Pesticides And Prostate Cancer Risk
American Journal of Epidemiology
Copyright © 2003 by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
All rights reserved
Vol. 157, No. 9
Printed in U.S.A.
DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwg040
Use of Agricultural Pesticides and Prostate Cancer Risk in the Agricultural Health
Study Cohort
Michael C. R. Alavanja1, Claudine Samanic1, Mustafa Dosemeci1, Jay Lubin1, Robert Tarone1,
Charles F. Lynch2, Charles Knott3, Kent Thomas4, Jane A. Hoppin5, Joseph Barker6, Joseph
Coble1, Dale P. Sandler5, and Aaron Blair1
1
Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD.
Department of Epidemiology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA.
3 Battelle/Centers for Public Health Research and Evaluation, Durham, NC.
4 US Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC.
5 National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC.
6 IMS, Inc., Silver Spring, MD.
2
Received for publication July 3, 2002; accepted for publication October 22, 2002.
agrochemicals; fungicides, industrial; herbicides; insecticides; pesticides; prostatic neoplasms; risk
Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; DDT, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane; EPTC, S-ethyl dipropylthiocarbamate; OR, odds ratio; SIR, standardized incidence ratio; 2,4,5-T, 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid; 2,4,5-TP, 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxypropionic acid. Prostate cancer is the most common malignancy among men in the United States and in most Western countries
(other than nonmelanoma skin cancer), and in the United
States, it is the second leading cause of cancer death (1, 2).
Despite the common occurrence of this tumor, its etiology remains largely unknown.
Age, family history, African-American ethnicity, hormonal factors, and possibly a high consumption of animal fat and red meat are the most consistent risk factors reported (3–10). An inverse association with vegetable and fruit consumption has been suggested (9, 11, 12), while
smoking may be related to the occurrence of
Copyright © 2003 by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
All rights reserved
Vol. 157, No. 9
Printed in U.S.A.
DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwg040
Use of Agricultural Pesticides and Prostate Cancer Risk in the Agricultural Health
Study Cohort
Michael C. R. Alavanja1, Claudine Samanic1, Mustafa Dosemeci1, Jay Lubin1, Robert Tarone1,
Charles F. Lynch2, Charles Knott3, Kent Thomas4, Jane A. Hoppin5, Joseph Barker6, Joseph
Coble1, Dale P. Sandler5, and Aaron Blair1
1
Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD.
Department of Epidemiology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA.
3 Battelle/Centers for Public Health Research and Evaluation, Durham, NC.
4 US Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC.
5 National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC.
6 IMS, Inc., Silver Spring, MD.
2
Received for publication July 3, 2002; accepted for publication October 22, 2002.
agrochemicals; fungicides, industrial; herbicides; insecticides; pesticides; prostatic neoplasms; risk
Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; DDT, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane; EPTC, S-ethyl dipropylthiocarbamate; OR, odds ratio; SIR, standardized incidence ratio; 2,4,5-T, 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid; 2,4,5-TP, 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxypropionic acid. Prostate cancer is the most common malignancy among men in the United States and in most Western countries
(other than nonmelanoma skin cancer), and in the United
States, it is the second leading cause of cancer death (1, 2).
Despite the common occurrence of this tumor, its etiology remains largely unknown.
Age, family history, African-American ethnicity, hormonal factors, and possibly a high consumption of animal fat and red meat are the most consistent risk factors reported (3–10). An inverse association with vegetable and fruit consumption has been suggested (9, 11, 12), while
smoking may be related to the occurrence of
References: 1. Greenlee RT, Hill-Harmon MB, Murray T, et al. Cancer statistics, 2001. CA Cancer J Clin 2001;51:15–36. Downloaded from aje.oxfordjournals.org by guest on July 13, 2011 when we used other measures of exposure, including 27. Monson RR. Occupational epidemiology. 2nd ed. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1990:105–31. Vol II. The design and analysis of cohort studies. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer, 1987:100–5. Department of Health and Human Services, 1992. (DHHS (NIOSH) publication no