PCa in Australian volunteer firefighters.

[pjoshea13]

New study below.

Many men have theories as to why they developed PCa, & now we can add another for the firefighters in our midst.

It's an odd one, though:

"Compared with the general population, there were significant decreases in overall cancer incidence and in most major cancer categories. Prostate cancer incidence was increased compared with the general population, but this was not related to the number of incidents attended."

The overall decreased risk is attributed to the volunteers being healthier. The increased PCa risk seems unrelated to the actual fires. Is there a strange firefighter lifestyle factor that puts the prostate at risk? Or is being healthier a risk factor? LOL

-Patrick

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/283...

Occup Environ Med. 2017 Apr 8. pii: oemed-2016-104088. doi: 10.1136/oemed-2016-104088. [Epub ahead of print]

Mortality and cancer incidence among male volunteer Australian firefighters.

Glass DC1, Del Monaco A2, Pircher S2, Vander Hoorn S3, Sim MR2.

Author information

1

Department of Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Victoria, Australia [e-mail].

2

Department of Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Victoria, Australia.

3

Statistical Consulting Centre, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:

This study aims to investigate mortality and cancer incidence of Australian male volunteer firefighters and of subgroups of firefighters by duration of service, era of first service and the number and type of incidents attended.

METHODS:

Participating fire agencies supplied records of individual volunteer firefighters, including incidents attended. The cohort was linked to the Australian National Death Index and Australian Cancer Database. standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) and standardised incidence ratios (SIRs) for cancer were calculated. Firefighters were grouped into tertiles by duration of service and by number of incidents attended and relative mortality ratios and relative incidence ratios calculated.

RESULTS:

Compared with the general population, there were significant decreases in overall cancer incidence and in most major cancer categories. Prostate cancer incidence was increased compared with the general population, but this was not related to the number of incidents attended. Kidney cancer was associated with increased attendance at fires, particularly structural fires.The overall risk of mortality was significantly decreased, and all major causes of death were significantly reduced for volunteer firefighters. There was evidence of an increased mortality from ischaemic heart disease, with increased attendance at fires.

CONCLUSION:

Volunteer firefighters have a reduced risk of mortality and cancer incidence compared with the general population, which is likely to be a result of a 'healthy-volunteer' effect and, perhaps, lower smoking rates.

© Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

KEYWORDS:

Volunteer firefighter; cancer incidence; cohort; mortality; wildfire

PMID: 28391245 DOI: 10.1136/oemed-2016-104088