Lung cancer in the National Coal Workers' Autopsy Study.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Althouse R ; Attfield, Michael ; Boyd C ; Green FHY ; Rodman N ; Vallyathan V
• Description:
  The incidence of lung cancer among underground coal miners was studied. Demographic data, occupational and smoking histories, detailed autopsy reports, and pulmonary tissue were obtained from 2410 cases in the National Coal Workers' Autopsy Study. Comparisons were made between histological type of lung cancer, years of underground exposure, specific occupation within the mine, smoking history, and type and severity of coal workers' pneumoconiosis. Average age at death was 64 years, with 27 years of underground mining. A history of cigarette smoking was present in 72 percent of the cases, with a mean pack per year smoking history of 25. Lung cancer was mentioned on autopsy reports of 221 cases. Ninety percent of the lung cancer cases smoked cigarettes. When lung cancer cases were matched with other cancer cases, the mean pack years for smokers in the two groups were 31 for those with lung cancer and 24 for those without lung cancer. Incidence of lung cancer was not influenced by the number of years underground or specific occupation. More lung cancers among the miners were adenocarcinomas and small cell carcinomas than has been reported in comparable studies. The authors conclude that the incidence of lung cancer among coal miners is influenced by cigarette smoking but not by duration of underground exposure. They suggest that the coal mining environment may influence the type of lung cancer that develops among smokers.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Dust Enzymes Laboratories Lung Occupational Health Respiratory System Safety
• Keywords:
  Cancer-rates Carcinogenesis Epidemiology Health-surveys Lung-disorders Mine-workers Mining-industry Mortality-rates
• Publisher:
  NCI; EPA; NIOSH
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Conference/Symposia Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  District of Columbia ; Maryland ; OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  276-296
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00123093
• Citation:
  Proceedings of the first NCI/EPA/NIOSH collaborative workshop: progress on joint environmental and occupational cancer studies, May 6-8, 1980, Rockville, Maryland. Kraybill HF, Blackwood IC, Freas NB, eds. Washington, DC: National Cancer Institute, Environmental Protection Agency, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 1980 May; :276-296
• Editor(s):
  Kraybill HF ; Blackwood IC ; Freas NB
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1980
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Proceedings of the first NCI/EPA/NIOSH collaborative workshop: progress on joint environmental and occupational cancer studies, May 6-8, 1980, Rockville, Maryland
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3dc1068bab6a43a21b28c7339d3726008ba9d1bcc64f3c01f048a0b547a5cea7950f7808eb8915364f89fac5c7bfb75b38db0390016c942f5e3944f6bdac4bc5
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/179468/cdc_179468_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 702.26 KB ]