Sinonasal cancer, occupation, and tobacco smoking in European women and men

Background: In this analysis of European case-control studies on sinonasal cancer, we examined the risk for occupation and smoking, by gender and histological type. Methods: The pooled data included 104 female and 451 male cases, and 241 female and 1,464 male controls. Lifetime smoking and occupational history were recoded following uniform criteria, and job- exposure matrices were applied for wood and leather dust. Results: Wood dust exposure was associated with an excess risk in men (OR = 2.36, 95% CI 1.75- 3.2) but not in women (OR = 1.17, 95% CI 0.31-4.47). Exposure to leather dust was associated with an excess risk in both genders. Both wood and leather dust were associated with adenocarcinomas rather than squamous cell carcinomas. Excess risks for smoking were higher for squamous cell carcinomas and higher in men than in women. Conclusions: In these European populations, occupation was associated with about 11% of all sinonasal cancers in women and 39% in men. This difference can, in part, be attributed to variation in exposure patterns between genders.