Risk factors for meningioma in adults: a case-control study in northeast China

A hospital case-control study of meningioma was conducted in Heilongjiang Province in northeast China between September 1989 and December 1996. It included 183 cases of newly diagnosed primary meningioma and 366 individually matched hospital controls with non-neoplastic and non-neurological disease selected from six major hospitals. Cases and controls were matched by sex, age and area of residence and interviewed in the hospital wards to obtain information on medical history, occupation and lifestyle. No association with liquor or beer consumption was apparent. Cigarette smoking was positively associated with meningioma risk in women but not in men. In women, compared with non-smokers, the adjusted OR for pack-years of smoking above the median (124) was 6.2 (CI 2.04-18.87). Both of these observations contrast with the results of a study of glioma in the same population, using similar methods. The risk of meningioma was positively associated with reported occupational exposure to lead, tin, cadmium and ionising radiation in both genders.