The risk of breast cancer in relation to health habits and occupational exposures.

Background: The age-adjusted incidence rate of breast cancer has increased for Israeli women. Our aim was to explore the hypothesis that occupational exposures are important risk factors, taking into consideration main known risk factors.

Methods: The study population included 326 breast cancer cases from one hospital in the center of the country and 413 women without known diagnosis of cancer.

Cancer incidence among laboratory workers in biomedical research and routine laboratories in Israel: Part II-nested case-control study.

Background: A case-control study nested within a cohort study of biomedical laboratory workers was conducted to examine whether the excess cancer morbidity that we found can be explained by exposure to a particular group of substances, taking into consideration potential confounders.

Methods: The study population included 163 cases and two matched control groups: laboratory workers (311) and general population (448) workers.

Results: Multiple conditional regression analysis showed that working in research laboratories involved an increased risk of cancer generally among women [risk ratio 2.

Cancer incidence among laboratory workers in biomedical research and routine laboratories in Israel: Part I-the cohort study.

Background: Laboratory work is associated with exposure to a mixture of carcinogens.

Methods: The cohort is comprised of 4,300 laboratory workers. Cancer incidence was followed from 1960 to 1997.

Sister chromatid exchange in pathology staff occupationally exposed to formaldehyde.

Sister chromatid exchange (SCE) was measured in peripheral lymphocytes of 90 workers from 14 hospital pathology departments in Israel who were occupationally exposed to formaldehyde (FA) and of 52 unexposed workers from the administrative section of the same hospitals. The mean exposure period to FA was 15.4 years (range 1-39).