Studying cancer among female workers: methods and preliminary results from a record-linkage system in Italy

In the context of a national program for occupational health surveillance, we examined cancer mortality among women from two study populations. The Torino Longitudinal Study includes 159,039 women, resident in Torino, northern Italy, 18 to 64 years old and economically active at the 1981 census. The Italian Cross-sectional Study includes 2,038 deaths among 6,073,071 Italian women, 18 to 64 years old and economically active at the 1981 census. Preliminary results indicate that women in higher socioeconomic classes showed excess overall cancer mortality. This excess was almost entirely explained by increased breast cancer among teachers, managers, and public officials. Metal, wood, and clothing manual workers showed a significantly increased risk of ovarian cancer. Some excesses of lung and digestive cancers were noticeable among women in the textile and clothing industry and in the restaurant, bar, and hotel trade. Further study is under way.