Association of father's occupation and cancer in children

Seven epidemiologic studies on the possible association between parental occupations and cancer in childhood are reviewed. Most were based on the hypothesis of an etiologic role of parental occupations, involving exposure to the broad category of "hydrocarbons". The relevant observations were contradictory, possibly because of the vagueness of the definition of the risk factor. Some findings were significant in at least two studies, such as an excess of machinists and mechanics among fathers of children with Wilms' tumor and an excess of occupations with exposure to paints among children with brain cancer. These and other findings should be considered as hypotheses for further studies.