Kurt Straif

International Agency for Research on Cancer · Evidence Synthesis and Classification

Rationale: Benzene has been classified as carcinogenic to humans, but there is limited evidence linking benzene exposure to lung cancer. Objectives: We aimed to examine the relationship between occupational benzene exposure and lung cancer. Methods: Subjects from 14 case-control studies across Europe and Canada were pooled. We used a quantitat...

Background: The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Monographs program assembles expert working groups who publish a critical review and evaluation of data on agents of interest. These comprehensive reviews provide a unique opportunity to identify research needs to address classification uncertainties. A multidisciplinary expert rev...

Purpose Some pesticides may increase the risk of certain lymphoid malignancies, but few studies have examined Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). In this exploratory study, we examined associations between agricultural use of 22 individual active ingredients and 13 chemical groups and HL incidence. Methods We used data from three agricultural cohorts participa...

Use of artificial sweeteners (AS) such as aspartame, cyclamate, saccharin and sucralose is widespread. We evaluated the association of use of aspartame and other AS with cancer. In total 1881 colorectal, 1510 breast, 972 prostate and 351 stomach cancer and 109 chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) cases and 3629 population controls from the Spanish M...

Background: Ambient air pollution has been associated with COVID-19 disease severity and antibody response induced by infection. Objectives: We examined the association between long-term exposure to air pollution and vaccine-induced antibody response. Methods: This study was nested in an ongoing population-based cohort, COVICAT, the GCAT-Genom...

Introduction Little is known about joint effects between occupational carcinogens on lung cancer risk. We investigated pairwise exposure to five occupational exposures: asbestos, respirable crystalline silica, metals (i.e. nickel, chromium VI), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (pah), on lung cancer risk, both overall and by major subtypes, whil...

Introduction The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Monographs program assembles expert Working Groups who publish a critical review and evaluation of existing data on agents of interest. These comprehensive reviews provide a unique opportunity to identify research needs to address classification uncertainties. A multidisciplinary e...

Introduction To summarize the epidemiological evidence on occupational asbestos exposure and the risk of esophageal, stomach and colorectal cancer. Methods The search strategy was developed by investigators with occupational hygiene, exposure assessment, cancer epidemiology, and systematic review expertise; and applied to MEDLINE, Web of Science,...

Introduction During the first pandemic lockdown in Spain certain workers have been at increased risk of COVID-19. Results from published studies are heterogeneous, possibly due to differences in public health interventions, availability of personal protective equipment (PPE), virulence of variants of concern, population-wide immunity or methodologi...

Introduction Benzene is widely present in various industries and ubiquitously in the general environment. Benzene has been classified as a known human carcinogen, but there is limited evidence linking benzene exposure with lung cancer. However, if such an association exists, this could have large implications for occupational and environmental risk...

Introduction Solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) causes skin cancers, is a risk factor for cataract, and the primary predictor of serum vitamin D levels, but there are significant knowledge gaps in several health outcomes. Outdoor workers are exposed to high levels of solar UVR. The objective was to develop a European quantitative job-exposure matrix...

Introduction Night shift work and sleep deprivation have been associated with lower antibody responses induced by vaccination against seasonal influenza, meningitis-C and hepatitis A. We examined the association of exposure to night shift work and sleep deprivation with antibody levels induced by COVID-19 vaccines. Materials and Methods This study...

Background In February 2021, over one hundred scientists and policy experts participated in a web-based Workshop to discuss the ways that divergent evaluations of evidence and scientific uncertainties are used to delay timely protection of human health and the environment from exposures to hazardous agents. The Workshop arose from a previous worksh...

Climate change, urbanisation, chemical pollution and disruption of ecosystems, including biodiversity loss, affect our health and wellbeing. Research is crucial to be able to respond to the current and future challenges that are often complex and interconnected by nature. The HERA Agenda, summarised in this commentary, identifies six thematic resea...

Background The study of impact of lockdowns on individual health-related behaviors has produced divergent results. Purpose To identify patterns of change in multiple health-related behaviors analyzed as a whole, and their individual determinants. Methods Between March and August 2020, we collected data on smoking, alcohol, physical activity, weig...

Data from human and animal studies are highly suggestive of an influence of time of day of vaccine administration on host immune responses. In this population-based study, we aimed to investigate the effect of time of day of administration of a COVID-19 vector vaccine, ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AstraZeneca), on SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike S1 immunoglobulin (IgG)...

This chapter provides a historical and global overview on global trends in cancer incidence, disparities, and social inequalities among countries and within countries, with a particular attention given to cancer in children and adolescents. To reduce social inequalities, the author proposes to reexamine research priorities: first, to generate knowl...

Cancer is the first or second cause of death in 134 countries, the leading cause of death in most high-income countries (i.e., 10 million deaths in 2020), and the leading cause of death by disease in American children. An estimated 19.3 million new cases of cancer are diagnosed across the world each year, and this number is expected to rise to 29 m...

Title page, table of contents, and acknowledgments for The Rising Global Cancer Pandemic

There is limited evidence regarding the exposure‐effect relationship between lung‐cancer risk and hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) or nickel. We estimated lung‐cancer risks in relation to quantitative indices of occupational exposure to Cr(VI) and nickel and their interaction with smoking habits. We pooled 14 case‐control studies from Europe and Canada...

Circadian nutritional behaviors, defined by the daily eating/fasting cycle, have been linked with breast cancer. This study aimed to further disentangle the association of nighttime fasting duration and time of breakfast with breast cancer risk. We analyzed data from 1,181 breast cancer cases and 1,326 population controls from the Spanish multicase...

To date the true global incidence of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) and the underlying risk factors remain to be fully defined, in particular, the role of occupational and environmental factors. Currently, the putative role of asbestos exposure as a risk factor for iCCA is gaining increased attention in the international scientific communit...

Purpose Mental health conditions may affect outcome of COVID-19 disease, while exposure to stressors during the pandemic may impact mental health. The purpose of this study was to examine these factors in relation to ocurrence of depression and anxiety after the first outbreak in Spain. Methods We contacted 9515 participants from a population-base...

Objectives Animal bioassays have demonstrated convincing evidence of the potential carcinogenicity to humans of titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ), but limitations in cohort studies have been identified, among which is the healthy worker survivor effect (HWSE). We aimed to address this bias in a pooled study of four cohorts of TiO 2 workers. Methods We rea...

Background: Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) occurs widely in occupational settings. We investigated the association between occupational exposure to PAH and lung cancer risk and joint effects with smoking within the SYNERGY project. Methods: We pooled 14 case-control studies with information on lifetime occupational and smokin...

Importance: The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2019 (GBD 2019) provided systematic estimates of incidence, morbidity, and mortality to inform local and international efforts toward reducing cancer burden. Objective: To estimate cancer burden and trends globally for 204 countries and territories and by Sociodemographic...

Background The carcinogenicity of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF EMF) has been evaluated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in 2011. Based on limited evidence of carcinogenicity in humans and in animals, RF EMF were classified as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B). In 2018, based on a survey amongst RF expe...

Background Disability and mortality burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have risen worldwide; however, the NCD burden among adolescents remains poorly described in the EU. Methods Estimates were retrieved from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019. Causes of NCDs were analysed at three different levels o...

Background: Areca nut (AN), the principal ingredient of betel quid (BQ) has been categorized as a human carcinogen associated with various cancers of upper aerodigestive tract. However, there has been no attempt at summarizing the risk reversal of oral and other cancers after cessation of BQ with or without tobacco (BQ+T/BQ-T). Objective: To ana...

Background In estimating the global burden of cancer, adolescents and young adults with cancer are often overlooked, despite being a distinct subgroup with unique epidemiology, clinical care needs, and societal impact. Comprehensive estimates of the global cancer burden in adolescents and young adults (aged 15–39 years) are lacking. To address this...

Background: Solar UltraViolet Radiation (UVR) is considered the most relevant occupational carcinogenic exposure in terms of the number of workers exposed (i.e., outdoor workers) and UVR-induced skin cancers are among the most frequent types of occupational cancers worldwide. This review aims to collect and evaluate all the available preventive int...

Introduction During the first lockdown in Spain (March-June, 2020) essential workers may have been at increased risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) via occupational exposure. Results from published studies are heterogeneous. Methods Ongoing population-based cohort studies from Catalonia were pooled to form the COVICAT study. A random sub-p...

Background Employment is an essential component of adult life, and occupation is a major determinant of health. Despite profound changes in working life, there has been little coordinated European occupational health research. Objectives We present results from the HERA international project funded by the EU Horizon2020 program, to set priorities...

Introduction Hodgkin lymphoma is a rare cancer of B-lymphocytes diagnosed in approximately 80,000 individuals worldwide each year. While the use of some pesticides may increase the risk of other lymphoid malignancies, associations with Hodgkin lymphoma remain poorly understood. Objectives We investigated associations of use of 22 pesticide active...

The SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemics has raised several challenges at the workplace. Within the omega-net COVID-19 taskforce, we developed standardized COVID-19 questionnaires for occupational research, a multi-country COVID-19 Job Exposure Matrix, and research on COVID-19 as an occupational disease. The compiled questionnaire resource covers all key asp...

Introduction We used hierarchical and penalization models to explore occupational risks associated with lung cancer while accounting for exposures to multiple known carcinogenic exposures. Methods We pooled lung cancer case-control study subjects from 14 European and Canadian studies. Associations between employment in 1,506 five-digit ISCO-68 occ...

Introduction A historical cohort study in workers occupationally exposed to chrysotile was set up in the town of Asbest, the Russian Federation, to study their cause-specific mortality, with a focus on cancer. Objective Describe the Asbest Chrysotile Cohort established in 2013. Methods Cohort enrolment was based on employment records from JSC Ura...

Nighttime fasting has been inconclusively associated with a reduced risk of cancer. The purpose of this study was to investigate this association in relation to prostate cancer risk. We examined data from 607 prostate cancer cases and 848 population controls who had never worked in night shift work from the Spanish multicase-control (MCC) study, 20...

Background Existing methods to estimate lifetime exposure to occupational carcinogenic agents could be improved. Objective We propose a new method to estimate the lifetime prevalence of exposure to occupational carcinogens using the example of painters and workers of the rubber industry in France. Methods From census, we calculated the proportion...

Over the last 50 years, occupational exposure to carcinogenic agents has been widely regulated in France. Report population-attributable fraction (PAF) and number of attributable cancer cases linked to occupational exposure in France based on an updated method to estimate lifetime occupational exposure prevalence. Population-level prevalence of lif...

Objective Areca nut is one of the most widely consumed substances globally, after nicotine, ethanol and caffeine and classified as carcinogenic to humans. This study examines the disparity and determinants of areca nut consumption with and without tobacco in India. Design Nationally representative cross-sectional study. Participants We used the n...

Objectives: We investigated general job demands as a risk factor for lung cancer as well as their role in the association between occupational prestige and lung cancer. Methods: In 13 case-control studies on lung cancer, as part of the international SYNERGY project, we applied indices for physical (PHI) and psychosocial (PSI) job demands - each...

Abstract Objectives Inhalation of secondhand smoke (SHS) causes several diseases, including lung cancer. Tobacco smoking is a known cause of oral cancer; however, it has not been established whether SHS also causes oral cancer . The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential association between SHS exposure and the risk of oral cancer. Method...

Background Aspartame is one of the world’s most widely used artificial sweeteners and is an ingredient in more than 5000 food products globally. A particularly important use is in low-calorie beverages consumed by children and pregnant women. The Ramazzini Institute (RI) reported in 2006 and 2007 that aspartame causes dose-related increases in mali...

Objectives We evaluated the risk of lung cancer associated with ever working as a painter, duration of employment and type of painter by histological subtype as well as joint effects with smoking, within the SYNERGY project. Methods Data were pooled from 16 participating case–control studies conducted internationally. Detailed individual occupatio...

Summary Background Rigorous analysis of levels and trends in exposure to leading risk factors and quantification of their effect on human health are important to identify where public health is making progress and in which cases current efforts are inadequate. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 provides a sta...

Background: In an era of shifting global agendas and expanded emphasis on non-communicable diseases and injuries along with communicable diseases, sound evidence on trends by cause at the national level is essential. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) provides a systematic scientific assessment of published, publ...

Background Rigorous analysis of levels and trends in exposure to leading risk factors and quantification of their effect on human health are important to identify where public health is making progress and in which cases current efforts are inadequate. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 provides a standardise...

Background: Increasingly, risk of bias tools are used to evaluate epidemiologic studies as part of evidence synthesis (evidence integration), often involving meta-analyses. Some of these tools consider hypothetical randomized controlled trials (RCTs) as gold standards. Methods: We review the strengths and limitations of risk of bias assessments,...

Objectives Titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) is widely used in construction, food, cosmetic and medical industry. The current evidence on TiO 2 carcinogenicity in humans is considered inadequate. As French participants of the European cohort of TiO 2 workers exhibited an increase in mortality from lung cancer, we aimed at investigating whether TiO 2 exposu...

A historical cohort study in workers occupationally exposed to chrysotile was set up in the town of Asbest, the Russian Federation, to study their cause-specific mortality, with a focus on cancer. Chrysotile has different chemical and physical properties compared with other asbestos fibres; therefore it is important to conduct studies specifically...

It has been suggested that the association between self-reported occupational noise exposure and vestibular schwannoma (VS) found in several studies, represents recall bias. Therefore, we aim to study the relation in a large case-control study using occupational noise measurements. We performed a case-control study from Sweden of 1913 VS cases diag...

Rationale and objectives: We expanded upon a previous pooled case-control analysis on diesel engine exhaust and lung cancer by including 3 additional studies and quantitative exposure assessment to evaluate lung cancer and subtype risks associated with occupational exposure to diesel exhaust, characterized by elemental carbon (EC) concentrations....

Rationale and objectives: Respirable crystalline silica is a lung carcinogen with millions of exposed workers globally. We aimed to address current knowledge gaps in lung cancer risks associated with low levels of occupational silica exposure and the joint effects of smoking and silica exposure on lung cancer risks. Methods: Subjects from 14 cas...

Exposures encountered in the general environment and at work and the potential adverse health effects arising from them are the topic of a large body of multidisciplinary research and of public concern. Investigation involves both knowledge of the source and nature of the hazard and an understanding of the relationship of the exposure to the diseas...

The Monographs produced by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) apply rigorous procedures for the scientific review and evaluation of carcinogenic hazards by independent experts. The Preamble to the IARC Monographs, which outlines these procedures, was updated in 2019, following recommendations of a 2018 expert Advisory Group. Thi...

An IARC Advisory Group to Recommend Priorities for the IARC Monographs during 2020–2024 met in Lyon, France, on 25–27 March 2019. IARC periodically convenes such Advisory Groups to ensure that the Monographs evaluations reflect the current state of scientific evidence relevant to carcinogenicity. Before the meeting, IARC solicited nominations of ag...

Preamble to the IARC Handbooks related to Evaluation of Screening Procedures and Interventions. https://handbooks.iarc.fr/documents-handbooks/hb-wp-lop.pdf ; https://handbooks.iarc.fr/documents-handbooks/hb-preamble-secondary-prevention.pdf ; https://handbooks.iarc.fr/documents-handbooks/hb-wp-wgreport.pdf

Introduction: Various established occupational lung carcinogens are also suspected risk factors for laryngeal cancer. However, individual studies are often inadequate in size to investigate this relatively rare outcome. Other limitations include imprecise exposure assessment and inadequate adjustment for confounders. Methods: This study applied...

The Advisory Group to Recommend an Update to the Preamble to the IARC Monographs was convened at a time when significant shifts are occurring in the scientific evidence that contributes to the understanding of carcinogenicity, as well as in approaches to information gathering and evidence assessment and integration. Historically, for many agents, t...

Objective Study carcinogenicity of inorganic lead, classified as ‘probably carcinogenic’ to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (brain, lung, kidney and stomach). Methods We conducted internal and external analyses for cancer incidence in two cohorts of 29 874 lead-exposed workers with past blood lead data (Finland, n=20 752,...

Objective To examine whether sleep traits have a causal effect on risk of breast cancer. Design Mendelian randomisation study. Setting UK Biobank prospective cohort study and Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC) case-control genome-wide association study. Participants 156 848 women in the multivariable regression and one sample mendelian...

Parental occupational exposure to pesticides, animals, and organic dust have been associated with an increased risk of childhood cancer based mostly on case‐control studies. We prospectively evaluated parental occupational exposures and risk of childhood leukemia and central nervous system (CNS) tumors in the International Childhood Cancer Cohort C...