Occupation and Risk of Bladder Cancer: A Population Level Comparison of Nordic Countries and Canada

Background/Aim: Associations with bladder cancer have been observed for more than 40 occupations. While some findings have been consistent, others have been inconsistent or limited. Outside of the Nordic countries, only few countries have directly linked information on cancer and census data. The aim of the study was to compare occupational variation of the risk of bladder cancer in the Nordic countries and Canada. Methods: In the Nordic occupational cancer study (NOCCA) 73,653 bladder cancer cases were observed during follow up of 141.6 million person years. In the Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohort (CanCHEC) 8,170 cases were observed during 36.7 million person years of follow up. Standardized incidence ratios (SIR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated for 53 occupations in the NOCCA cohort and hazard ratios (HR) with 95% CIs were estimated for 42 occupations in the CanCHEC cohort. Results: Elevated risks of bladder cancer were observed among hairdressers, printers, sales workers,...