Cancer risk in male veterans utilizing the Veterans Administration medical system

Age-specific incidence curves, cumulative rates, and relative risks were estimated for selected malignancies among male veterans utilizing the Veterans Administration (VA) medical system during 1970 to 1982. Relative risks for malignant tumors of the lung, bronchus, larynx, oral cavity, and esophagus in males using VA hospitals were approximately double the rates for men of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) cancer registry, thereby supporting the existence of strong effects of chronic cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption on the development of neoplasms at these specific anatomic sites. Relative to the SEER male population, there were significant reductions in the cumulative rates of neoplasms of the colon (15%) and extrahepatic biliary tract (30%), no differences in the rates of cancer of the stomach, small intestine, or pancreas, and a 50% increase in the cumulative rate of liver cancer among the veterans. Rates of malignancies of the genitourinary tract were similar in the VA and SEER registries with the exception of cancer of the penis, for which the cumulative rate was 50% higher in the veterans. These results are consistent with an excess of specific risk exposures among male veterans using VA hospitals, viz., cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, poor nutrition, and other factors related to low socioeconomic status. The ultimate utility of the VA tumor registry will depend upon its exploitation by epidemiologists to provide leads for etiologic research.