Cancer incidence among Swedish brewery workers

In order to examine the risks of cancer, particularly of rectal cancer, among Swedish brewery workers, 6,230 men employed in the brewery industry in 1960 were followed-up during 1961-79 by the Swedish Cancer Registry. Using all Swedish men as a reference group, relative risks (RR) were computed with standardization for year of birth, year of follow-up, and geographic region. A total of 712 new cases of cancer were observed compared to 570.7 expected (p less than 0.001). Significantly increased risks were seen for several cancer sites, e.g. esophagus (RR = 2.5, 95% confidence interval (Cl) = 1.5-3.8), rectum (RR = 1.7, Cl = 1.3-2.3), pancreas (RR = 1.7, Cl = 1.2-2.3), and lung (RR = 1.4, Cl = 1.1-1.7). An excess risk of liver cancer was almost significant (p = 0.053, RR = 1.7, Cl = 1.0-2.8). The risk of colon cancer was not significantly increased (RR = 1.2, Cl = 0.9-1.5), and the difference between the relative risk of colon cancer and that of rectum cancer was nearly significant (p = 0.07). Our results support the hypothesis that high beer consumption is associated with an increased risk of rectal cancer.