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Background: Occupational exposure to vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) has been established as a cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver angiosarcoma (ASL). However, some controversy remains due to conflicting results on liver cirrhosis, and to evidence on HCC based on few confirmed cases. The aim of the study is to clarify the association between VCM exposure and mortality from liver diseases. Methods: In a cohort of 1658 workers involved in VCM production and polymerization, Poisson regression was adopted to estimate rate ratios (RR) across categories of VCM exposure for mortality due to ASL (n = 9), HCC (n = 31) confirmed by histological/clinical records, and the combination of deaths from liver cirrhosis and from liver cancer with clinical/histological evidence of cirrhosis (n = 63). Results: Cumulative VCM exposure was associated with study outcomes; RRs in the highest compared to the lowest exposure category were: ASL 91.1 (95%Confidence Interval 16.8‐497), HCC 5.52 (2.03‐15.0), liver cirrhosis 2.60 (1.19‐5.67). Conclusions: The risk of death from liver cirrhosis, as well as from HCC in the largest available series of confirmed cases, increased with VCM exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Literature suggests that more research is needed to clarify the effect of workplace inspections by governmental officers on injury rates. This paper aims to compare comprehensive and partial inspections in Italian manufacturing companies. Methods Survival analysis was applied to the period free from injuries following inspection by means of the Kaplan-Meier method and of Cox models. Results Kaplan-Meier curves show that, compared to companies with a partial inspection, companies which had a comprehensive inspection had a higher survival through the entire period. Adjusting for confounders, the Cox model confirms a significant preventive effect of comprehensive inspection for companies with 10-30 employees, but not for those with >30 employees. Conclusions The results suggest that the effect on injuries is greater if all aspects of safety are addressed during the inspection instead of focusing on a single aspect. These findings are interesting because they can help in planning effective prevention activities. Am. J. Ind. Med. 59:315-321, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The objectives of this study were to measure the incidence of sarcomas, including viscerally sited tumors that are not reported in cancer statistics, and to draw explanatory clues from a large and reliable sarcoma incidence data set. METHODS: Cases of sarcomas regardless of primary site (except bone and joints) were collected during 2 years in 3 European regions totaling approximately 26,000,000 person-years. The sources used were pathology reports and hospital discharges forms. Diagnoses were reviewed by expert sarcoma pathologists and were classified according to 2002 World Health Organization criteria. Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) were considered those located in arms, legs, trunk, head, neck, and retroperitoneum; visceral sarcomas (VS) were considered those that arose in internal organs. Rates were age standardized using the European (ASR-E) and the USA standard population. The rate of coexistence of VS and STS was calculated by dividing the 2 corresponding ASRs. RESULTS: There were 1558 sarcomas, 968 STS, and 590 VS. The ASRs-USA per 100,000 person-years was 5.12 × 105 among males and 4.58 × 105 among females for all sarcomas. For males and females, respectively, the ASR-E per 100,000 person-years was 3.58 × 105 and 2.55 × 105, respectively, for STS; 1.47 × 105 and 1.97 × 105, respectively, for VS; and 0.55 × 105 and 0.10 × 105, respectively, for Kaposi sarcoma. The coexistence rate of VS and STS was 0.41 for males and 0.77 for females. For dermatofibrosarcoma (both sexes), uterine sarcoma, liposarcoma (females), and leiomyosarcoma, including or excluding the uterus (females), the age-specific rates depicted a curve with a rapid increasing trend until ages 40 to 50 years and little variation thereafter. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with the incidence of STS, VS incidence made up an additional 41% in males and 77% in females. Because the shape of age-specific curves for some histotypes was similar to that of breast cancer, the authors concluded that sex hormones (plus many chemicals that act as endocrine disruptors) may be involved in carcinogenesis. This evidence could pave the way to investigate alternative treatments and to explore etiology. Cancer 2012. © 2012 American Cancer Society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pressure from the vinyl chloride (VC) industry on researchers involved in industry-sponsored studies and on regulatory agencies has been documented since 1970s. This commentary describes the influence of a lawsuit pursued by workers of an Italian VC plant on the recent scientific debate on VC exposure and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Original studies carried out by consultants of the public prosecutors and by independent researchers supported the above association. VC-industry consultants published two reviews during the lawsuit, claiming that liver angiosarcoma was the only VC-related cancer. The judges concluded that the evidence of the association between HCC and VC was still not convincing. After the trial, the risk of HCC was confirmed by a re-assessment of VC carcinogenicity from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, but other subsequent industry-funded reviews criticized the new evidence. Industry-funded authors cited each other, and rarely disclosed conflicts of interest. Based on a network of collaborating researchers, industrial interests can shape the literature enhancing the background noise surrounding the scientific evidence. Am. J. Ind. Med. 54:470-473, 2011. © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the association between benign asbestos-related diseases and aspects of asbestos exposure in 772 asbestos workers who were subjected to low-dose computed tomography (CT). Smoking habits, asbestos exposures, and the time of first exposure were identified and were analyzed using multiple logistic regression method. Results show 1.8% cases of asbestosis, 24.2% of pleural plaques (PP) and 6.5% diffuse pleural thickening (DPT) that were associated to asbestos exposure.

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Unifying Roles for Regulatory T Cells and Inflammation in Cancer," by S. E. Erman, et al., in the 2010 issue.

The article presents a report that patients who were vaccinated against diseases such as sepsis, pneumonia, tuberculosis and Staphylococcus infections experienced a reduced risk of melanoma, a form of skin cancer. Australia is one of the regions with the highest incidence of melanoma where it is the fourth most prevalent form of cancer not including non-melanotic skin cancers. Studies also indicated that the incidence of risk reduction was directly related to the number of infections.