Gastric cancer in a coal mining region

A significant excess incidence of gastric cancer was previously reported in the coal mining counties of Utah for 1965-1969. A repeat study for the period 1970-1975 showed the rates to be close to expectation and are in line with the slight excess mortality reported by Creagan et al. from United States coal mining counties. A cluster of 12 cases out of 43 reported for the 11-year period occurred in 1965. Cases during 1966-1975 appear to have occurred at random by year. The previous suggestion that the high incidence of gastric cancer in Carbon and Emery Counties could be related to frequent exposure to coal-carrying hydrocarbons appears to be unwarranted.