Occupational exposure to benzene and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in Shanghai: an extended follow-up of two population-based prospective cohorts of Chinese women and men
Year: 2022
Type: conference-abstract
Abstract: Background and Aim: The carcinogenicity of benzene, a ubiquitous environmental chemical causally associated with acute myeloid leukemia, was reevaluated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2017, with the Working Group reaffirming positive yet still inconclusive associations with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). To extend our previous observation of a significant exposure-response for cumulative occupational benzene exposure and NHL risk among Chinese women in a population-based prospective cohort in Shanghai, we conducted additional follow-up of this cohort and pooled the data with a similarly designed population-based cohort of men in Shanghai. Methods: Benzene exposure status and cumulative exposure estimates were derived for 134,449 participants in the pooled analysis using a previously developed exposure assessment framework that combined ordinal job-exposure matrix intensity ratings with quantitative benzene exposure measurements from an inspection database of Shanghai factories. Associations between benzene exposure metrics and total NHL (n = 363 cases including multiple myeloma (MM)) were assessed using Cox proportional hazard models. Results: Ever occupational exposure to benzene in the pooled population was significantly associated with increased NHL risk (HR=1.5, 95%CI=1.2-2.0), and significant exposure-response relationships were observed for increasing duration (ptrend=0.003) and cumulative exposure (ptrend=0.003). The associations with ever exposure, duration, and cumulative exposure were similar for NHL with and without MM in the case definition, including lifetime cumulative exposures in the highest quartile (HR=1.6, 95%CI=1.1-2-4 with MM included; HR=1.7, 95%CI=1.1-2.7 with MM excluded). No significant heterogeneity in the associations by study/sex was observed. An elevated risk of chronic lymphocytic leukemia was also suggested in the pooled analyses (HR for ever vs. never exposure=2.3, 95%CI=0.9-5.6). Conclusions: These observations provide additional data to support and extend the most recent IARC reevaluation of benzene carcinogenicity and suggest that benzene is a lymphomagen and are consistent with substantial mechanistic data. Keywords: Benzene, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, NHL
Source: ISEE Conference Abstracts
Language: English
Subfield: Cancer Research
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4317178296