title: Occupational risk factors for prostate cancer in an area of former coal, iron, and steel industries in Germany. Part 1: Results from a study performed in the 1980s.
abstract: Prostate cancer is the most frequent occurring malignancy in men in many Western countries. Unfortunately, only a few studies on occupational risk factors have been published. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate possible occupational risk factors in a former center of coal, iron, and steel industries the greater Dortmund area, located in the western part of Germany. In three local departments of urology, a total of 238 prostate cancer cases and 414 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia as controls were requested to provide information for all jobs ever performed for 6 mo or longer. Jobs performed less than 10 yr prior to diagnosis were excluded from the analysis due to the latency of prostate cancer. In addition, data on smoking habits and age were obtained. Analysis of data was performed by means of logistic regression. Hard coal miners and, based on fewer cases, painters, stratified by age, showed a significantly elevated prostate cancer risk. Smoking history did not influence prostate cancer risk. The causes of the observed increased prostate cancer risk in hard coal miners cannot be explained by merely the risk factor "male sexual hormones." In former decades, underground hard coal miners were exposed to high concentrations of dust and different xenobiotics such as hydraulic oils. Surprisingly, in a study performed about a decade later in the same area, prostate cancer risk in underground hard coal miners was found to be reduced. However, exposure to colorants was associated with an increased prostate cancer risk.
authors.affiliation: a Faculty of Statistics , TU Dortmund University , Dortmund , Germany.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dickhut
authors.affiliation: a Faculty of Statistics , TU Dortmund University , Dortmund , Germany.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Urfer
authors.affiliation: a Faculty of Statistics , TU Dortmund University , Dortmund , Germany.
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Reich
authors.affiliation: b Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors at TU Dortmund (IfADo) , Dortmund , Germany.
authors.forename: Tiemo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bandel
authors.affiliation: c Department of Urology , Knappschaftskrankenhaus , Dortmund , Germany.
authors.forename: Karl-Dieter
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Bremicker
authors.affiliation: d Department of Urology , St-Josefs-Hospital , Dortmund , Germany.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Neugebauer
authors.affiliation: e Department of Urology , Klinikum Dortmund gGmbH , Dortmund , Germany.
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sökeland
authors.affiliation: b Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors at TU Dortmund (IfADo) , Dortmund , Germany.
authors.forename: Hermann M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Bolt
authors.affiliation: b Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors at TU Dortmund (IfADo) , Dortmund , Germany.
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Golka
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003032:Coal Mining; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron; D008297:Male; D066192:Manufacturing Industry; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013232:Steel
chemical_list: D013232:Steel; D007501:Iron