A case-control study of farming and prostate cancer in African-American and Caucasian men

Tamra E Meyer ^1*, Ann L Coker ¹, Maureen Sanderson ² and Elaine Symanski ¹

¹ University of Texas at Houston School of Public Health, United States
² University of Texas at Houston School of Public Health at Brownsville, United States

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: tamra.e.meyer{at}uth.tmc.edu.

Accepted 7 July 2006

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the risk of prostate cancer associated with farming by duration, recency, and specific activities among African-Americans and Caucasians. Methods: This population-based case-control study had information on farming-related activities for 405 incident prostate cancer cases and 392 controls matched on age, race, and region in South Carolina from 1999-2001. Histologically confirmed, primary invasive prostate cancer cases between the ages of 65-79 years were ascertained through the South Carolina Central Cancer Registry. Appropriately matched controls were identified from the Health Care Financing Administration Medicare Beneficiary File. Data were collected using computer assisted telephone interviewing and adjusted odds ratios (aOR) were estimated using unconditional logistic regression. Results: Farming was associated with increased risk of prostate cancer in Caucasians (aOR=1.8; 95% Confidence Interval [CI]=1.3-2.7) but not African-Americans (aOR=1.0; 95% CI=0.6-1.6). Among specific farming activities, farmers who mixed or applied pesticides had higher prostate cancer risk (aOR=1.6; 95% CI=1.2-2.2). Increased risk of prostate cancer was only observed for those farming fewer than 5 years. Conclusions: Increased risk of prostate cancer for farmers in this study may be attributable to pesticide exposure. Racial differences in the association between farming and prostate cancer may be explained by different farming activities or different gene-environment interactions by race.

Keywords: Agriculture, Epidemiology, Occupations, Prostatic Neoplasms, Race

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