Dataset Information

Exposure to benzene at work and the risk of leukemia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

A substantial number of epidemiologic studies have provided estimates of the relation between exposure to benzene at work and the risk of leukemia, but the results have been heterogeneous. To bridge this gap in knowledge, we synthesized the existing epidemiologic evidence on the relation between occupational exposure to benzene and the risk of leukemia, including all types combined and the four main subgroups acute myeloid leukemia (AML), acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).

Methods

A systematic literature review was carried out using two databases 'Medline' and 'Embase' from 1950 through to July 2009. We selected articles which provided information that can be used to estimate the relation between benzene exposure and cancer risk (effect size).

Results

In total 15 studies were identified in the search, providing 16 effect estimates for the main analysis. The summary effect size for any leukemia from the fixed-effects model was 1.40 (95% CI, 1.23-1.57), but the study-specific estimates were strongly heterogeneous (I2 = 56.5%, Q stat = 34.47, p = 0.003). The random-effects model yielded a summary- effect size estimate of 1.72 (95% CI, 1.37-2.17). Effect estimates from 9 studies were based on cumulative exposures. In these studies the risk of leukemia increased with a dose-response pattern with a summary-effect estimate of 1.64 (95% CI, 1.13-2.39) for low (< 40 ppm-years), 1.90 (95% CI, 1.26-2.89) for medium (40-99.9 ppm-years), and 2.62 (95% CI, 1.57-4.39) for high exposure category (> 100 ppm-years). In a meta-regression, the trend was statistically significant (P = 0.015). Use of cumulative exposure eliminated heterogeneity. The risk of AML also increased from low (1.94, 95% CI, 0.95-3.95), medium (2.32, 95% CI, 0.91-5.94) to high exposure category (3.20, 95% CI, 1.09-9.45), but the trend was not statistically significant.

Conclusions

Our study provides consistent evidence that exposure to benzene at work increases the risk of leukemia with a dose-response pattern. There was some evidence of an increased risk of AML and CLL. The meta-analysis indicated a lack of association between benzene exposure and the risk of CML.

SUBMITTER: Khalade A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2903550 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Exposure to benzene at work and the risk of leukemia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Khalade Abdul A Jaakkola Maritta S MS Pukkala Eero E Jaakkola Jouni J K JJ

Environmental health : a global access science source 20100628

<h4>Background</h4>A substantial number of epidemiologic studies have provided estimates of the relation between exposure to benzene at work and the risk of leukemia, but the results have been heterogeneous. To bridge this gap in knowledge, we synthesized the existing epidemiologic evidence on the relation between occupational exposure to benzene and the risk of leukemia, including all types combined and the four main subgroups acute myeloid leukemia (AML), acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), chro ...[more]

PMID: 20584305

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundBenzene, an important component of organic solvents, is commonly used in industry. Meanwhile, benzene is a human carcinogen leading to leukemia. Although the links between benzene and various types of genetic damage indicators have been evaluated in several studies, but their results remain inconsistent. So we conducted a meta-analysis, and to explore the influence of low concentration benzene exposure on workers' genetic damage indicators using 3.25 mg/m3 as the boundary value, in order to provide a basis for improved prevention and control of the harm from benzene exposure to the occupational population.MethodsWe conducted a search of five databases, including Pub Med, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wan Fang Data and Chongqing VIP, to identify relevant articles up to December 25, 2018. Two researchers independently extracted and evaluated the data according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the literature. The imported articles were managed by Endnote X7, and the data were extracted and sorted by Excel 2013. We utilized Stata 12.0 software to perform the meta-analysis in the present study.ResultsA total of 68 eligible articles were finally included for the synthetic analyses. The meta-analysis results showed that occupational benzene exposure led to significantly increased Micronucleus (MN) frequency, Sister chromatid exchange (SCE) frequency, Chromosome aberration (CA) frequency, Olive Tail moment (OTM), Tail moment (TM), Tail length (TL), and Tail DNA% (T DNA%) compared to the control group (P < 0.05), and the pooled effect value estimates were 1.36, 0.98, 0.76, 1.06, 0.96, 1.78, and 1.42, respectively. Subsequent analysis of the effect of low concentration benzene exposure on genetic damage found significantly increased MN frequency increased compared with the control group (P < 0.05).ConclusionsOccupational benzene exposure can affect multiple genetic damage indicators. Even at an exposure concentration lower than 3.25 mg/m3, benzene exposure has genotoxicity. These data provide an important scientific basis for the further revision of occupational disease prevention strategies. At the same time, increased attention should be focused on the health monitoring of the occupational population exposed to benzene, and health management should be strengthened to improve the health of the occupational population.

Project description:BackgroundNon-Hodgkin lymphoma comprises a heterogeneous group of cancers with unresolved aetiology, although risk factors include environmental exposures to toxic chemicals. Although the ubiquitous pollutant benzene is an established leukemogen, its potential to cause non-Hodgkin lymphoma has been widely debated. We aimed to examine the potential link between benzene exposure and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in humans by evaluating a wide array of cohort and case-control studies using electronic systematic review.MethodsWe did a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis of all qualified human epidemiological studies that assessed the relationship between benzene exposure and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. We queried the PubMed and Embase databases for relevant articles published before June 5, 2019, and applied the SysRev platform for study selection. All peer-reviewed human cohort and case-control studies that reported non-Hodgkin lymphoma risk estimates specifically for benzene exposure were eligible for inclusion. Studies that calculated relative risks (RRs) for industries or job types without identifying those specifically exposed to benzene, that combined non-Hodgkin lymphoma with other cancer types, or that reported many different solvent exposures together were excluded. From each study, two investigators independently extracted information on the study design, location, years, sample size, participation rates, age, sex, sources of cases and controls, diagnosis, histological verification, exposure assessment, results, adjustment, and statistical analysis, and subsequently assessed study quality. We calculated the meta-analysis relative risk (meta-RR) and CIs using the fixed effect and random effect models, as well as assessing publication bias.FindingsOur search yielded 2481 articles. After screening and removal of duplicates, 20 case-control studies and eight cohort studies were included in our meta-analysis, which included a total of 9587 patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. We reported an increased meta-relative risk (meta-RR) of 33% in highly exposed groups, when data were available (meta-RR 1·33 [95% CI 1·13-1·57], n=28). The meta-RR rose to 1·51 (1·22-1·87, n=18) in the studies that provided results specifically for highly exposed individuals. In particular, we reported a doubling of this risk for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, a major non-Hodgkin lymphoma subtype (1·67 [1·01-2·77]). We also detected increased risks for follicular lymphoma (1·47 [0·95-2·27]) and hairy cell leukaemia (1·77 [0·99-3·16]), though they were not statistically significant. Funnel plot, Egger's test (p=0·77) and Begg's test (p=0·98) did not show evidence of publication bias. We evaluated the major aspects of causal inference and found evidence to support all the Hill considerations for assigning causation.InterpretationOur findings suggest a causal link between benzene exposure and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, especially for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.FundingNational Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Project description:Background: Nightshift work introduces light at night and causes circadian rhythm among night workers, who are considered to be at increased risk of cancer. However, in the last 2 years, nine population-based studies reported insignificant associations between night-shift work and cancer risks. We aimed to conduct an updated systematic review and meta-analysis to ascertain the effect of night-shift work on the incidence of cancers. Methods: Our protocol was registered in PROSPERO and complied with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Embase, PubMed, and Web of Science databases were used to comprehensively search studies published up to May 31, 2019. The random-effect model (Der Simonian-Laird method) was carried out to combine the risk estimates of night-shift work for cancers. The dose-response meta-analysis was performed to verify whether the association was in a dose-dependent manner. Results: Our literature searching retrieved 1,660 publications. Included in the meta-analyses were 57 eligible studies with 8,477,849 participants (mean age 55 years; 2,560,886 men, 4,220,154 women, and 1,696,809 not mentioned). The pooled results showed that night-shift work was not associated with the risk of breast cancer (OR = 1.009, 95% CI = 0.984-1.033), prostate cancer (OR = 1.027, 95% CI = 0.982-1.071), ovarian cancer (OR = 1.027, 95% CI = 0.942-1.113), pancreatic cancer (OR = 1.007, 95% CI = 0.910-1.104), colorectal cancer (OR = 1.016, 95% CI = 0.964-1.068), non-Hodgkin's lymph (OR = 1.046, 95% CI = 0.994-1.098), and stomach cancer (OR = 1.064, 95% CI = 0.971-1.157), while night-shift work was associated with a reduction of lung cancer (OR = 0.949, 95% CI = 0.903-0.996), and skin cancer (OR = 0.916, 95% CI = 0.879-0.953). The dose-response meta-analysis found that cancer risk was not significantly elevated with the increased light exposure of night- shift work. Conclusion: This systematic review of 57 observational studies did not find an overall association between ever-exposure to night-shift work and the risk of breast, prostate ovarian, pancreatic, colorectal, non-Hodgkin's lymph, and stomach cancers.

Dataset Information

Exposure to benzene at work and the risk of leukemia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Exposure to benzene at work and the risk of leukemia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets