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. 2023 Mar 23:11:1137820.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1137820. eCollection 2023.

Estimating 10-year risk of lung and breast cancer by occupation in Switzerland

Affiliations

Estimating 10-year risk of lung and breast cancer by occupation in Switzerland

Bernadette Wilhelmina Antonia van der Linden et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Introduction: Lung and breast cancer are important in the working-age population both in terms of incidence and costs. The study aims were to estimate the 10-year risk of lung and breast cancer by occupation and smoking status and to create easy to use age-, and sex-specific 10-year risk charts.

Methods: New lung and breast cancer cases between 2010 and 2014 from all 5 cancer registries of Western Switzerland, matched with the Swiss National Cohort were used. The 10-year risks of lung and breast cancer by occupational category were estimated. For lung cancer, estimates were additionally stratified by smoking status using data on smoking prevalence from the 2007 Swiss Health Survey.

Results: The risks of lung and breast cancer increased with age and were the highest for current smokers. Men in elementary professions had a higher 10-year risk of developing lung cancer compared to men in intermediate and managerial professions. Women in intermediate professions had a higher 10-year risk of developing lung cancer compared to elementary and managerial professions. However, women in managerial professions had the highest risk of developing breast cancer.

Discussion: The 10-year risk of lung and breast cancer differs substantially between occupational categories. Smoking creates greater changes in 10-year risk than occupation for both sexes. The 10-year risk is interesting for both patients and professionals to inform choices related to cancer risk, such as screening and health behaviors. The risk charts can also be used as public health indicators and to inform policies to protect workers.

Keywords: Switzerland; breast cancer; lung cancer; occupation; risk communication.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
10-year risk chart of lung cancer for men by occupational group and smoking status. The chart indicates the number of men per 1,000 who will get lung cancer during the next 10 years, beginning at the indicated age. Elementary professions: agriculture, industry, crafts, elementary professions. Intermediate professions: intermediate professions, administrative employees, personal service and personnel. Managerial professions: managerial, intellectual, or scientific professions.
Figure 2
Figure 2
10-year risk chart of lung cancer for women by occupational group and smoking status. The chart indicates the number of women per 1,000 who will get lung cancer during the next 10 years, beginning at the indicated age. Elementary professions: agriculture, industry, crafts, elementary professions. Intermediate professions: intermediate professions, administrative employees, personal service and personnel. Managerial professions: managerial, intellectual, or scientific professions.
Figure 3
Figure 3
10-year risk chart of breast cancer for women by occupational group. The chart indicates the number of women per 1,000 who will get breast cancer during the next 10 years, beginning at the indicated age. Elementary professions: agriculture, industry, crafts, elementary professions. Intermediate professions: intermediate professions, administrative employees, personal service and personnel. Managerial professions: managerial, intellectual, or scientific professions.

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