PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Denic-Roberts, Hristina AU - McGlynn, Katherine AU - Rhee, Jongeun AU - Byrne, Celia AU - Lang, Michael AU - Vu, Paul AU - Purdue, Mark AU - Rusiecki, Jennifer TI - Military occupation and testicular germ cell tumour risk among US Air Force servicemen AID - 10.1136/oemed-2022-108628 DP - 2023 Jun 01 TA - Occupational and Environmental Medicine PG - 312--318 VI - 80 IP - 6 4099 - http://oem.bmj.com/content/80/6/312.short 4100 - http://oem.bmj.com/content/80/6/312.full SO - Occup Environ Med2023 Jun 01; 80 AB - Objectives Testicular germ cell tumours (TGCTs) are the most commonly diagnosed malignancy among active duty US military servicemen. Occupational risk factors may play a role in TGCT aetiology, although the evidence is inconclusive. The objective of our study was to investigate associations between military occupations and TGCT risk among US Air Force (USAF) servicemen.Methods This nested case–control study among active duty USAF servicemen obtained information on military occupations for 530 histologically confirmed TGCT cases diagnosed during 1990–2018 and 530 individually matched controls. We determined military occupations using Air Force Specialty Codes ascertained at two time points: at case diagnosis and at a time point on average 6 years earlier. We computed adjusted ORs and 95% CIs from conditional logistic regression models to evaluate associations between occupations and TGCT risk.Results The mean age at TGCT diagnosis was 30 years. Increased TGCT risk was observed for pilots (OR=2.84, 95% CI: 1.20–6.74) and servicemen with aircraft maintenance jobs (OR=1.85, 95% CI: 1.03–3.31) who held those jobs at both time points. Fighter pilots (n=18) and servicemen with firefighting jobs (n=18) at the time of case diagnosis had suggestively elevated TGCT odds (OR=2.73, 95% CI: 0.96–7.72 and OR=1.94, 95% CI: 0.72–5.20, respectively).Conclusions In this matched, nested case–control study of young active duty USAF servicemen, we found that pilots and men with aircraft maintenance jobs had elevated TGCT risk. Further research is needed to elucidate specific occupational exposures underlying these associations.Data are available upon reasonable request. Since these data are from military data resources, the process for obtaining assurances for public use requires authorisations by the Department of Defense. The senior author can provide additional information on the process upon request.