TY - JOUR
T1 - Level of education and the risk of lymphoma in the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition
AU - Hermann, Silke
AU - Rohrmann, Sabine
AU - Linseisen, Jakob
AU - Nieters, Alexandra
AU - Khan, Aneire
AU - Gallo, Valentina
AU - Overvad, Kim
AU - Tjønneland, Anne
AU - Raaschou-Nielsen, Ole
AU - Bergmann, Manuela M.
AU - Boeing, Heiner
AU - Becker, Nikolaus
AU - Kaaks, Rudolf
AU - Bas Bueno-De-Mesquita, H.
AU - May, Anne M.
AU - Vermeulen, Roel C.H.
AU - Bingham, Sheila
AU - Khaw, Kay Tee
AU - Key, Timothy J.
AU - Travis, Ruth C.
AU - Trichopoulou, Antonia
AU - Georgila, Christina
AU - Triantafylou, Dimitra
AU - Celentano, Egidio
AU - Krogh, Vittorio
AU - Masala, Giovanna
AU - Tumino, Rosario
AU - Agudo, Antonio
AU - Altzibar, Jone M.
AU - Ardanaz, Eva
AU - Martínez-García, Carmen
AU - Suárez, Marcial Vicente Argüelles
AU - Tormo, Maria José
AU - Braaten, Tonje
AU - Lund, Eiliv
AU - Manjer, Jonas
AU - Zackrisson, Sophia
AU - Hallmans, Göran
AU - Malmer, Beatrice
AU - Boffetta, Paolo
AU - Brennan, Paul
AU - Slimani, Nadia
AU - Vineis, Paolo
AU - Riboli, Elio
PY - 2010/1
Y1 - 2010/1
N2 - Introduction: Lymphomas belong to the few cancer sites with increasing incidence over past decades, and only a few risk factors have been established. We explored the association between education and the incidence of lymphoma in the prospective EPIC study. Materials and methods: Within 3,567,410 person-years of follow-up, 1,319 lymphoma cases [1,253 non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) and 66 Hodgkin lymphomas (HL)] were identified. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to examine the association between highest educational level (primary school or less, technical/professional school, secondary school, university) and lymphoma risk. Results: Overall, no consistent associations between educational level and lymphoma risk were observed; however, associations were found for sub-groups of the cohort. We observed a higher risk of B-NHL (HR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.02-1.68; n = 583) in women with the highest education level (university) but not in men. Concerning sub-classes of B-NHL, a positive association between education and risk of B cell chronic lymphatic leukaemia (BCLL) was observed only in women. In both genders, the risk of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) was significantly lower for subjects with university degree (HR = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.27-0.79) versus lowest educational level. No association was found for HL. Conclusion: We could not confirm an overall consistent association of education and risk of HL or NHL in this large prospective study; although, education was positively related to the incidence of BCLL and B-NHL (in women) but inversely to incidence of DLBCL. Due to limited number of cases in sub-classes and the large number of comparisons, the possibility of chance findings can not be excluded.
AB - Introduction: Lymphomas belong to the few cancer sites with increasing incidence over past decades, and only a few risk factors have been established. We explored the association between education and the incidence of lymphoma in the prospective EPIC study. Materials and methods: Within 3,567,410 person-years of follow-up, 1,319 lymphoma cases [1,253 non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) and 66 Hodgkin lymphomas (HL)] were identified. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to examine the association between highest educational level (primary school or less, technical/professional school, secondary school, university) and lymphoma risk. Results: Overall, no consistent associations between educational level and lymphoma risk were observed; however, associations were found for sub-groups of the cohort. We observed a higher risk of B-NHL (HR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.02-1.68; n = 583) in women with the highest education level (university) but not in men. Concerning sub-classes of B-NHL, a positive association between education and risk of B cell chronic lymphatic leukaemia (BCLL) was observed only in women. In both genders, the risk of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) was significantly lower for subjects with university degree (HR = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.27-0.79) versus lowest educational level. No association was found for HL. Conclusion: We could not confirm an overall consistent association of education and risk of HL or NHL in this large prospective study; although, education was positively related to the incidence of BCLL and B-NHL (in women) but inversely to incidence of DLBCL. Due to limited number of cases in sub-classes and the large number of comparisons, the possibility of chance findings can not be excluded.
KW - Cohort study
KW - Education
KW - Lymphomas
KW - SES
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/71449088460
U2 - 10.1007/s00432-009-0638-9
DO - 10.1007/s00432-009-0638-9
M3 - Article
C2 - 19582474
AN - SCOPUS:71449088460
SN - 0171-5216
VL - 136
SP - 71
EP - 77
JO - Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology
JF - Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology
IS - 1
ER -