Occupational Etiology and Nasal Cancer: An Internordic Project

Abstract

Reports from Britain and other countries have shown an increased frequency of adenocarcinoma of the nose and paranasal sinuses among workers exposed to fine wood dust. With support from the Nordic Council a joint project has been launched in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden to single out occupations and exposures possibly associated with nasal cancer. The project is a prospective case-referent study with matched control cases of colon cancer. Each new case of malignant epithelial tumour of the nose and sinuses reported to the individual national cancer registries is interviewed concerning previous occupational exposures according to the program. The estimated duration of data collection is two years. This type of joint study is new to the Nordic countries and we hope to gain valuable experience in order to improve cooperation within this type of medical research. A retrospective study in Sweden has shown that 50% of all male cases of nasal adenocarcinoma from 1960 to 1972 were joiners, most of them cabinet makers. The duration of exposure to fine wood dust was known in 21 of 22 cases. The latency period varied from 22 to 70 years, with a mean value of 44.7 years. The exposure period varied from 9 to more than 30 years. The results correspond to those reported from Britain and Denmark.