
| Low exposure | 35 | 7 | 0.8 (0.3–2.0) | 12 | 1.1 (0.5–2.2) | 2 | 0.4 (0.1–1.9) | |||
| High exposure | 32 | 8 | 0.6 (0.2–1.5) | 0.50 | 11 | 1.0 (0.5–2.2) | 0.97 | 9 | 2.0 (0.9–4.8) | 0.13 |
| Metal dust | ||||||||||
| No exposure | 744 | 175 | 1.0 (reference) | 239 | 1.0 (reference) | 151 | 1.0 (reference) | |||
| Low exposure | 29 | 2 | 0.1 (0.0–0.7) | 6 | 0.5 (0.2–1.3) | 5 | 1.1 (0.4–3.1) | |||
| High exposure | 26 | 4 | 0.4 (0.1–1.3) | 0.02 | 11 | 1.4 (0.6–2.9) | 0.24 | 4 | 1.2 (0.4–3.9) | 0.92 |
| Asbestos | ||||||||||
| No exposure | 692 | 154 | 1.0 (reference) | 219 | 1.0 (reference) | 141 | 1.0 (reference) | |||
| Low exposure | 56 | 13 | 0.9 (0.4–1.8) | 16 | 0.7 (0.4–1.4) | 10 | 0.9 (0.4–1.8) | |||
| High exposure | 51 | 14 | 0.9 (0.4–1.9) | 0.92 | 21 | 1.2 (0.7–2.0) | 0.52 | 9 | 0.9 (0.4–1.9) | 0.88 |
| Organic solvents | ||||||||||
| No exposure | 664 | 145 | 1.0 (reference) | 218 | 1.0 (reference) | 128 | 1.0 (reference) | |||
| Low exposure | 66 | 15 | 0.7 (0.4–1.5) | 18 | 0.7 (0.4–1.3) | 14 | 1.2 (0.6–2.3) | |||
| High exposure | 69 | 21 | 1.3 (0.7–2.3) | 0.47 | 20 | 0.8 (0.5–1.4) | 0.44 | 18 | 1.4 (0.7–2.5) | 0.59 |
| Pesticides | ||||||||||
| No exposure | 753 | 166 | 1.0 (reference) | 236 | 1.0 (reference) | 157 | 1.0 (reference) | |||
| Low exposure | 27 | 5 | 0.8 (0.3–2.3) | 7 | 0.7 (0.3–1.8) | 3 | 0.8 (0.2–3.0) | |||
| High exposure | 19 | 10 | 2.3 (0.9–5.7) | 0.18 | 13 | 2.1 (1.0–4.6) | 0.11 | 0 | – | 0.77 |
| Diesel exhaust | ||||||||||
| No exposure | 700 | 156 | 1.0 (reference) | 220 | 1.0 (reference) | 142 | 1.0 (reference) | |||
| Low exposure | 34 | 7 | 0.7 (0.3–1.9) | 9 | 0.5 (0.2–1.2) | 10 | 1.7 (0.7–3.8) | |||
| Medium exposure | 34 | 6 | 0.7 (0.2–1.8) | 12 | 0.9 (0.4–1.9) | 6 | 0.8 (0.3–2.2) | |||
| High exposure | 31 | 12 | 1.1 (0.5–2.5) | 0.74 | 15 | 1.2 (0.6–2.4) | 0.43 | 2 | 0.4 (0.1–1.7) | 0.33 |
| “Unspecified particular agents”¶ | ||||||||||
| No exposure | 471 | 79 | 1.0 (reference) | 139 | 1.0 (reference) | 90 | 1.0 (reference) | |||
| Low exposure | 114 | 37 | 1.4 (0.8–2.3) | 34 | 0.7 (0.5–1.2) | 17 | 1.0 (0.5–1.8) | |||
| Medium exposure | 111 | 27 | 1.0 (0.6–1.7) | 43 | 1.1 (0.7–1.6) | 26 | 1.7 (0.9–2.9) | |||
| High exposure | 103 | 38 | 1.3 (0.7–2.1) | 0.52 | 40 | 1.1 (0.7–1.7) | 0.50 | 27 | 1.7 (1.0–2.9) | 0.14 |
| “Total exposure of particular agents”** | ||||||||||
| No exposure | 363 | 60 | 1.0 (reference) | 107 | 1.0 (reference) | 72 | 1.0 (reference) | |||
| Low exposure | 158 | 35 | 1.0 (0.6–1.7) | 43 | 0.7 (0.5–1.1) | 27 | 1.1 (0.6–1.9) | |||
| Medium exposure | 145 | 41 | 0.9 (0.5–1.6) | 45 | 0.8 (0.5–1.2) | 34 | 1.7 (1.0–2.9) | |||
| High exposure | 95 | 39 | 1.3 (0.7–2.3) | 40 | 1.1 (0.7–1.8) | 19 | 1.4 (0.7–2.6) | |||
| Very high exposure | 38 | 6 | 0.4 (0.2–1.2) | 0.37 | 21 | 1.6 (0.9–2.9) | 0.11 | 8 | 1.8 (0.7–4.4) | 0.29 |
*Observations with missing data on any covariate included in the models were excluded from the analyses. There were eight oesophageal adenocarcinoma cases, six cardia adenocarcinoma cases, seven oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma cases and 17 control participants with missing data on occupational history. Four controls had missing data on BMI and were not included in the analyses of the adenocarcinomas.
†OR controlled for age and sex by matching and adjusted for reflux symptoms, BMI and tobacco smoking.
‡Wald test of overall effect across all exposure strata.
§OR controlled for age and sex by matching and adjusted for tobacco smoking and alcohol use.
¶Cumulative exposure for quartz dust, flour dust, unspecified dust and combustion gases added.
**Cumulative exposure for wood dust, metal dust, asbestos and unspecified particular agents added.