Traditionally, occupational research has focused primarily on white men, even though women comprise 46% of the U.S. civilian workforce, and minorities are often employed in jobs with hazardous exposures. The OEEB has undertaken a number of epidemiologic studies with a substantial focus in occupation which include women and minorities during the past year. A multicenter case-control study of bladder cancer is on-going to examine environmental and occupational risk factors for the consistently elevated incidence and mortality of this cancer in New England. Field data collection in a hospital-based case-control study of kidney cancer with a major focus on occupational exposures has been completed in Central and Eastern Europe, while a population-based case-control study of renal cell cancer among Caucasian and African Americans in the United States is on-going. A telephone interview survey updating exposure information has been completed in the Agricultural Health Study, a prospective cohort study of more than 90,000 subjects, including approximately 32,000 women and 2,000 minorities. Both direct occupational exposure and indirect environmental exposure to pesticides and other exposures will be evaluated in the study. It was found that wives of farmer pesticide applicators also can be exposed to pesticides due to houshold hygiene practices. The Shanghi Women's Study is a prospective cohort study of 75,000 women conducted in collaboration with Vanderbilt University and the Shanghai Cancer Institute. Blood/buccal cell and urine samples have been collected from nearly 90% of participants. The second biennial follow-up was completed in spring, 2004. Job expsoure matrices (JEM) based on industrial monitoring data maintained by the Shanghai municipal government were completed for several industrial agents, including benzene, tricholoroethylene, lead, chromium, and absbestos. This JEMs will be used to estimate exposures based on questionnaire data from participants in the Shanghai women's cohort study and analyse in relation to cancer outcomes. Nested case-control studies of breast and lung cancers in relation to biomarkers of occupational and environmental exposures have been initiated within this cohort of women. In addition, a physical activity methods study was started within the cohort. Another on-going prospective cohort study among participants in a screening trial (PLCO Study), about 50,000 women have been enrolled for follow-up studies of cancer risk factors. In addition, analyses are on-going in several case-control studies that include a large proportion of women and minorities, including a study of occupational and environmental cancer risk factors in Iowa, a 24-State death certificate study, a multicenter study of cancer risks among whites and African Americans, case-control studies of stomach cancer in Mexico and Poland, a case-control study of several gastrointestinal cancers in Shanghai, China, a cohort study of farmers in Xuanwei, China, and a study of oral cancer in Puerto Rico. Recent findings include potential associations between breast cancer risk and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and employment in selected occupations, such as teachers and electricians, and effect modification by menopausal status on obesity-related colon cancer risks.
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