Occupational risks of bladder cancer in the United States: II Nonwhite men

Abstract

Occupational risks of bladder cancer among nonwhite men were assessed based on interviews with 126 cases and 383 controls conducted during the National Bladder Cancer Study, a population-based, case-control study conducted in 10 areas of the United States. Our findings indicated that nonwhite men who were ever employed as auto workers have an elevated risk of bladder cancer [relative risk (RR) = 2.3; 95% confidence intervals (CI) = 0.8-6.4] with a significant positive trend in RR with increasing duration of employment (P = .017) and with the RR rising to 4.7 for those employed at least 10 years. Dry cleaners, ironers, and pressers also experienced increased bladder cancer risk (RR = 2.8, CI = 1.1-7.4). Nonsignificant excesses of similar magnitude to those seen among white men were found for nonwhite men employed in several other occupations. Overall, our findings suggest that the risk of occupational bladder cancer among white and nonwhite men is similar. When inconsistencies between whites and nonwhites did occur, they appeared either due to chance or possibly racial differences in exposure among men within the same industry and occupation. In all, we estimate that the population attribute risk for occupation among nonwhite U.S. men is 27% (CI = 9% to 56%), which is slightly higher than the estimate of 21% to 25% previously reported for white U.S. men, although this difference was not statistically significant.