Occupational exposure to flour dust and the risk of head and neck cancer

Matthieu Carton (1) , Gwenn Menvielle (2) , Diane Cyr (3, 4) , Marie Sanchez (5, 6) , Corinne Pilorget (7, 8) , Anne-Valérie Guizard (9) , Isabelle Stücker (5, 6) , Daniele Luce (10)

1 Institut Curie [Paris]
2 iPLESP - Institut Pierre Louis d'Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique
3 UVSQ - Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
4 CONSTANCES - Cohortes épidémiologiques en population
5 CESP - Centre de recherche en épidémiologie et santé des populations
6 UP11 - Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11
7 UMRESTTE UMR T9405 - Unité Mixte de Recherche Epidémiologique et de Surveillance Transport Travail Environnement
8 Santé publique France - French National Public Health Agency [Saint-Maurice, France]
9 UNICANCER/CRLC - Centre Régional de Lutte contre le Cancer François Baclesse [Caen]
10 Irset - Institut de recherche en santé, environnement et travail

Background - To investigate the association between head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC) risk and occupational exposure to flour dust in women and men, using data from ICARE, a French population-based case-control study. Methods - The analysis included 2053 cases of HNSCC and 3507 controls. Lifelong occupational history was collected. A job-exposure matrix was used to assess exposure to flour dust. Odds-ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI), adjusted for smoking, alcohol drinking, and asbestos exposure, were estimated with logistic regression models. Results - Ever exposure to flour dust was associated with elevated ORs in women (OR = 2.15, 95%CI: 1.01 4.55) and in men (OR = 1.55, 95%CI: 1.11 2.17). In women, the risk increased with the probability, the duration, and the cumulative level of exposure. No dose-response relationships were observed in men. Conclusions - Although the results were less conclusive in men than in women, overall, these findings provide some support to the hypothesis of a role of flour dust in the occurrence of HNSCC.

Keywords: case-control study; flour dust; head and neck cancer; occupational exposure

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Ecology, environment; Health

Matthieu Carton, Gwenn Menvielle, Diane Cyr, Marie Sanchez, Corinne Pilorget, et al.. Occupational exposure to flour dust and the risk of head and neck cancer. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 2018, 61 (10), pp.869-873. ⟨10.1002/ajim.22899⟩. ⟨hal-01888612⟩