[Have female flight attendants an over-risk of breast cancer?]

The aim of this revue was to estimate the level of breast cancer risk among female flight attendants.

The selected articles were taken from the PUBMED database, between January 1st 1995 and December 31st 2013 by the means of the following keywords: "breast cancer", "flight attendants", "airline cabin crew" and "flight personnel". Seventeen articles were finally selected.

The incidence of breast cancer is significantly higher among female flights attendants [standardized incidence ratio (SIR) 1.04-5.24, 95% CI 1.00-17.38]. However, no studies have demonstrated a significant increase of mortality by breast cancer [standardized mortality ratio (SMR) 1.0-1.28, 95% CI 0.54-3.7]. The circadian rhythm disruption through night work and time zones leading to disorder of melatonin secretion just as exposure to cosmic radiation could account for this increase of risk.

A medical supervision concerning breast cancer for flight attendants is recommended. Additional studies seem to be necessary in order to estimate the additional role of other risk factors, in particular hormonal factor.