Elevated risk for male breast cancer after occupational exposure to gasoline and vehicular combustion products.

BACKGROUND

Automotive gasoline contains benzene, 1,3-butadiene, 1, 2-dibromoethane and 1,2-dichloroethane, and the combustion products include certain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, all of which have shown mammary gland carcinogenicity in long-term bioassays. It is the aim of this paper to investigate whether men occupationally exposed to gasoline and its combustion products have an elevated risk of breast cancer.

METHODS

A nationwide register based case control study on male breast cancer morbidity was established among members of a pension fund, compulsory for all employees. Employment histories were reconstructed for each of 230 cases and 12,880 control subjects based on computerized records. The odds ratios, adjusted for socioeconomic status, were estimated by conditional logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

When a lag time of at least 10 years was included, the odds ratio for breast cancer among men with over three months of employment in trades with potential exposure to gasoline and combustion products was 2.5 (95% confidence interval: 1.3-4.5). Among men younger than 40 years at the time of first employment, the odds ratio was 5.4 (2.4-11.9).

CONCLUSIONS

This study supports the hypothesis that occupational exposure to gasoline vapors and combustion products may play a role in the causation of male breast cancer. This hypothesis warrants further evaluation particularly in women.