Occupational risk factors for laryngeal carcinoma: Connecticut, 1975-1980

A case-control study of possible occupational risk factors for laryngeal carcinoma in white males in the New Haven, Connecticut, area included 92 cases diagnosed between 1975 and 1980 and 181 hospital controls individually matched to the cases on age, year and hospital of admission, county of residence, smoking status (current vs. ex-smoker), and type of tobacco used at the time of admission. Only cases and controls who were alive at the time of the study were included. With the effects of tobacco and alcohol controlled in a conditional linear logistic model, elevated odds ratios were found for men who had ever worked in rubber products manufacturing or transportation equipment manufacturing other than shipbuilding, and for men who had ever been machinists, bartenders, farmers, masons, or metal grinders. However, only one occupation, machinists, had a statistically significant odds ratio (2.5, 95% confidence interval = 1.2-5.2) in these multivariate analyses. Asbestos and nickel were not found to be risk factors for laryngeal carcinoma. Amount of tobacco smoked and alcohol consumed were positively associated with risk for laryngeal cancer.