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Biomedical subjects

A Andersen

Publications and source records attributed to A Andersen.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Incidence of cancer and mortality among workers exposed to mercury vapour in the Norwegian chloralkali industry.

Incidence of cancer and mortality were studied among 674 men exposed to mercury vapour for more than one year at two chloralkali plants. Mercury excretion in urine had been monitored among the workers at the two plants since 1948 and 1949. An individual cumulative urinary mercury dose was calculated, based on about 20,000 urinary mercury measurements. The incidence of cancer and the mortality were followed up from 1953 to 1989 and 1953 to 1988 respectively. The general Norwegian male population served as a reference population. There was a lung cancer excess of borderline significance (standardised incidence ratio = 1.66, 95% confidence interval = 1.00-2.59). The introduction of a 10 year latent period before developing lung cancer did not increase the incidence ratio. The excess may be partly explained by the smoking habits in the cohort or possibly by exposure to asbestos. No excess of cancer was found in the target organs for mercury toxicity--namely, the kidney and the nervous system. No significant excess mortality was found for nephritis and nephrosis or nonmalignant diseases of the nervous system.

Chemical Industry↗
PubMed1993

Incidence of cancer among welders of mild steel and other shipyard workers.

The incidence of cancer among 4571 shipyard workers with first employment between 1940 and 1979, including 623 welders of mild steel, was investigated in a historical cohort study. The loss to follow up was 1.1%. The total number of deaths was 1078 (974.5 expected) and there were 408 cases of cancer v 361.3 expected. Sixty five cases of lung cancer were found v 46.3 expected based on the national rates for males. Four pleural mesotheliomas had occurred (1.2 expected), none among the welders. An excess of lung cancers was found among the welders (nine cases v 3.6 expected). There were six cases of lung cancer v 1.6 expected in a high exposure group of 255 welders. A survey of the smoking habits as of 1984 indicated 10%-20% more daily smokers among the shipyard production workers than among Norwegian males. Exposure to smoking and asbestos were confounding variables in this study.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Incidence of cancer among workers in a Norwegian nitrate fertiliser plant.

The incidence of cancer among 2023 male fertiliser workers has been investigated in a historical cohort study. Workers who had been employed for more than one year in work with possible exposure to dust containing nitrate between 1945 and 1979 were included. An individual cumulated exposure to dust expressed in level-years was calculated for each participant. The cohort was followed up from 1953 to the end of 1988, and the incidence of cancer was compared with the national rates. There were 467 deaths v 504.8 expected (standardised mortality ratio (SMR) = 0.93), and 185 cases of cancer v 195.5 expected (standardised incidence ratio (SIR) = 0.95). Thirty cases of lung cancer were found v 27.5 expected (SIR = 1.09). No overall excess of gastric cancer was found (15 cases v 17.0 expected; SIR = 0.89). No association was found between cumulated exposure to nitrate and gastric cancer, and there was no association between duration of employment or time since first employment and incidence of gastric cancer.

Cohort Studies↗
PubMed1993

Relation between exposure related indices and neurological and neurophysiological effects in workers previously exposed to mercury vapour.

A cross sectional study of aspects of their neurology was carried out on 77 chloralkali workers previously exposed to mercury (Hg) vapour and compared with 53 age matched referents. The chloralkali workers had been exposed for an average of 7.9 years at a concentration of 59 micrograms Hg/m3 in the working atmosphere. The individual mean urinary concentration of Hg for each year of exposure was 531 nmol Hg/1. On average the exposure had ceased 12.3 years before the examinations. Both the median sensory nerve conduction velocity and the amplitude of the sural nerve were associated with measures of cumulative exposure to Hg. An association was also found between years since first exposure to Hg and aspects of the visual evoked response. Previously exposed subjects with postural tremor or impaired coordination also had alterations in visual evoked response. These results may indicate an effect of previous exposure to mercury vapour on the nervous system, possibly in the visual pathway, cerebellum, and the peripheral sensory nerves.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Second malignancies after treatment of Hodgkin's disease: the influence of treatment, follow-up time, and age.

PURPOSE: In the period 1968 through 1988, The Norwegian Radium Hospital (NRH) treated an unselected population of 1,152 patients with Hodgkin's disease (HD) that comprised more older patients (mean age, 43 years) than most other institutions. We considered it important to evaluate these patients for development of second cancers (SCs). PATIENTS AND METHODS: The Norwegian Cancer Registry identified previously untreated patients with HD treated at NRH who had developed a SC more than 1 year after diagnosis of HD. The relative risk ratio (RR) (observed/expected cases) and the cumulative risk were calculated. RESULTS: Sixty-eight patients had developed a SC, including nine acute nonlymphocytic leukemias (ANLLs), eight non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHLs), and 51 solid tumors, including 11 lung cancers. The RR of SC and leukemia was 1.86 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.4 to 2.4) and 24.3 (95% CI, 11.1 to 46.2), respectively. The RR of SC was highest in younger patients (< 41 years, RR = 3.8). No significant association between splenectomy and development of ANLL was found. The influence of treatment and follow-up time on the development of SC agrees with data from other large cancer institutions. CONCLUSION: (1) The low RR of developing a SC in this study is probably due to the number of older patients included, who have a lower RR of developing a SC due to less aggressive treatment, shorter follow-up time, and higher incidence of cancer in the expected background population. (2) The low RR and cumulative risk of developing ANLL may be due to the limited use of extensive chemotherapy (CT) in our hospital in the earlier years.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Cancer mortality in an international cohort of workers exposed to styrene.

Increased risks for leukaemia and lymphoma have been suggested in studies of workers exposed to styrene in the rubber and plastics industry. A historical cohort study was conducted in Denmark, Finland, Italy, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom involving 40,683 workers employed in the reinforced plastics industry, where high exposure to styrene occurs. Exposure to styrene was reconstructed through job histories, environmental and biological monitoring data and production records of the plants in the study. Cause-specific national death rates were used as the reference. Among exposed workers, no excess was observed for mortality from all causes (2195 deaths, standardized mortality ratio [SMR], 95; 95% confidence interval [CI], 91-99), from all neoplasms, from lung cancer or from other major epithelial cancers. Mortality from neoplasms of the lymphatic and haematopoietic tissues was not elevated (50 deaths; SMR, 96; CI, 71-126) and was not consistently associated with length of exposure. The rate of mortality from leukaemias and lymphomas increased with time since first exposure. Among subjects who had been exposed for more than one year, a two-fold risk was observed 20 years after first exposure (eight deaths; SMR, 197; CI, 85-387). These results are inadequate to exclude the possibility that styrene causes leukaemia and lymphoma.

Cohort Studies↗
PubMed1992

Is there an association between an increase in c-myc RNA steady state levels and c-myc methylation in HL-60 cells treated with 3-deaza-(+/-)-aristeromycin, an indirect inhibitor of methylation?

Alteration in gene expression of the proto-oncogene c-myc in HL-60 cells is associated with differentiation of these cells. We have studied the steady state levels of c-myc transcripts, the levels of transmethylation metabolites S-adenosylmethionine and S-adenosyl-homocysteine and the methylation pattern of the c-myc gene after treatment of HL-60 cells with the transmethylation inhibitor and granulocytic inducer, 3-deaza-(+/-)-aristeromycin. A transient increase in c-myc RNA levels after 45 min of drug exposure was observed which was accompanied by changes in the ratio of transmethylation metabolites in both whole cells and nuclei. The changes in transmethylation metabolites in whole cells, although compatible with levels frequently associated with hypomethylation of cellular components, caused no changes in methylation of c-myc DNA sequences of the HL-60 cells as detected by HpaII or MspI digestion and Southern blotting.

Adenosine↗
PubMed1992

Incidence of cancer in Norwegian workers potentially exposed to electromagnetic fields.

The risk of cancer was investigated in a cohort of 37,945 male Norwegian electrical workers for whom information on job description was collected from 1960 census data and linked to the 1970 census data. The standardized incidence ratio was calculated for all cancer sites in the overall cohort by comparison with national incidence rates for economically active men at the 1960 census. The standardized incidence ratios for cancers of the breast, pleura (mesothelioma), larynx, and bladder and for soft tissue sarcoma were elevated, while those for non-Hodgkins and Hodgkins lymphoma were lower. The standardized incidence ratio for leukemia for electrical workers with 10 or more economically active years was 1.41. The standardized incidence ratio for brain tumors in this subgroup of electrical workers was 1.14. These results from a large, national, population-based study at the Cancer Registry of Norway give support to previous findings of a possible association between electrical work and the risk of leukemia.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

A cohort study on cancer incidence in offspring of male printing workers.

We used multistep register linkage to measure the occurrence of cancer in offspring of male members of the Oslo unions of printers. A file of their children was established through linkage with the Central Population Register. Children born 1950-1987 (N = 12,440) were traced for cancer during 1965-1987 in the Cancer Registry of Norway (193,406 person-years). We found 33 cases of cancer. The standardized incidence ratio was near expected for person-years after age 14 (25 cases observed) but lower than expected for person-years in the age group 0-14 years (eight cases observed, standardized incidence ratio 0.58, 95% confidence interval 0.25-1.14). This negative association was stronger when more precise criteria for time of exposure were applied, especially for children 0-14 years with fathers in categories exposed to lead 1 year before the child's birth. Methodologic problems with this approach are nondifferential exposure misclassification and the need for large data sets. The method could serve as an alternative to the case-control design in reproductive epidemiology.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Lung cancer mortality among workers in the European production of man-made mineral fibers--a Poisson regression analysis.

One hundred and eighty-one lung cancer deaths among workers during 301,085 person-years in European man-made mineral fiber production between 1930-1955 and 1982 were analyzed according to Poisson regression models including age, calendar period, country, and exposure variables. Time since first employment was the variable most strongly associated with lung cancer risk in both the rock-slag wool and glass wool subcohorts. Workers in the early technological phase were at higher risk than those in other categories, particularly in rock-slag wool production. No clear trend with duration of employment was suggested. No major changes occurred in the interpretation of the results when workers with less than one year of employment or less than 20 years since first exposure were excluded. The original results, based on analyses for standardized mortality ratios, were confirmed, and workers with a short duration of employment or a short time since first employment did not need to be excluded from the analysis.

Air Pollutants, Occupational↗
PubMed1992

Cancer incidence among creosote-exposed workers.

Cancer incidence was studied among 922 creosote-exposed impregnators at 13 plants in Sweden and Norway. The subjects had been impregnating wood (eg, railroad cross-ties and telegraph poles), but no data on individual exposures were available. The study population was restricted to men employed during the period 1950-1975, and their cancer morbidity was checked through the cancer registries. The total cancer incidence was somewhat lower than expected, 129 cases versus 137 expected [standardized incidence ratio (SIR) 0.94]. Increased risks in both countries combined were observed for lip cancer (SIR 2.50, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.81-5.83), skin cancer (SIR 2.37, 95% CI 1.08-4.50), and malignant lymphoma (SIR 1.9, 95% CI 0.83-3.78). Exposure to sunlight may have contributed to the risk of lip and skin cancer. The small number of cancer cases does not permit valid conclusions. The findings indicate that impregnating wood with creosote in earlier decades increased the risk of skin cancer.

Cohort Studies↗
PubMed1991

The risk of cancer at all sites following gastric operation for benign disease. A cohort study of 4,224 patients.

This report represents the results of a historical cohort analysis of 3,360 males and 864 females who had a gastric resection or gastroenterostomy for benign disease between 1990 and 1969. Within the period 1970 to 1988 the cohort was cross-checked with the data files at the Cancer Registry of Norway to identify the patients in whom cancer had been diagnosed. When analyzed according to cancer sites, increased risk was recorded for the oropharynx, stomach, colon, pancreas, liver, biliary tract, larynx, lungs, urinary bladder and non--melanomatous cancers of the skin in males. In females, increased risk was only observed for the oropharynx, but was close to a statistically significant level also for cancer of the stomach. A lower number of tumors of the central nervous system than expected was observed in both males and females. The increased risk of cancer of the lungs, larynx and urinary bladder in males can be regarded as evidence of the high prevalence of smokers in the cohort. We suggest that the increased risk of cancer of digestive organs is mainly related to life-style factors, particularly tobacco-specific nitrosamines whose effect is enhanced by surgical sequelae.

Cohort Studies↗