Cancer incidence among visual artists: 45 years of follow-up in four Nordic countries

Figures & data

Table 1. Study population of visual artists and number of cancer cases stratified by country, age, and follow-up period.

	Men					Women
	Finland	Iceland	Norway	Sweden	Total	Finland	Iceland	Norway	Sweden	Total
Number of persons	1128	59	1059	7423	9670	769	24	411	3125	4329
Average follow-up (years)	22.2	19.5	27.4	25.1	23.6	21.6	20.6	26.8	23.1	23.0
Person-years	25,073	1156	29,052	186,605	241,886	16,613	492	11,012	72,210	100,326
Observed number of cancers	171	15	247	1359	1792	88	3	90	383	564
Age group
30–49	13	0	10	94	117	20	0	8	87	115
50–69	83	3	96	619	801	41	3	44	199	287
≥70	75	12	141	646	874	27	0	38	97	162
Follow-up period
1961–1975	14		53	204	271	7		18	52	77
1976–1990	47	1	109	464	621	31	1	29	109	170
1991–2005	110	14	85	691	900	50	2	43	222	317

Table 2. Observed (Obs) numbers of cancer cases, standardized incidence ratios (SIR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI), and excess absolute risk (EAR) per 10,000 person-years among visual artists in Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, follow-up 1961–2005. Statistically significant SIRs highlighted in bold and with red (increased) or green (decreased).

		Men				Women
ICD-7	Site	Obs	SIR	95% CI	EAR	Obs	SIR	95% CI	EAR
140–204	All sites	1792	1.06	1.01–1.11	4.22	564	1.05	0.97–1.14	2.83
140	Lip	7	0.45	0.18–0.93	−0.35	0	0.00	0.00–3.33	−0.11
141	Tongue	19	2.91	1.75–4.55	0.52	2	1.42	0.17–5.12	0.06
143–144	Oral cavity	19	2.09	1.26–3.27	0.41	4	2.10	0.57–5.39	0.21
145–148	Pharynx	28	2.18	1.45–3.15	0.63	3	1.92	0.40–5.62	0.14
145	oropharynx	14	2.72	1.49–4.56	0.36	1	1.28	0.03–7.11	0.02
150	Oesophagus	23	1.02	0.65–1.54	0.02	1	0.37	0.01–2.08	−0.17
151	Stomach	61	0.65	0.50-–0.84	−1.34	7	0.43	0.17–0.88	−0.94
151.1	Cardia	12	0.88	0.46–1.54	−0.07	0	0.00	0.00–2.55	−0.15
152	Small intestine	5	0.57	0.19–1.34	−0.15	2	0.93	0.11–3.37	−0.02
153	Colon	141	1.10	0.93–1.30	0.53	32	0.80	0.55–1.13	−0.79
154	Rectum, rectosigma	99	1.13	0.92–1.37	0.47	20	0.97	0.59–1.50	−0.07
155.0	Primary liver	24	1.13	0.72–1.67	0.11	4	1.09	0.30–2.78	0.03
155.1	Gallbladder	12	1.34	0.69–2.35	0.13	2	0.33	0.04–1.20	−0.40
157	Pancreas	47	0.87	0.64–1.16	−0.28	13	0.89	0.48–1.53	−0.16
161	Larynx	19	1.02	0.61–1.59	0.01	0	0.00	0.00–4.89	−0.07
162,163	Lung	198	1.01	0.87–1.16	0.07	29	1.09	0.73–1.56	0.23
	adenocarcinoma	44	1.21	0.88–1.62	0.31	11	1.22	0.61–2.18	0.20
	small cell	26	1.10	0.72–1.61	0.10	2	0.50	0.06–1.79	−0.20
	squamous cell	62	0.92	0.71–1.18	−0.22	5	1.13	0.37–2.63	0.06
158,162	Mesothelioma	4	0.58	0.16–1.48	−0.12	0	0.00	0.00–7.39	−0.05
170	Breast					215	1.29	1.13–1.48	4.86
	ductal					96	1.28	1.04–1.56	2.08
	lobular					16	1.19	0.68–1.93	0.26
171	Cervix uteri					17	0.89	0.52–1.42	−0.21
172	Corpus uteri					41	1.27	0.91–1.72	0.87
175.0	Ovary					33	0.99	0.68–1.39	−0.03
177	Prostate	500	1.08	0.99–1.18	1.57
178	Testis	17	1.91	1.11-3.05	0.33
	seminoma	11	1.73	0.86–3.10	0.19
179.0	Penis	5	0.87	0.28–2.02	−0.03
180	Kidney	71	1.11	0.87–1.40	0.29	15	1.17	0.66–1.94	0.22
180.1	renal pelvis	16	2.48	1.42–4.03	0.40	4	3.46	0.94–8.87	0.28
181	Bladder	168	1.33	1.14–1.55	1.73	9	0.75	0.34–1.42	−0.31
190	Melanoma	53	0.98	0.73–1.28	−0.05	18	0.87	0.52–1.38	−0.26
191	Other skin	80	1.04	0.82–1.29	0.12	20	1.28	0.78–1.98	0.44
193	Brain	46	0.98	0.71–1.30	−0.05	24	1.23	0.79–1.83	0.45
194	Thyroid	9	1.09	0.50–2.06	0.03	12	1.52	0.79–2.66	0.41
200,202	Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	59	1.11	0.84–1.43	0.24	17	1.17	0.68–1.87	0.25
201	Hodgkin lymphoma	8	0.95	0.41–1.86	−0.02	1	0.54	0.01–3.00	−0.09
203	Multiple myeloma	18	0.66	0.39–1.05	−0.38	3	0.45	0.09–1.32	−0.37
204	Leukaemia	41	0.98	0.70–1.32	−0.04	9	0.92	0.42–1.75	−0.08
	chronic lymphatic	21	1.12	0.70–1.72	0.10	2	0.58	0.07–2.09	−0.15
	acute myeloid	9	0.86	0.39–1.63	−0.06	4	1.24	0.34–3.18	0.08

Table 3. Observed (Obs) numbers of selected cancers, standardized incidence ratios (SIR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI), and excess absolute risk (EAR) per 10,000 person-years among male visual artists in Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, stratified by country. Statistically significant SIRs highlighted in bold and with red (increased) or green (decreased).

		Finland				Norway				Sweden
ICD-7	Site	Obs	SIR	95% CI	EAR	Obs	SIR	95% CI	EAR	Obs	SIR	95% CI	EAR
140-204	All sites	171	1.06	0.91–1.23	4.03	247	0.93	0.81–1.05	−6.75	1359	1.08	1.03–1.14	5.70
141	Tongue	2	2.95	0.36–10.7	0.52	3	2.91	0.60–8.50	0.69	14	2.93	1.60–4.91	0.49
143-144	Oral cavity	4	5.89	1.60-15.1	1.32	1	0.65	0.02–3.64	−0.17	14	2.05	1.12–3.44	0.39
145-148	Pharynx	1	1.14	0.03–6.35	0.04	4	2.34	0.64–5.99	0.79	23	2.25	1.43–3.38	0.69
145	oropharynx	1	2.90	0.07–16.1	0.24	1	1.64	0.04–9.14	0.14	12	2.87	1.48–5.01	0.42
151	Stomach	7	0.76	0.30–1.56	−0.92	7	0.37	0.15–0.76	−4.10	47	0.73	0.53–0.96	−0.95
153	Colon	18	2.25	1.33–3.55	3.99	21	0.86	0.53–1.31	−1.20	99	1.04	0.85–1.27	0.22
162,163	Lung	23	0.67	0.43–1.01	−4.39	26	0.74	0.49–1.09	−3.10	148	1.18	0.99–1.38	1.18
178	Testis	1	1.85	0.05–10.3	0.20	3	2.28	0.47–6.66	0.59	13	1.86	0.99–3.17	0.32
180	Kidney	5	0.76	0.25–1.78	−0.64	11	1.25	0.63–2.24	0.76	54	1.12	0.84–1.46	0.32
180.1	renal pelvis	1	2.45	0.06–13.7	0.24	2	1.95	0.24–7.03	0.34	13	2.61	1.39–4.46	0.43
181	Bladder	10	1.11	0.53–2.04	0.40	21	0.98	0.61–1.50	−0.14	136	1.43	1.20–1.70	2.20
193	Brain	6	1.35	0.50–2.95	0.64	7	1.19	0.48–2.45	0.38	32	0.87	0.60–1.24	−0.25
203	Multiple myeloma	0	0.00	0.00–1.79	−0.84	3	0.42	0.13–1.82	−0.62	15	0.74	0.42–1.23	−0.28

Table 4. Observed (Obs) numbers of selected cancers and standardized incidence ratios (SIR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI), and excess absolute risk (EAR) per 10,000 person-years among male visual artists in Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, stratified by follow-up period. Statistically significant SIRs highlighted in bold and with red (increased) or green (decreased).

		1961–1975				1976–1990				1991–2005
ICD-7	Site	Obs	SIR	95% CI	EAR	Obs	SIR	95% CI	EAR	Obs	SIR	95% CI	EAR
140–204	All sites	271	1.18	1.04–1.33	6.42	621	1.05	0.97–1.13	3.21	900	1.04	0.97–1.11	3.66
141	Tongue	3	3.22	0.66–9.42	0.33	5	2.14	0.69–4.99	0.32	11	3.38	1.69-6.04	0.84
143–144	Oral cavity	1	0.71	0.02–3.97	−0.06	9	2.59	1.19–4.93	0.64	9	2.14	0.98–4.06	0.53
145–148	Pharynx	8	3.51	1.52–6.93	0.89	10	2.19	1.05–4.03	0.63	10	1.67	0.80–3.07	0.44
145	oropharynx	4	7.62	2.08–19.5	0.54	4	2.54	0.69–6.52	0.28	6	1.96	0.72–4.28	0.32
151	Stomach	17	0.72	0.42–1.15	−1.04	25	0.65	0.42–0.96	−1.59	19	0.61	0.37–0.95	−1.35
153	Colon	29	1.74	1.16–2.50	1.91	41	0.92	0.66–1.24	−0.43	71	1.06	0.83–1.34	0.46
162,163	Lung	34	1.09	0.75–1.52	0.44	82	1.04	0.83–1.29	0.35	82	0.95	0.76–1.18	−0.46
178	Testis	3	1.32	0.27–3.85	0.11	8	2.54	1.10–5.00	0.57	6	1.72	0.63–3.74	0.27
180	Kidney	22	1.91	1.20–2.90	1.63	22	0.87	0.54–1.31	−0.40	27	1.00	0.66–1.45	0.00
180.1	renal pelvis	5	4.95	1.61–11.6	0.62	4	1.57	0.43–4.02	0.16	7	2.42	0.97–4.99	0.45
181	Bladder	27	1.79	1.18–2.60	1.85	62	1.37	1.05–1.75	1.95	79	1.20	0.95–1.50	1.46
193	Brain	9	0.94	0.43–1.78	−0.09	18	1.03	0.61–1.63	0.07	19	0.94	0.57–1.47	−0.13
203	Multiple myeloma	2	0.48	0.06–1.73	−0.34	7	0.68	0.27–1.40	−0.39	9	0.71	0.32-1.34	−0.40

Table 5. Observed (Obs) numbers of selected cancers and standardized incidence ratios (SIR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI), and excess absolute risk (EAR) per 10,000 person-years among male visual artists in Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, stratified by age at follow-up. Statistically significant SIRs highlighted in bold and with red (increased) or green (decreased).

		30–49				50–69				70+
ICD-7	Site	Obs	SIR	95% CI	EAR	Obs	SIR	95% CI	EAR	Obs	SIR	95% CI	EAR
140–204	All sites	117	1.14	0.94–1.36	1.44	801	1.03	0.96–1.11	2.34	874	1.08	1.01-1.15	18.15
141	Tongue	4	4.91	1.34-12.6	0.33	11	2.91	1.45-5.21	0.65	4	2.07	0.56–5.30	0.61
143–144	Oral cavity	1	1.18	0.03–6.59	0.02	13	2.51	1.34-4.29	0.71	5	1.64	0.53–3.82	0.55
145–148	Pharynx	3	2.03	0.42–5.93	0.16	13	1.63	0.87–2.78	0.45	12	3.57	1.84-6.23	2.51
145	oropharynx	1	1.44	0.04–8.00	0.03	7	2.13	0.86–4.39	0.33	6	5.14	1.88-11.2	1.40
151	Stomach	3	0.53	0.11–1.56	−0.27	32	0.71	0.49–1.01	−1.17	26	0.61	0.40-0.89	−4.96
153	Colon	11	1.64	0.82–2.93	0.45	53	1.00	0.75–1.31	−0.01	77	1.13	0.89–1.41	2.54
162,163	Lung	13	1.47	0.78–2.51	0.44	103	0.96	0.79–1.17	−0.35	82	1.02	0.81–1.26	0.41
178	Testis	13	2.23	1.19-3.82	0.75	4	1.56	0.43–4.00	0.13	0	0.00	0.00–6.94	−0.15
180	Kidney	8	1.39	0.60–2.74	0.23	40	1.15	0.82–1.57	0.48	23	0.98	0.62–1.47	−0.15
180.1	renal pelvis	1	2.30	0.06–12.8	0.06	10	3.13	1.50-5.76	0.62	5	1.77	0.58–4.14	0.64
181	Bladder	8	1.39	0.60–2.73	0.23	70	1.26	0.98–1.59	1.29	90	1.39	1.12-1.71	7.41
193	Brain	8	0.77	0.33–1.52	−0.25	20	0.77	0.47–1.18	−0.55	18	1.69	1.00-2.67	2.13
203	Multiple myeloma	1	0.65	0.02–3.63	−0.05	12	0.93	0.48–1.62	−0.08	5	0.39	0.13-0.92	−2.28

Data availability statement

Data available on https://astra.cancer.fi/NOCCA/