TY - JOUR

T1 - Occupational exposure to specific organic solvents and risk of subtypes of breast cancer in a large population of Danish women, 1964-2016

AU - Pedersen, Julie Elbaek

AU - Strandberg-Larsen, Katrine

AU - Andersson, Michael

AU - Hansen, Johnni

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - ObjectiveTo explore associations between occupational exposure to four specific organic solvents, respectively, and female breast cancer, including subtypes.MethodsUsing the Danish Cancer Registry, we identified 38 375 women under age 70 years with primary breast cancer. Five randomly selected breast-cancer-free controls per case matched on year of birth were retrieved from the Danish Civil Registration System . A nationwide pension fund was used to retrieve full employment history, and exposure to 1,1,1-trichloroethane, trichloroethylene (TCE), benzene and toluene was assessed using a job exposure matrix. ORs were estimated using conditional logistic regression with adjustment for reproductive factors and socioeconomic status.ResultsOverall results indicated no noteworthy associations between the specific organic solvents and breast cancer before and after age 50 years, except for a small increased risk after age 50 in women exposed to TCE (OR=1.15, 95% CI: 0.97-1.36). After age 50 years, exposure to TCE was associated with a small increased risk in women with over 20 years of latency (OR=1.26, 95% CI: 1.02-1.56). Further, an increased risk of oestrogen receptor positive (ER+) tumours was also observed (OR=1.21, 95% CI: 1.01-1.47), and high cumulative exposure and longer latency also increased the risk of this subtype.ConclusionThis study provides limited evidence supporting the association between occupational exposure to each of the four organic solvents and breast cancer. The risk of ER+ breast tumours after age 50 years may be increased in women with TCE exposure, and this possible association therefore needs further attention in future studies.

AB - ObjectiveTo explore associations between occupational exposure to four specific organic solvents, respectively, and female breast cancer, including subtypes.MethodsUsing the Danish Cancer Registry, we identified 38 375 women under age 70 years with primary breast cancer. Five randomly selected breast-cancer-free controls per case matched on year of birth were retrieved from the Danish Civil Registration System . A nationwide pension fund was used to retrieve full employment history, and exposure to 1,1,1-trichloroethane, trichloroethylene (TCE), benzene and toluene was assessed using a job exposure matrix. ORs were estimated using conditional logistic regression with adjustment for reproductive factors and socioeconomic status.ResultsOverall results indicated no noteworthy associations between the specific organic solvents and breast cancer before and after age 50 years, except for a small increased risk after age 50 in women exposed to TCE (OR=1.15, 95% CI: 0.97-1.36). After age 50 years, exposure to TCE was associated with a small increased risk in women with over 20 years of latency (OR=1.26, 95% CI: 1.02-1.56). Further, an increased risk of oestrogen receptor positive (ER+) tumours was also observed (OR=1.21, 95% CI: 1.01-1.47), and high cumulative exposure and longer latency also increased the risk of this subtype.ConclusionThis study provides limited evidence supporting the association between occupational exposure to each of the four organic solvents and breast cancer. The risk of ER+ breast tumours after age 50 years may be increased in women with TCE exposure, and this possible association therefore needs further attention in future studies.

KW - epidemiology

KW - cancer

KW - women

KW - benzene

KW - solvents

U2 - 10.1136/oemed-2020-106865

DO - 10.1136/oemed-2020-106865

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 33093237

VL - 78

SP - 192

EP - 198

JO - Occupational and Environmental Medicine

JF - Occupational and Environmental Medicine

SN - 1351-0711

IS - 3

ER -