[Proportion of lung tumors attributable to occupation]

This paper reviews estimates of the proportion of lung cancer attributable to occupational exposures and presents estimates for the City of Turin where a population-based case-control study on lung cancer has been conducted in 1991-1992 among the residents. An analysis of six hundred and five cases (505 males and 100 females) and 859 controls (684 males and 175 females) with histological/cytological confirmed diagnosis of lung cancer and occupational and smoking complete histories has been performed to estimate the proportion of lung cancers attributable to occupation in the city of Turin. The occupational exposure has been assessed with two different classifications: a) classification of a checklist of occupations as obtained from the study questionnaire according to industries and occupations known (List A) and suspected (List B) to be associated with lung cancer; b) translation of ISCO-ISIC codes for industries and occupations according to the same List A and List B. The population attributable risks are comparable when estimated with the two different classifications. In the city of Turin, at the beginning of the Nineties, about 10%-15% of lung cancers in males and 2%-5% in females could be attributed to occupational exposure.