A SENTINEL CASE SERIES OF CANCER PATIENTS WITH OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURES TO ELECTROMAGNETIC NON-IONIZING RADIATION WITH SHORT LATENT PERIODS

Abstract

Background. There are reports that intense prolonged occupationalexposure to non-ionizing radiation may increase risks for cancer. Wepreviously have reported a sentinel cluster, of 7 workers with highexposures and short latent periods, and individual patients with braincancer high occupational exposures and short latent periods. We presenta sentinel case series (n=47, 40M, 7F) of cancer patients, referred toour medical unit with occupational exposures to non-ionizing radiationof all types. Objectives. Our aims were to report the findings on tumourtypes, age of first diagnosis, and latency, to describe their exposuresand to examine the hypothesis that latencies for all tumour types (solidtissue, hematolymphatic, testicular) were coherently related to highoccupational exposures starting at young ages. Methods. We divided thepatients into groups by latency. We categorized each patient's exposuresin regard to types of radiation, far or near field exposure and directbody contact. For some we had data on frequencies, for others weprovided assessments. We also present the patient data categorized byage of diagnosis. We used a case-case type comparison to examinelatencies for tumour types {[}solid, hematolymphatic (HL), testicular].Results. 15 patients developed cancer with latent periods of less than 5years and 12 patients with latent periods between 5 and 10 years. Theremaining 20 patients had longer latent periods between firstoccupational exposure to EMF and diagnosis of cancer. 6 patients(12.7%) had multiple tumours. 12 patients (25.5%) reported cancercases in co-workers. In the <5 years latency group there were 8hematolymphatic cancers, 3 testicular cancers and 6 solid tumours{[}head & neck (including brain) and GI tract]. In all latency groupsthere were patients who were exposed to intense levels ofelectromagnetic fields (EMF), to several types of EMF, or to EMF incombination with ionizing radiation (IR) or other exposures, andpatients who had direct body contact with the equipment, were in directfocus of high radiation, or worked in small, electronically denseenvironments. Case classification by age showed shorter latencies withyounger ages, but this association is complicated by the fact thatshorter latencies co-vary with younger ages especially for testiculartumours. But patients with testicular and hematolymphatic tumours hadshorter latencies than those with solid tumours. Conclusion. Many of thepatients were young and had extremely short latent periods, especiallyfor HL and testicular cancers. The fact that latent periods for testeswere very short, HL longer and solid still longer suggests a coherentand biologically plausible pattern of latency in relation to the onsetof exposure to EMF and other agents. The findings strengthen thehypothesis that these exposures may possibly be the major cause of manyof these tumours. The findings state the case for (1) better modellingof exposure sources and penetration into the body and (2) preventive andprotective measures based on control of exposure at source, barriers,and personal protection. Eur. J. Oncol., 16 (1), 21-54, 2011