[Occupational bladder cancer in Japan and the world]

An overview of the epidemiological association of bladder cancer with occupations is presented and the proportion of occupational bladder cancer in Japan was estimated. Epidemiological features of bladder cancer in the world are also reviewed. Bladder cancer was found to have a relatively narrower international variation in incidence rate as compared to other sites of cancer such as lung or esophageal cancer. In Japan, the trend in bladder cancer mortality is apparently downward in females and virtually unchanged in males, whereas the incidence rate is increasing in males and unchanged in females in the recent decade. Approximately 45 occupations/industries were epidemiologically associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer in the world literature. The lowest proportion of occupational bladder cancer was estimated to be 0.4% in Japan, though the highest estimate was 19% in males and 12% in females.