title: Occupational exposure to organic solvents and breast cancer in women.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although studies in rodents suggest possible associations between exposure to organic solvents and breast cancer, the evidence in humans is limited.
  
  
  METHODS
  We evaluated job histories of 2383 incident breast cancer cases diagnosed during 2000-2003, and 2502 controls who participated in a large population-based case-control study in Poland. Industrial hygienists reviewed occupational histories and developed exposure metrics for total organic solvents and benzene. Unconditional logistic regression analyses estimated ORs and 95% CIs as the measure of association with breast cancer, controlling for breast cancer risk factors. Stratified analyses examined the potential modification by known breast cancer risk factors. Associations were also evaluated by oestrogen and progesterone receptor status and by other clinical characteristics of the tumours using polytomous regression analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Women who ever worked at jobs with organic solvents exposure had a small, non-significant increase in breast cancer risk (OR=1.16; 95% CI 0.99 to 1.4). A significant association was present for oestrogen receptor- and progesterone receptor-negative tumours (OR 1.40; 95% CI 1.1 to 1.8), but there was no association with tumours with both positive receptors (OR 0.97; 95% CI 0.8 to 1.2 (p heterogeneity: 0.008)). We did not observe trends with increasing level of exposure. Known breast cancer risk factors did not modify the association between organic solvents and breast cancer risk. No association with breast cancer was found for benzene exposure (OR 1.00; 95% CI 0.8 to 1.3).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study provides weak evidence for a possible association between occupational exposure to organic solvents as a class and breast cancer risk. The association might be limited to hormone receptor-negative tumours.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Epidemiology, Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Teresy 8 St., Lodz 91-348, Poland. beatap@imp.lodz.pl
authors.forename: Beata
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Peplonska
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.forename: Neonila
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Szeszenia-Dabrowska
authors.forename: Jolanta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lissowska
authors.forename: Louise A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Brinton
authors.forename: Jan Piotr
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Gromiec
authors.forename: Slawomir
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Brzeznicki
authors.forename: Xiaohong R
authors.initials: XR
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sherman
authors.forename: Montserrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: García-Closas
authors.forename: Aaron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Blair
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001554:Benzene / Q000633:toxicity; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000032:analysis; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000032:analysis; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000032:analysis; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D012997:Solvents / Q000633:toxicity*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone; D012997:Solvents; D001554:Benzene