Influence of quartz exposure on lung cancer types in cases of lymph node-only silicosis and lung silicosis in German uranium miners
Menée en Allemagne à partir de données portant sur des employés d'une mine d'uranium, cette étude évalue l'association entre une exposition professionnelle à du quartz cristallin, une silicose et le risque de cancer du poumon par sous-type
Objective Inhaled crystalline quartz is carcinogen. Analyses shown differences in the distribution of lung cancer types depending on the status of silicosis. Methods 2,524 lung tumor cases from the WISMUT autopsy repository database were used. Silicosis was differentiated in cases without silicosis in lung parenchyma and its lymph nodes, with lymph node-only silicosis or with lung silicosis including lymph node silicosis. The proportions of adenocarcinoma, squamous cell and small cell lung cancer mortality for increasing quartz exposures were estimated in a multinomial logistic regression model. Results The relative proportions of the lung cancer subtypes in lymph node-only silicosis were more similar to lung silicosis than without any silicosis. Conclusions The results support the hypothesis that quartz-related carcinogenesis in case of lymph node-only silicosis is more similar to that in lung silicosis than in without silicosis.