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Biomedical subjects

A Andersen

Publications and source records attributed to A Andersen.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

Lung cancer mortality among European rock/slag wool workers: exposure-response analysis.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose was to analyze the relationship between semi-quantitative indices of exposure to manmade vitreous fibers and lung cancer mortality among European rock/slag wool (RSW) workers. METHODS: The study population comprised 9,603 male workers employed in RSW production in seven factories in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Germany, followed up for mortality as of 1990-91. Estimates of past exposure to respirable fibers were used to calculate cumulative exposure with a 15-year lag and maximum annual exposure based on employment history up to 1977. Rate ratios were estimated via multivariate Poisson regression, adjusting for country, age, calendar year, time since first employment, and employment status. RESULTS: A total of 159 lung cancer deaths were included in the analysis of which 97 among workers with more than one year of employment. We found nonstatistically significant trends in lung cancer risk according to cumulative exposure. Relative risks (RR) in the four quartiles were 1.0 (reference), 1.3 (95 percent confidence interval [CI] = 0.8-2.4), 1.2 (CI = 0.7-2.1), and 1.5 (CI = 0.7-3.0, P test for trend = 0.4). When workers with less than one year of employment were excluded, there was no increased risk; the RRs in the four quartiles were 1.0, 0.9 (CI = 0.4-2.0), 0.8 (CI = 0.3-1.9), and 1.0 (CI = 0.4-2.7). No trend was present according to maximum annual exposure. The results were not consistent among countries. CONCLUSIONS: We found a positive association between exposure to respirable fibers and lung cancer mortality. However, the lack of statistical significance, the dependence of the results on inclusion of short-term workers, the lack of consistency among countries, and the possible correlation between exposure to respirable fibers and to other agents reduce the weight of such evidence.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Mortality of short-term workers in two international cohorts.

The purpose of this study was to compare the pattern of mortality of blue-collar workers employed less and more than 1 year in the man-made vitreous fiber (MMVF) and the reinforced plastic industries, the latter group being exposed to styrene. We conducted an analysis among 21,784 workers with less than 1 year of employment (short-term workers) and 19,117 workers with 1 or more years of employment (long-term workers) employed in eight European countries. We conducted analyses based on external as well as internal comparisons. In both cohorts, the standardized mortality ratio for all causes among short-term workers was approximately 40% higher, compared with that for longer-term workers. In internal comparisons, the difference was reduced to 9% in the MMVF cohort and 11% in the styrene cohort. Workers with less than 1 month of employment displayed an increased mortality in both cohorts and in most countries. The increased mortality among short-term workers was not concentrated shortly after they quit employment. In both cohorts, short-term workers had a higher mortality from external causes, while little difference was seen in mortality from ischemic heart disease and malignant neoplasms. Although extra-occupational factors may contribute to increase the mortality of short-term workers and, in particular, of those employed for less than 1 month, the difference observed in analyses adjusted for characteristics of employment suggested a relatively small difference in mortality from most causes.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Lung and bladder cancer in a Norwegian municipality with iron and steel producing industry: population based case-control studies.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the influence of occupation on the rising incidence of lung and bladder cancer among men in a Norwegian municipality where an iron and steel plant constituted the key industry between 1955 and 1989. METHODS: Based on the lung cancer cases reported to the Cancer Registry of Norway from 1980 to 1992 a population based case-control study was performed, including 86 cases and 196 controls. Information on occupations and smoking habits was collected through interviews and from the personnel files from the industrial plants. A case-control study on bladder cancer with 52 cases and 156 controls was carried out to cast light on the role of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). RESULTS: An odds ratio (OR) for lung cancer of 2.9 (95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.2 to 6.7) was associated with exposure to PAHs. Based on data from personnel files, increased risk of lung cancer (OR 2.8 95% CI 1.1 to 7.0) was associated with work experience in the pig iron department at the ironworks. A non-significant OR of 1.8 was associated with exposure to asbestos. Bladder cancer was not associated with exposure to PAHs at the iron, steel, and coke plant, or with experience from any of the production departments at the plant. CONCLUSIONS: One fifth of the lung cancer cases were attributed to exposure to PAHs or asbestos. More than 80% of the cases of lung cancer were attributed to tobacco smoking. The cancer risk in the pig iron department may be due to a combination of exposures to PAH, asbestos, or dust of mixed composition.

Asbestos↗
PubMed1997

Gestational age, birth weight, and perinatal death among births to Norwegian farmers, 1967-1991.

Perinatal health was investigated by linkage with the Medical Birth Registry of Norway for 192,417 births that took place between 1967 and 1991 among parents identified as farm holders in Norwegian agricultural censuses in 1969-1989. In a comparison with 61,351 births to nonfarmers in agricultural municipalities, farmers' births had an advantageous distribution of gestational ages and birth weights. Perinatal mortality was similar in the two groups, but the proportion of late-term abortions (gestational weeks 16-27) was higher among farmers' birth (odds ratio (OR) = 1.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.6-2.3). Exposure indicators were classified on the basis of information given in the agricultural censuses and climate data for the grain harvest seasons of 1966-1991. The main hypotheses were that perinatal death is associated with parental exposure to pesticides. Toxoplasma contracted from infected sheep or pigs, or mycotoxins found in grain farming. There was no convincing evidence that perinatal death is associated with use of pesticides, sheep farming, or pig farming. The increase in late-term abortion among the farmers could to some extent be attributed to an excess of midpregnancy (weeks 21-24) deliveries among grain farmers; grain farmers had 132 deliveries at this time in pregnancy (2.8 per 1,000 pregnancies), while the nongrain farmers had 236 deliveries in midpregnancy (1.8 per 1,000). The authors found odds ratios (95% CI) that indicated that grain farming risk was higher after the harvest (1.8, 1.1-2.8), in seasons with a poor quality harvest (2.4, 1.5-3.8), and in pregnancies with multiple births (3.8, 1.7-8.2). These results support the hypothesis that occupational exposure to mycotoxins in grain induces labor at an early stage of pregnancy.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗
PubMed1997

Risk of cancer and exposure to gasoline vapors.

Until the introduction of self-service around 1970, service station workers in the Nordic countries were exposed to gasoline vapors. Based on measurements reported in the literature, the 8-hour time-weighted average benzene exposure was estimated to be in the range of 0.5-1 mg/m3. We studied the cancer incidence in a cohort of 19,000 service station workers from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. They were identified from the 1970 censuses and followed through 20 years, where 1,300 incident cancers were observed. National incidence rates were used for comparison. The incidence was not increased for leukemia (observed = 28, standardized incidence ratio (SIR) = 0.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.6-1.3) not for acute myeloid leukemia (observed = 13, SIR = 1.3, 95% CI 0.7-2.1). The incidence was slightly elevated for kidney cancer observed = 57, SIR = 1.3, 95% CI 1.0-1.7) and for pharyngeal, laryngeal, and lung cancer. A 3.5-fold risk of nasal cancer was found (observed = 12, SIR = 3.5, 95% CI 1.8-6.1). This cohort exposed to gasoline vapors with benzene levels estimated to be 0.5-1 mg/m3 showed no excess risk of leukemia or acute myeloid leukemia, a 30% elevated risk of kidney cancer, and a previously unnoticed risk of nasal cancer.

Air Pollutants, Occupational↗
PubMed1997

[Use of occupational disease benefits].

Persons with pleuramesothelioma were studied to find out the share receiving occupational injury benefit from the National Insurance Scheme. This disease, caused by inhaling asbestos, was chosen because it has been estimated that between 70 and 80 per cent of persons with pleuramesothelioma fulfil the criteria for compensation. During the period 1970-93, 662 men and 104 women were recorded as having this disease. Up to June 1996, the National Insurance Administration had considered the cases of only 163 men, and no women. A further 25-30 patients may have filed claims with the local national insurance office. This implies that, overall, maximum one third of those entitled to occupational injury benefit have received it. The fraction would probably be even lower in the case of diseases where the association with occupation is less certain. It is recommended that national disease registries, such as the Cancer Registry, should report possible cases of occupational disease to the National Insurance Administration.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Continuous intratumoral microdialysis during high-dose methotrexate therapy in a patient with malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the femur: a case report.

We used a microdialysis technique to assay intratumoral methotrexate (MTX) levels during high-dose (12 g/m2 given as a 4-h infusion) therapy in a 43-year-old man with a malignant fibrous histiocytoma in the medial femoral condyle. Additional microdialysis probes were implanted in muscle tissue contralateral to the tumor and in an antecubital vein. Microdialysis was attempted during the initial two high-dose courses, but the two latter probes were removed at the start of the second treatment cycle due to leakage. No attempt to correct for microdialysis recovery was made. The intratumorally localized probe gave reproducible data on tumor MTX exposure of 9.3-14% of unbound systemic MTX. There was a close correlation between tumor and systemic levels for both MTX and its major extracellular metabolite 7-hydroxymethotrexate. Although limited to the study of MTX pharmacokinetics in a single subject, the experiment demonstrates that intratumoral microdialysis may provide data on tumor drug exposure, although of an indirect nature and dependent on the probe characteristics, the flow rate, and, possibly, the time after probe implantation. We propose that the application of microdialysis may prove useful for elucidation of the relationship between local drug exposure and the therapeutic response in normally inaccessible compartments during cancer pharmacotherapy.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Alterations in methotrexate pharmacokinetics by naproxen in the rat as measured by microdialysis.

Reports of a potentially life-threatening interaction between the antifolate methotrexate (MTX) and drugs belonging to the NSAID class instigated a study of MTX pharmacokinetics by a microdialysis technique in the presence and absence of the NSAID naproxen in anesthetized rats. After pretreatment with naproxen, the animals received either 750 or 1,000 mg/kg MTX as a 6 h continuous intravenous infusion. During infusions, microdialysis effluents were obtained from probes situated intravenously, intrahepatically and intrarenally. In all three compartments, time-concentration AUCs for both MTX and its major extracellular metabolite, 7-hydroxymethotrexate (7-OH-MTX), increased about two-fold in the presence of naproxen. The mechanisms responsible for the MTX-NSAID interaction are briefly discussed. The study demonstrate that the microdialysis technique offers a means to investigate pharmacokinetic drug-drug interactions.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Intratumoral differences in methotrexate levels within human osteosarcoma xenografts studied by microdialysis.

A central tenet in oncology is the assumed relationship between drug concentration and cytotoxicity. Determinations of drug levels in tumor tissues are, however, generally not undertaken. Microdialysis is a method where continuous drug monitoring may be achieved by sampling of low molecular weight substances from the extracellular space. By employing this technique it is possible to observe variable drug levels within tissues, including tumors, over time. Herein, we present results from a nude rat model where subcutaneous human osteosarcoma xenografts were established prior to the administration of the antifolate methotrexate as an intravenous infusion. Significant differences in drug exposure within single tumors were evident. Generally, peak drug concentrations were lower and drug efflux slower from the center of the tumors as compared to the periphery. The use of microdialysis could be an important tool for optimizing current strategies in anticancer chemotherapy.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Provocative appeals in anti-smoking mass media campaigns targeting adolescents--the accumulated effect of multiple exposures.

This paper reports findings from a longitudinal study that evaluated the accumulated effect of three consecutive mass media campaigns using provocative and dissonance arousing appeals to prevent cigarette smoking by adolescents. In the spring of 1992, all eligible adolescents aged 14 and 15 in one intervention county (N = 4898) and one control county (N = 5439) in Norway were included in the study, and were followed until they were 17 and 18 years of age in 1995. Only students who completed questionnaires both in 1992 and 1995 were included in the analyses. Among the non-smokers at baseline, a significantly lower proportion of adolescents of both genders had started to smoke in the intervention county compared to the proportion in the control county. Among those who were smokers at baseline, significantly more girls in the intervention county had stopped smoking than in the control county, while no significant difference between the counties was detected among boys. Our findings suggest that provocative and dissonance arousing appeals that create affective reactions and lead to interpersonal communication should be given more attention in campaigns designed to influence adolescent smoking. However, such appeals may easily produce negative reactions and the normative context should be thoroughly considered when using such appeals in future interventions.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Comparison of information on occupation and lifestyle habits obtained from European man-made vitreous fibre production workers and their relatives.

BACKGROUND: Studies of the aetiology of fatal diseases often rely on data obtained from relatives, which can cause loss of precision and introduce bias. We assessed the quality of such information on demographics, occupation, smoking and alcohol habits. METHODS: We compared contemporary interviews, based on a structured questionnaire, with male workers from the man-made vitreous fibre production industry in four European countries and their relatives. The participation rate was 63% (74 pairs of workers and relatives). RESULTS: Only minor differences in the ability to answer the questions appeared among workers and relatives, except for specific occupational questions. There was moderate to excellent agreement for demographics, residential and work history (kappa or intraclass correlation range: 0.44-0.98). For smoking habits, beer and wine consumption the agreement was good to excellent (range: 0.59-0.99). In particular, number of different residential areas, jobs, industries, and duration of wine drinking were significantly underreported by the relatives. No general determinant for reduced agreement appeared. CONCLUSIONS: In general, the quality of information obtained from relatives appeared good. However, information on specific occupational exposures may be improved by supplementing the information from relatives with details obtained from colleagues, occupational hygiene experts or occupation-exposure matrices.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Cancer mortality among man-made vitreous fiber production workers.

We have updated the follow-up of cancer mortality for a cohort study of man-made vitreous fiber production workers from Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy, from 1982 to 1990. In the mortality analysis, 22,002 production workers contributed 489,551 person-years, during which there were 4,521 deaths. Workers with less than 1 year of employment had an increased mortality [standardized mortality ratio (SMR) = 1.45; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.37-1.53]. Workers with 1 year or more of employment, contributing 65% of person-years, had an SMR of 1.05 (95% CI = 1.02-1.09). The SMR for lung cancer was 1.34 (95% CI = 1.08-1.63, 97 deaths) among rock/slag wool workers and 1.27 (95% CI = 1.07-1.50, 140 deaths) among glass wool workers. In the latter group, no increase was present when local mortality rates were used. Among rock/slag wool workers, the risk of lung cancer increased with time-since-first-employment and duration of employment. The trend in lung cancer mortality according to technologic phase at first employment was less marked than in the previous follow-up. We obtained similar results from a Poisson regression analysis limited to rock/slag wool workers. Five deaths from pleural mesothelioma were reported, which may not represent an excess. There was no apparent excess for other categories of neoplasm. Tobacco smoking and other factors linked to social class, as well as exposures in other industries, appear unlikely to explain the whole increase in lung cancer mortality among rock/slag wool workers. Limited data on other agents do not indicate an important role of asbestos, slag, or bitumen. These results are not sufficient to conclude that the increased lung cancer risk is the result of exposure to rock/slag wool; however, insofar as respirable fibers were an important component of the ambient pollution of the working environment, they may have contributed to the increased risk.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

Birth defects among offspring of Norwegian farmers, 1967-1991.

We investigated birth defects (N = 4,565) reported to the Medical Birth Registry of Norway among 192,417 births between 1967 and 1991 to parents identified as farmers in five agricultural and horticultural censuses between 1969 and 1989. The prevalences at birth of all and specific birth defects deviated little from those among 61,351 births to non-farmers in agricultural municipalities. We classified exposure indicators on the basis of information provided at the agricultural censuses. The main hypotheses were that parental exposure to pesticides was associated with defects of the central nervous system, orofacial clefts, some male genital defects, and limb reduction defects. We found moderate increases in risk for spina bifida and hydrocephaly, the associations being strongest for exposure to pesticides in orchards or greenhouses [spina bifida: 5 exposed cases, odds ratio (OR) = 2.76, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.07-7.13; hydrocephaly: 5 exposed cases, OR = 3.49, 95% CI = 1.34-9.09]. Exposure to pesticides, in particular in grain farming, was also associated with limb reduction defects (OR = 2.50; 95% CI = 1.06-5.90). We also saw an association with pesticides for cryptorchism and hypospadias. We found less striking associations for other specific defects and pesticide indicators, animal farming, and fertilizer regimens.

Abnormalities, Drug-Induced↗
PubMed1997

Summary of avoidable cancers in the Nordic countries.

An overview is given of the most important known causes of cancer in the five Nordic countries and the resulting number of cancers that are potentially avoidable. The main causes include active and passive smoking, alcohol consumption, exposure to asbestos and other occupational carcinogens, solar and ionizing radiation, obesity, human papillomavirus infection in the female genital tract and infection with Helicobacter pylori. The organs most commonly affected are those of the respiratory system, the upper digestive tract and stomach, skin, the lower urinary tract and the uterine cervix. Annually, more than 18,000 cancers in men and 11,000 in women in the Nordic populations could be avoided by eliminating exposure to known carcinogens which is equivalent to 33% and 20% of all cancers arising in men and women, respectively, around the year 2000. Smoking habits account for a little more than half of these avoidable cases. Estimates of avoidable cancers are given for each Nordic country, separately.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed1997

Effects of 3-deazaadenosine on apoptosis-related gene transcripts in HL-60 cells.

The effect of the transmethylation inhibitor 3-deazaadenosine on transcription levels of genes associated with apoptosis was investigated in HL-60 cells. After incubation of HL-60 cells with 100 microM 3-deazaadenosine for 45 min., a schedule known to perturb transmethylation metabolites and initiate apoptosis in these cells, a 50% decrease in c-myc and a 50% increase in bcl-2 RNA steady-state levels compared to control cells were observed. Transcription levels of c-myc continued to decrease after extended exposure to 3-deazaadenosine, while bcl-2 mRNA levels dropped to 25% and 30% below those in control cells after 1.5 hr and 3 hr, respectively. The expression levels of the bcl-2 related bax gene, showed a similar pattern as bcl-2; a 60% increase was initially measured, but after 1.5 and 3 hr, bax transcripts were 80% and 70% respectively, of those found in untreated cells. Another bcl-2 related gene, bcl-x, was previously reported to generate two transcripts in human cells. The long variant bcl-x1 acts as bcl-2, while the short form bcl-xs induces apoptosis. We were unable to detect bcl-xs transcripts in untreated and 3-deazaadenosine treated cells by the highly sensitive reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction method. This suggests that this gene product may not be involved in 3-deazaadenosine induced apoptosis in HL-60 cells. Bcl-x1 mRNA levels, however, slowly decreased with about 50% after 1.5 or 3 hr 3-deazaadenosine treatment. It is concluded that 3-deazaadenosine initiated apoptosis affects c-myc, bcl-2, bax and bcl-x1 mRNA levels.

Apoptosis↗
PubMed1997

Avoidable cancers in the Nordic countries. Tobacco smoking.

Active smoking is causally associated with cancers of the lung, larynx, oral cavity, pharynx, oesophagus, pancreas, renal parenchyma, renal pelvis and urinary bladder, and passive smoking appears to be causally associated with cancer of the lung. Information on smoking habits for the years 1965, 1975 and 1985 shows that more men than women in the Nordic countries were current smokers. The rates of women were stable over time and those of men were decreasing, approaching those of women. Lung cancer, in particular, is strongly associated with active smoking: by increasing the number of cigarettes smoked per day (lifelong) to 5, 10, 20 and 40 or more, the risk increases by five-, eight-, 16- and 30-fold, respectively, over that of people who have never smoked. Thus, with approximately 35% current smokers and 25% former smokers among Nordic men in 1985 and approximately 30% current smokers and 15% former smokers among Nordic women in that year, by the year 2000 10,000 cases of lung cancer (6,500 in men and 3,500 in women) will be caused by active smoking; this is equivalent to 82% of all cases of lung cancer in these populations. Another 6,000 cancers of other types (4,000 in men and 2,000 in women) are caused annually by active smoking, yielding a total of 16,000 new cases each year around the turn of the century. This implies that 14% (19% in men and 9% in women) of all incident cancers in the Nordic countries around the year 2000 will be caused by active tobacco smoking. In comparison, passive smoking is a minor cause of lung cancer, responsible for approximately 0.6% of all new cases (approximately 70 cases annually) in this area around the turn of the century.

Female↗