Occupation and gastric cancer in Spain

The association between occupational exposure and stomach cancer was investigated in a multicenter case-referent study conducted in Spain on 354 histologically confirmed cases and 354 hospital referents, matched by age, gender, and residence. An increased risk of gastric cancer was found for coal mining workers [odds ratio (OR) 11.8], but the number of workers was small, and therefore the 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was wide (95% CI 1.36-103). An increased risk was observed for wood and furniture workers (OR 1.76), construction workers (OR 1.68), and glass and ceramic workers (OR 2.18), but none of these risks were statistically significant. According to an occupation-exposure linkage system an increased risk was found for occupations associated with exposure to silica and mineral dust (OR 1.80, 95% CI 0.90-3.59). All of the OR estimates were adjusted for the confounding factors socioprofessional status and dietary habits. The possibility of a causal association between stomach cancer and coal and mineral dust is supported by the results.