Occupation and tongue cancer in Nordic countries

• Published in: BMC oral health Vol. 24; no. 1; p. 506
• Main Authors: Peltonen, Johanna, Nikkilä, Rayan, Al-Samadi, Ahmed, Mäkitie, Antti, Martinsen, Jan Ivar, Kjaerheim, Kristina, Lynge, Elsebeth, Sparen, Par, Tryggvadottir, Laufey, Weiderpass, Elisabete, Salo, Tuula, Pukkala, Eero
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central 29-04-2024; BMC
• Subjects: Adult; Age groups; Aged; Alcohol; Alcohol Drinking - adverse effects; Alcohol Drinking - epidemiology; Cancer; Census of Population; Codes; Dentists; Female; Females; Hairdressers; Head & neck cancer; Humans; Incidence; Male; Malignancy; Medical diagnosis; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Middle Aged; Nordic; Occupation; Occupational Diseases - epidemiology; Occupational Exposure - adverse effects; Occupational Exposure - statistics & numerical data; Occupations; Occupations - statistics & numerical data; Oral cancer; Oral carcinoma; Risk Factors; Scandinavian and Nordic Countries - epidemiology; Sex Factors; Sexes; Smoking; Statistical analysis; Tongue; Tongue cancer; Tongue Neoplasms - epidemiology; Workers; Scandinavian and Nordic Countries; Denmark; Sweden; Norway; Iceland; Finland; Occupation; Tongue cancer; Nordic
• ISSN: 1472-6831; 1472-6831
• DOI: 10.1186/s12903-024-04172-2

Almost 200,000 tongue cancers were diagnosed worldwide in 2020. The aim of this study was to describe occupational risk variation in this malignancy.
The data are based on the Nordic Occupational Cancer (NOCCA) study containing 14.9 million people from the Nordic countries with 9020 tongue cancers diagnosed during 1961-2005. The standardized incidence ratio (SIR) of tongue cancer in each occupational category was calculated using national incidence rates as the reference.
Among men, the incidence was statistically significantly elevated in waiters (SIR 4.36, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.13--5.92), beverage workers (SIR 3.42, 95% CI 2.02-5.40), cooks and stewards (SIR 2.55, 95% CI 1.82-3.48), seamen (SIR 1.66, 95% CI 1.36-2.00), journalists (SIR 1.85, 95% CI 1.18-2.75), artistic workers (SIR 2.05, 95% CI 1.54-2.66), hairdressers (SIR 2.17, 95% CI 1.39-3.22), and economically inactive persons (SIR 1.57, 95% CI 1.42-1.73). Among women, the SIR was statistically significantly elevated only in waitresses (SIR 1.39, 95% CI 1.05-1.81). Statistically significant SIRs ≤ 0.63 were observed in male farmers, gardeners, forestry workers and teachers, and in female launderers.
These findings may be related to consumption of alcohol and tobacco, but the effect of carcinogenic exposure from work cannot be excluded.