Cancer incidence among 10,211 airline pilots: a Nordic study
BACKGROUND: Commercial airline pilots are exposed to cosmic radiation and other potentially carcinogenic elements during work and leisure activities. HYPOTHESIS: Work-related factors affect cancer pattern of the pilots. METHODS: A cohort of 10,051 male and 160 female airline pilots from Denmark, Fin...
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ftlandspitaliuni:oai:www.hirsla.lsh.is:2336/4594 2023-05-15T16:48:44+02:00 Cancer incidence among 10,211 airline pilots: a Nordic study Pukkala, Eero Aspholm, Rafael Auvinen, Anssi Eliasch, Harald Gundestrup, Maryanne Haldorsen, Tor Hammar, Niklas Hrafnkelsson, Jon Kyyrönen, Pentti Linnersjö, Anette Rafnsson, Vilhjalmur Storm, Hans Tveten, Ulf 2003-07-01 YES http://hdl.handle.net/2336/4594 en eng Aerospace Medical Association http://www.ingentaconnect.com/search/article?author=hrafnkelsson&year_from=2001&year_to=2006&database=1&pageSize=20&index=4 Aviat Space Environ Med 2003, 74(7):699-706 0095-6562 12862322 MAO12 http://hdl.handle.net/2336/4594 Adult Age Distribution Aged Aircraft Causality Cohort Studies Dose-Response Relationship Radiation Female Finland Follow-Up Studies Humans Iceland/epidemiology Incidence Neoplasms Radiation-Induced Occupational Diseases Occupational Exposure Prostatic Neoplasms Risk Scandinavia Sex Distribution Skin Neoplasms Workload Epidemiology Article 2003 ftlandspitaliuni 2022-05-29T08:20:53Z BACKGROUND: Commercial airline pilots are exposed to cosmic radiation and other potentially carcinogenic elements during work and leisure activities. HYPOTHESIS: Work-related factors affect cancer pattern of the pilots. METHODS: A cohort of 10,051 male and 160 female airline pilots from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden was followed for cancer incidence through the national cancer registries. There were 177,000 person-years at follow-up, 51,000 of them accumulated after 20 yr since the time of first employment. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) were defined as ratios of observed over expected numbers of cases based on national cancer incidence rates. Dose-response analyses were done with Poisson regression method. RESULTS: Among male pilots, there were 466 cases of cancer diagnosed vs. 456 expected. The only significantly increased SIRs concerned skin cancer: melanoma 2.3 (95% CI 1.7-3.0), squamous cell cancer 2.1 (1.7-2.8), and basal cell carcinoma 2.5 (1.9-3.2). The relative risk of skin cancers increased with the time since first employment, the number of flight hours, and the estimated radiation dose. There was an increase in the relative risk of prostate cancer with increasing number of flight hours in long-distance aircraft (p trend 0.01). No increased incidence was found for acute myeloid leukemia or brain cancer which were of interest a priori based on earlier studies. CONCLUSIONS: This large study, based on reliable cancer incidence data, showed an increased incidence of skin cancer. It did not indicate a marked increase in cancer risk attributable to cosmic radiation although some influence of cosmic radiation on skin cancer cannot be entirely excluded. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Hirsla - Landspítali University Hospital research archive Norway |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Hirsla - Landspítali University Hospital research archive |
op_collection_id |
ftlandspitaliuni |
language |
English |
topic |
Adult Age Distribution Aged Aircraft Causality Cohort Studies Dose-Response Relationship Radiation Female Finland Follow-Up Studies Humans Iceland/epidemiology Incidence Neoplasms Radiation-Induced Occupational Diseases Occupational Exposure Prostatic Neoplasms Risk Scandinavia Sex Distribution Skin Neoplasms Workload Epidemiology |
spellingShingle |
Adult Age Distribution Aged Aircraft Causality Cohort Studies Dose-Response Relationship Radiation Female Finland Follow-Up Studies Humans Iceland/epidemiology Incidence Neoplasms Radiation-Induced Occupational Diseases Occupational Exposure Prostatic Neoplasms Risk Scandinavia Sex Distribution Skin Neoplasms Workload Epidemiology Pukkala, Eero Aspholm, Rafael Auvinen, Anssi Eliasch, Harald Gundestrup, Maryanne Haldorsen, Tor Hammar, Niklas Hrafnkelsson, Jon Kyyrönen, Pentti Linnersjö, Anette Rafnsson, Vilhjalmur Storm, Hans Tveten, Ulf Cancer incidence among 10,211 airline pilots: a Nordic study |
topic_facet |
Adult Age Distribution Aged Aircraft Causality Cohort Studies Dose-Response Relationship Radiation Female Finland Follow-Up Studies Humans Iceland/epidemiology Incidence Neoplasms Radiation-Induced Occupational Diseases Occupational Exposure Prostatic Neoplasms Risk Scandinavia Sex Distribution Skin Neoplasms Workload Epidemiology |
description |
BACKGROUND: Commercial airline pilots are exposed to cosmic radiation and other potentially carcinogenic elements during work and leisure activities. HYPOTHESIS: Work-related factors affect cancer pattern of the pilots. METHODS: A cohort of 10,051 male and 160 female airline pilots from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden was followed for cancer incidence through the national cancer registries. There were 177,000 person-years at follow-up, 51,000 of them accumulated after 20 yr since the time of first employment. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) were defined as ratios of observed over expected numbers of cases based on national cancer incidence rates. Dose-response analyses were done with Poisson regression method. RESULTS: Among male pilots, there were 466 cases of cancer diagnosed vs. 456 expected. The only significantly increased SIRs concerned skin cancer: melanoma 2.3 (95% CI 1.7-3.0), squamous cell cancer 2.1 (1.7-2.8), and basal cell carcinoma 2.5 (1.9-3.2). The relative risk of skin cancers increased with the time since first employment, the number of flight hours, and the estimated radiation dose. There was an increase in the relative risk of prostate cancer with increasing number of flight hours in long-distance aircraft (p trend 0.01). No increased incidence was found for acute myeloid leukemia or brain cancer which were of interest a priori based on earlier studies. CONCLUSIONS: This large study, based on reliable cancer incidence data, showed an increased incidence of skin cancer. It did not indicate a marked increase in cancer risk attributable to cosmic radiation although some influence of cosmic radiation on skin cancer cannot be entirely excluded. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Pukkala, Eero Aspholm, Rafael Auvinen, Anssi Eliasch, Harald Gundestrup, Maryanne Haldorsen, Tor Hammar, Niklas Hrafnkelsson, Jon Kyyrönen, Pentti Linnersjö, Anette Rafnsson, Vilhjalmur Storm, Hans Tveten, Ulf |
author_facet |
Pukkala, Eero Aspholm, Rafael Auvinen, Anssi Eliasch, Harald Gundestrup, Maryanne Haldorsen, Tor Hammar, Niklas Hrafnkelsson, Jon Kyyrönen, Pentti Linnersjö, Anette Rafnsson, Vilhjalmur Storm, Hans Tveten, Ulf |
author_sort |
Pukkala, Eero |
title |
Cancer incidence among 10,211 airline pilots: a Nordic study |
title_short |
Cancer incidence among 10,211 airline pilots: a Nordic study |
title_full |
Cancer incidence among 10,211 airline pilots: a Nordic study |
title_fullStr |
Cancer incidence among 10,211 airline pilots: a Nordic study |
title_full_unstemmed |
Cancer incidence among 10,211 airline pilots: a Nordic study |
title_sort |
cancer incidence among 10,211 airline pilots: a nordic study |
publisher |
Aerospace Medical Association |
publishDate |
2003 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2336/4594 |
geographic |
Norway |
geographic_facet |
Norway |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_relation |
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/search/article?author=hrafnkelsson&year_from=2001&year_to=2006&database=1&pageSize=20&index=4 Aviat Space Environ Med 2003, 74(7):699-706 0095-6562 12862322 MAO12 http://hdl.handle.net/2336/4594 |
_version_ |
1766038818736046080 |