There is no occupational cancer incidence surveillance system in the United States today which provides population-based monitoring for a defined geographic area and across a wide variety of occupations. The proposed study has two long-term objectives: 1 - to perform continuing surveillance for cancer hazards in the workplace in a cost-effective manner and 2 - to reduce cancer morbidity and mortality among employment groups found to have increased risks associated with their work.
Specific aims of the project are to develop and evaluate an occupational cancer monitoring system in terms of its ability to: 1 - be cost effective, 2 - provide useful data for both commonly occurring and rare cancers, 3 - provide data regarding possible occupational cancer hazards of blacks and women, 4 - evaluate smoking histories, and 5 - implement an ongoing system. New leads regarding the occupational etiology of cancer will be produced. The purposed system will complement the Metropolitan Detroit Cancer Surveillance System (MDCSS), which is a participant in NCI's SEER program. Occupational histories and related information will be obtained by telephone interview. A total of approximately 13,569 interviews with newly diagnosed cancers of the lung and bronchus, colon and rectum, urinary bladder, and esophagus are projected to be interviewed during the course of the study. Cases selected for the study will include all newly diagnosed cases of the specified sites in the age category 40 to 84. New leads about occupational risks associated with cancer incidence are expected from the proposed study, particularly for women and blacks. These leads will be immediately disseminated to local public health officials, NIOSH, and appropriate groups of workers and industries. Analytic investigation suggested by study results will follow immediately as well. Thus, the proposed system will provide both descriptive data and immediate translation into occupational health interventions and analytic studies as warranted. Finally, monitoring occupation in terms of cancer incidence will permit earlier detection of potential hazards than could be achieved by mortality studies.
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