Zahm Shelia Hoar, Blair Aaron
Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, Rockville, Maryland 20892-7242, USA.
Am J Ind Med. 2003 Dec;44(6):565-75. doi: 10.1002/ajim.10270.
Studies of occupational exposures have been a fruitful area of research for identifying carcinogens. Some of the early observations, such as increased risk of breast cancer among nuns and bone cancer among radium dial workers, were made among women. Recent research on cancer among women has shown increased risks of cancer in many industries and occupations. Estimates that 1% of cancer among women is attributable to occupation are based on research conducted mainly in the 1970s among men in developed countries. These studies do not reflect the dramatic changes in the participation of women in the workplace or the patterns of employment of women in developing countries. The proportion of women in the paid workforce, the amounts and types of unpaid labor, the distribution of women by economy sector, the scale of the workplaces, the allowable exposure levels in the workplace, and implementation of controls have changed over time and vary internationally. Occupational cancer researchers need to expand their focus on women, increase activities in developing countries, include newly created industries, use sophisticated exposure assessment methods, and, where appropriate, incorporate molecular epidemiologic techniques to discover new occupational carcinogens and to identify where better control measures are needed.
职业暴露研究一直是识别致癌物的一个富有成果的研究领域。一些早期观察结果，如修女患乳腺癌风险增加以及镭表盘工人患骨癌，是在女性中发现的。最近关于女性癌症的研究表明，许多行业和职业中的女性患癌风险增加。估计女性癌症中有1%归因于职业，这一估计是基于20世纪70年代主要在发达国家对男性进行的研究得出的。这些研究没有反映出女性在劳动力市场参与情况的巨大变化，也没有反映出发展中国家女性的就业模式。随着时间的推移，有偿劳动力中女性的比例、无偿劳动的数量和类型、女性在经济部门的分布、工作场所的规模、工作场所允许的接触水平以及控制措施的实施情况都发生了变化，而且在国际上也各不相同。职业癌症研究人员需要扩大对女性的关注，增加在发展中国家的活动，纳入新兴行业，采用复杂的接触评估方法，并在适当情况下采用分子流行病学技术，以发现新的职业致癌物，并确定哪些地方需要更好的控制措施。
