title: Cancer incidence within a cohort occupationally exposed to asbestos: a study of dose--response relationships.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of our study was to analyse the dose-response relationship between occupational asbestos exposure and risk of cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Our study was a retrospective morbidity study based on 2024 subjects occupationally exposed to asbestos, conducted over the period 1 January 1978 to 31 December 2004. Analysis of the dose-response relationship between occupational asbestos exposure, as a time-dependant variable, and risk of cancer was performed using a Cox model. In order to account for the effect of latency, we conducted the analysis with a lag of 10 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  285 cases of cancers were observed in our cohort. The relative risk of pleuro-peritoneal mesothelioma, lung cancer and colorectal cancer associated with asbestos exposure, adjusted for age as a time-dependant variable and for sex, was correlated with exposure intensity (or average exposure level, AEL). The risk of cancer, whatever the anatomical site, did not increase with the duration of exposure to asbestos.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  While confirming the established relationship between asbestos exposure and pleuropulmonary and peritoneal cancers, this study also suggests a causal relationship between asbestos exposure and colorectal cancer.
authors.affiliation: Cancers and Populations, ERI3 INSERM, Faculty of Medicine, Caen University Hospital, Caen, France. clin-b@chu-caen.fr
authors.forename: Bénédicte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Clin
authors.forename: Fabrice
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Morlais
authors.forename: Guy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Launoy
authors.forename: Anne-Valérie
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Guizard
authors.forename: Brice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dubois
authors.forename: Véronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bouvier
authors.forename: Nelly
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Desoubeaux
authors.forename: Marie-France
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Marquignon
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Raffaelli
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Paris
authors.forename: Françoise
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Galateau-Salle
authors.forename: Lydia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guittet
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Letourneux
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001194:Asbestos / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000633:toxicity; D002273:Carcinogens / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000633:toxicity; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008654:Mesothelioma / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010534:Peritoneal Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment
chemical_list: D002273:Carcinogens; D001194:Asbestos