title: Cancer incidence among physicians in Israel.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Physicians' occupational environment includes exposures to potential carcinogenic factors on a regular basis. The prevalence of specific tumor types and subsequent mortality are reported to be elevated in physicians.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the incidence of various cancer types among Israeli physicians of various specialties, as compared with the general population, and to determine the role, if any, of gender and ethnicity.
  
  
  METHODS
  This historical retrospective cohort analysis incorporated data on Israeli officially licensed physicians and information retrieved from the Israel National Cancer Registry database (INCR). Physicians were divided into five groups: non-specialists, internists, pediatricians, surgeons, and potentially at-risk specialties. Data were collected retrospectively for the years 1980-2007.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study cohort comprised 37,789 physicians, of whom 33,393 (88.37%) were Jews and 4396 (11.63%) were Arabs. Comparing Jewish physicians to the general population revealed higher rates of: a) breast cancer among female specialized physicians, and b) melanoma among specialized male and female physicians. All cancer types were more prevalent in the Arab physicians than in the general Arab population.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study revealed incidences of specific cancer types among different medical specialties as compared to the general population. Hopefully, these findings will prompt changes in the occupational environment of physicians of particular specialties in order to reduce their high risk for cancer occurrence.
authors.forename: Adi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Klein-Kremer
authors.forename: Irena
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Liphshitz
authors.forename: Ziona
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Haklai
authors.forename: Shai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Linn
authors.forename: Micha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barchana
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D018912:Arabs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D010820:Physicians / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012737:Sex Factors; D013038:Specialization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*