[Low cancer risk among female agricultural workers]

In a cohort study of cancer incidence, 50,682 women registered in the 1970 Swedish census as engaged in agriculture were followed up in the national Cancer- Environment Register from 1971 to 1987. Instead of the expected incidence of 5,273 cases, a total of only 4,474 cases were found, yielding a significantly reduced standardised incidence ratio (SIR) of 0.85. Thus, site specific SIRs were also significantly reduced for cancer of the breast (0.83), cervix uteri (0.40), lung (0.46), urinary tract (0.57), and several other sites.