Table 1

Characteristics of cancer cases and controls (data expressed as numbers of participants, United States, 1984–95)

Non-melanoma skin cancerBreast cancerOvarian cancerProstate cancerColon cancer
Cases n=6565Controls n=153502Cases n=130261Controls n=70081Cases n=39002Controls n=70081Cases n=97873Controls n=83421Cases n=153511Controls n=153502
*Levels of exposure to sun were categorised based on annual mean daily solar radiation reported by Garland et al7 for state reported as residence and birthplace. This was sometimes outside the 24 states in which deaths occurred. “Low” included the following states and other areas: Alaska, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Canada. “Moderate” included Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. “High” included Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Wyoming, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, Cuba, and Mexico. (States in italics identified are the 24 states from the mortality database.); †Other refers to those whose region of residence differed between birth and time of death; ‡Other refers to homemakers, and those with no or unidentified occupations whose exposure to sunlight could not be inferred; §Other refers to those with unidentified occupations whose level of physical activity could not be inferred; ¶Other refers to homemakers, students, volunteers, and those with no or unidentified occupations.
Age:
    <50 616147041994641023439410231710602745414704
    50–59 85315976217655295568052952991106811459415976
    60–691462323363169412116105371211617111202203455532336
    70–791655458963158720960116592096038348249364963945896
    ≥80197944590252692760876872760839106169824726944590
Sex:
    Female207370081130261700813900270081007979170081
    Male449283421000097873834217372083421
Race:
    White59301332791159016084635797608468152472433137146133279
    Black 596186991346886122895861215691100871533518699
    Other 39152489262331062365890110301524
Residence*:
    Low132133696329611557297691557222249181243896633696
    Med2198502524085423112123622311230035271405049550252
    High141031247226221387468621387419302173732469531247
    Other†1636383073382417523100091752326287207843935538307
Occupation:
    Indoor3024715296929830215203333021551219413147807971529
    Mixed139828312522421821552218227715261302514428312
    Outdoor 37460604112581362586088580241636060
    Farmer 410664829827110827110609637756066648
    Other‡13594095355030371551687337155224237984051940953
Physical activity:
    Sedentary 9.28216602598993287447932814428123322457221660
    Low15093643243141021571791021527661234283539133643
    Med2370635107211645239220174523920990182716524763510
    High163231744631044171929441732959273272584631744
    Other§ 126294515328824308821835206324552945
Socioeconomic status:
    1 Low110522112729852832231528321883168291835122112
    21198261841358675744152757418852186102260026184
    3180040017302421160988391160933214284084333440017
    4 776179442106574146029741414103105302152817944
    5 High 285477724436046626046606417359504777
    Other¶14014246855627375971708937597321548714174842468