• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.243-249
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• 2011

Objectives: Cement contains hexavalent chromium, which is a human carcinogen. However, its effect on cancer seems inconclusive in epidemiologic studies. The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to elucidate the association between dust exposure in the cement industry and cancer occurrence. Methods: The cohorts consisted of male workers in 6 Portland cement factories in Korea. Study subjects were classified into five groups by job: quarry, production, maintenance, laboratory, and office work. Cancer mortality and incidence in workers were observed from 1992 to 2007 and 1997-2005, respectively. Standardized mortality ratios and standardized incidence ratios were calculated according to the five job classifications. Results: There was an increased standardized incidence ratio for stomach cancer of 1.56 (27/17.36, 95% confidence interval: 1.02-2.26) in production workers. The standardized mortality ratio for lung cancer increased in production workers. However, was not statistically significant. Conclusion: Our result suggests a potential association between cement exposure and stomach cancer. Hexavalent chromium contained in cement might be a causative carcinogen.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.482-486
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• 2022

Background: This study aimed to estimate the annual prevalence and incidence of urolithiasis stratified by work status based on a large nationwide sample. Methods: This study used data from the National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort from 2002 to 2015. The prevalence and incidence of urolithiasis were estimated based on work status and gender stratification. The risk of urolithiasis among workers was calculated using age-standardized incidence ratio with stratification of work type. Results: The prevalence of urolithiasis was significantly higher in workers than in non-workers, especially men, during the follow-up period. The total estimated number of urolithiasis cases was 41,086 and the overall incidence of urolithiasis was 0.3%. The age-standardized incidence ratio of urolithiasis was significantly higher among the total workers (1.14; 95% confidence interval, 1.13-1.16), self-employed workers (1.08; 95% confidence interval, 1.06-1.11), and paid workers (1.19; 95% confidence interval, 1.17-1.21) than among the non-working population. Conclusions: Workers, especially paid workers and men, were vulnerable to urolithiasis. Further studies are required to investigate the effects of working conditions on urolithiasis.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aviation and Aeronautics
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.99-104
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• 2011

Pilots are exposed to carcinogenic substances like radiation, ozone, exhaust gas from jet engine, and electromagnetic wave, their environment can be very hazardous. I designed this study to know if there is any difference between pilots and general people in cancer incidence. I analyzed cancer cases between 1999 and 2008, and investigated their age, site, aircraft types, and sex. I compared pilot's cancer incidence with general people during same periods. Statistical analysis was performed with standardized incidence ratio (SIR). 10 cases were high performance pilots, 5 cases were low performance pilots. The average age when the diagnosis had been made was $39{\pm}7.8$. Pilot's incidence ratio was lower than people's, the most common cancer was kidney, and there was no lung cancer. Cancer is influenced by gene and environment, each country has different patterns. The low incidence ratio in Korean pilots might be due to "healthy worker effect". I think we should perform further investigation on kidney cancer.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.367-372
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• 2003

Objectives : There are many concerns about ginseng as a cancer chemopreventive substance, but there have been few epidemiological studies on ginseng, This study sought to examine the relationships between ginseng intake and cancer incidence in the Kangwha cohort. Methods ; Between March 1985 and December 1999, 2697 males, aged 55 or over, as of 1985, were followed up for their cancer incidence. The cancer incidence rate, standardized incidence ratio and risk ratios were calculated according to ginseng intake. A Cox proportional hazard model was used to adjust for age at entry, smoking, alcohol intake, hypertension, and body mass index. Results & Conclusions : The ginseng intake group had the same cancer (C00-C97) incidences (Standardized Incidence Ratio: SIR=1.11, 95% Confidence Interval=0.97-1.27) and the same risk ratio (RR=1.09, 95% Confidence Interval=0.85-1.41) as the no-intake group. Analyzing the subjects that had followed up from 1990, however, the ginseng intake group had lower cancer incidences at all sites (RR=0.79, 95% Confidence Interval=0.58-1.09). This was a cohort study to try and evaluate the association between ginseng intake and the incidences of cancer, The results of this study provide no clear conclusions on the cancer preventive effects of ginseng. Therefore, further study is needed in the future.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.185-189
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• 2011

Objectives: In 1995, an outbreak survey in Gozan-dong concluded that an association between fiberglass exposure in drinking water and cancer outbreak cannot be established. This study follows the subjects from a study in 1995 using a data linkage method to examine whether an association existed. The authors will address the potential benefits and methodological issues following outbreak surveys using data linkage, particularly when informed consent is absent. Methods: This is a follow-up study of 697 (30 exposed) individuals out of the original 888 (31 exposed) participants (78.5%) from 1995 to 2007 assessing the cancer outcomes and deaths of these individuals. The National Cancer Registry (KNCR) and death certificate data were linked using the ID numbers of the participants. The standardized incidence ratio (SIR) and standardized mortality ratio (SMR) from cancers were calculated by the KNCR. Results: The SIR values for all cancer or gastrointestinal cancer (GI) occurrences were the lowest in the exposed group (SIR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.10 to 5.21; 0.00 for GI), while the two control groups (control 1: external, control 2: internal) showed slight increases in their SIR values (SIR, 1.18 and 1.27 for all cancers; 1.62 and 1.46 for GI). All lacked statistical significance. All-cause mortality levels for the three groups showed the same pattern (SMR 0.37, 1.29, and 1.11). Conclusions: This study did not refute a finding of non-association with a 13-year follow-up. Considering that many outbreak surveys are associated with a small sample size and a cross-sectional design, follow-up studies that utilize data linkage should become standard procedure.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.233-238
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• 2007

Objectives : We aimed to assess the relationship between long-term exposure to air pollution and lung cancer in the Republic of Korea. Methods : Using the Annual Report of Ambient Air Quality in Korea, Annual Report of National Cancer Registration, and Annual Report on the Cause of Death Statistics, we calculated the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) and standardized incidence ratio (SIR) of lung cancer for both sexes in 74 areas from 7 Korean metropolitan cities. We performed random intercept, Poisson regression using empirical Bayes method. Results : Both SMRs and SIRs in the 7 metropolitan cities were higher in women than in men. Mean SIRs were 99.0 for males and 107.0 for females. The association between $PM_{10}$ and lung cancer risk differed according to gender. $PM_{10}$ was not associated with the risk of lung cancer in males, but both incidence and mortality of lung cancer were positively associated with $PM_{10}$ in females. The estimated percentage increases in the rate of female lung cancer mortality and incidence were 27% and 65% at the highest $PM_{10}$ category $({\geq}70\;{\mu}g/m^3)$, compared to the referent category $({\geq}50\;{\mu}g/m^3)$. Conclusions : Long-term exposure to $PM_{10}$ was significantly associated with female lung cancer incidence in 7 Korean metropolitan cities. Further study is undergoing to estimate the relative risk of $PM_{10}$ using multi-level analysis for controlling individual and regional confounders such as smoking and socioeconomic position.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.16
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• pp.7365-7374
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• 2015

Background: Over the past decade, bladder cancer was associated with a significant increase. Given the importance of the impact of socioeconomic status on the distribution of cancer incidence and mortality, and the need to information on these parameters for prevention planning, the aim of this study was to evaluate data for bladder cancer and their relationship with human development index (HDI) and its components in Asia in 2012. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted based on data from the world data of cancer and the World Bank (including the HDI and its components). The incidence and mortality rates were drawn for Asian countries. To analyze data, correlation tests between incidence and death rates, and HDI and its components were employed with a significance level of 0.05 using SPSS software. Results: A total incidence of 696,231 cases (68.7% in males and 31.3% in females, sex ratio of 2.19:1) and 524,465 deaths (67.0% in men and 32.9% in women, sex ratio was 2.03:1) were recorded in Asian countries in 2012. Correlation between HDI and standardized incidence rate was 0.241 overall (p=0.106), 0.236 in men (p=0.114) and -0.250 in women (p=0.094). Also between HDI and standardized mortality rate 0.025 (p=0.871) in men 0.118 (p=0.903) and in women 0.014 (p=0.927). Conclusions: Bladder cancer incidence is higher in developed countries, but the rate is declining, and in less developed and developing countries it is growing. There was no statistically significant correlation between the standardized incidence rate of bladder cancer and the HDI and its dimensions in Asia, except for the level of education.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.6181-6184
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• 2013

Background: Lung cancer is the most frequent cancer in males and the fourth most frequent site in females, worldwide. This study is the first to explore the profile of lung cancer in Kuwait. Materials and Methods: Cases of primary lung cancer (Kuwaiti) in Kuwait cancer Registry (KCR) were grouped in 4 periods (10 years each) from 1970-2009. Epidemiological measures; age standardized incidence rate (ASIR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI), Standardized rate ratio (SRR) and Cumulative risk and Forecasting to year 2020-2029 used for analysis. Results: Between years, 2000-2009 lung cancer ranked the 4th and the 9th most frequent cancer in males and females respectively. M:F ratio 1:3. Mean age at diagnosis (95%CI) was 65.2 (63.9-66.4) years. The estimated risk of developing lung cancer before the age of 75 years in males is 1.8% (1/56), and 0.6 (1/167) in females. The ASIR for male cases was 11.7, 17.1, 17.0, 14.0 cases/100,000 population in the seventies, eighties, nineties and in 2000-2009 respectively. Female ASIR was 2.3, 8.4, 5.1, 4.4 cases/100,000 population in the same duration. Lung cancer is the leading cause cancer death in males 168 (14.2%) and the fifth cause of death due to cancer in females accounting for 6.1% of all cancer deaths. The ASMR (95%CI) was 8.1 (6.6-10.0) deaths/100,000 population and 2.8 (1.3-4.3) deaths/100,000 population in males and females respectively. The estimated Mortality to incidence Ratio was 0.6. Conclusions: The incidence of lung cancer between years 2000-2009 is not different from that reported in the seventies. KCR is expecting the number of lung cancer cases to increase.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.1011-1014
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• 2014

Background: Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) represent 1% of all malignant lesions. In this study the authors analyzed the incidence of STS in Vojvodina (the north region of Serbia) in the period from 1985 to 2009. A number of studies conducted worldwide indicate that STS incidence rates are tending to increase. Materials and Methods: On the basis of data from the Cancer Registry of Vojvodina, age standardized STS incidence rates were established as well as their linear trend, with data on histological structure, age, gender and STS distribution at specific locations. Results: The total number of registered patients was 1,308. Average age standardized rate was 1.90/100,000 per year. The investigated period showed a slight increase in the incidence rate (average annual percent increase=0.77%). The most frequent histological type was sarcoma not otherwise specified-NOS (27%), followed by leiomyosarcoma (21%), liposarcoma (14%), rhabdomyosarcoma (11%) and malignant fibrous histiocytoma (9%). The male/female ratio was 0.73:1. Every fifth patient was younger than 39. Conclusions: Comparison among eight international STS epidemiology studies show that the incidence rate range is between 1.4/100,000-5.0/100,000, though our finding is closer to the lower limit. Furthermore, the incidence rate increase was lower than that characteristic for the half of the analyzed studies. A partial explanation for that should be looked for among changes in diagnostic criteria and STS classifications.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.3777-3783
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• 2016

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence and mortality of stomach cancer, and its relationship with the Human Development Index (HDI) and its components in Asia in 2012. Materials and Methods: This ecological study wa conducted based on GLOBOCAN project of WHO for Asian countries. We assessed the correlations between standardized incidence rates (SIR) and standardized mortality rates (SMR) of stomach Cancer with HDI and its components using SPSS18. Results: A total of 696,231 cases (68.7% in males and 31.3% in females, ratio of 2.19:1) and 524,465 deaths (67.1% in men and 33.0% in women, ratio 2.03:1) were included in 2012. Five countries with the highest SIR of stomach cancer were Republic Korea, Mongolia, Japan, China and Tajikistan. Five countries with the highest SMR of stomach cancer were Mongolia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and China. Correlation between HDI and SIR was 0.241 (p = 0.106), in men 0.236 (p = 0.114) and in women -0.250 (p = 0.094). Also between HDI and SMR -0.250 (p = 0.871) in men -0.018 (p = 0.903) and in women -0.014 (p = 0.927). Conclusions: No significant correlation was observed between the SIR of stomach cancer, and the HDI and its dimensions, such as life expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling, and income level of the population.