Lung Cancer in the French West Indies: Role of Sugarcane Work and Other Occupational Exposures

Our aim was to study the role of occupational exposures in lung cancer risk in the French West Indies, with special attention to some specific activities, such as sugarcane work, that can only be studied in a limited number of populations.

We used data from a population-based case-control study that included 147 incident lung cancer cases and 405 controls. Smoking histories and detailed occupational histories with descriptions of tasks and substances were collected by questionnaire during face-to-face interviews. Odds ratios (OR) adjusted for sex, age, region, smoking status, and cigarette pack-years and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were estimated by unconditional logistic regression.

Significantly increased risks of lung cancer were found in sugarcane farm workers (OR = 2.7; 95% CI 1.1-6.6) and more generally in the sugarcane-growing sector (OR = 2.5; 95% CI 1.0-6.3) and to a lesser extent in rum production. Elevated risks of lung cancer were also observed among other agricultural workers, painters, warehouse porters, labourers, and maintenance and motor vehicle repair workers. Exposure to herbicides in sugarcane cultivation was associated with an increased risk of lung cancer (OR = 2.6; 95% CI 0.9-7.6).

These results show that occupational exposures contributed to lung cancer risk in the French West Indies, and highlighted the role of exposures related to sugarcane work.