Flight Crews Have Higher Cancer Risk
Pilots, Flight Attendants, More Prone to Some Cancers. But Why?
Oct. 21, 2003 -- Researchers know that airline pilots and flight attendants have a higher rate of certain types of cancer. What's less concrete is exactly why.
In the past three years, at least 10 studies on the subject have been conducted. Most found an increased risk of breast and skin cancer among those who make their living in the skies.
But what has eluded scientists is the exact cause and effect: Is it the higher altitudes that boost risk? Irregular work schedules, which can disrupt their circadian rhythms? The fact that flight crews spend more time sunbathing on beaches than the average Joe?
Three new studies in the November issue of Occupational and Environmental Medicine by researchers in Iceland and Sweden provide more clues to this baffling association.
In one report, researchers find that length on the job seems to impact breast-cancer risk. That finding is based on analyzing data from 1,500 female flight attendants.
"We found that those who have been flying for five or more years have double the risk of breast cancer compared to those flying shorter periods," lead researcher Vilhjalmur Rafnsson, MD, PhD, of the University of Iceland, tells WebMD. "In previous studies we conducted, we found that flight attendants had an overall 50% increased risk compared to women in the general population."
However, among flight attendants who worked until 1971, he finds those with five years or more on the job had five times the rate of breast cancer than their less-tenured peers.
This increased rate seen among flight attendants remained even after Rafnsson adjusted for the women's reproductive history. "We found that flight attendants who never had children were more likely to develop breast cancer than those who gave birth," he says. "While this is known in the general population, it has never been studied specifically in flight attendants."
But a Swedish study shows the risk of breast cancer wasn't much higher than the general population. And it shows no link between length of employment and breast-cancer risk, and they question whether reproductive history is really a factor.
Flight Crews Have Higher Cancer Risk
Pilots, Flight Attendants, More Prone to Some Cancers. But Why?
Oct. 21, 2003 -- Researchers know that airline pilots and flight attendants have a higher rate of certain types of cancer. What's less concrete is exactly why.
In the past three years, at least 10 studies on the subject have been conducted. Most found an increased risk of breast and skin cancer among those who make their living in the skies.
But what has eluded scientists is the exact cause and effect: Is it the higher altitudes that boost risk? Irregular work schedules, which can disrupt their circadian rhythms? The fact that flight crews spend more time sunbathing on beaches than the average Joe?
Three new studies in the November issue of Occupational and Environmental Medicine by researchers in Iceland and Sweden provide more clues to this baffling association.
The Longer the Career, the Higher the Risk
In one report, researchers find that length on the job seems to impact breast-cancer risk. That finding is based on analyzing data from 1,500 female flight attendants.
"We found that those who have been flying for five or more years have double the risk of breast cancer compared to those flying shorter periods," lead researcher Vilhjalmur Rafnsson, MD, PhD, of the University of Iceland, tells WebMD. "In previous studies we conducted, we found that flight attendants had an overall 50% increased risk compared to women in the general population."
However, among flight attendants who worked until 1971, he finds those with five years or more on the job had five times the rate of breast cancer than their less-tenured peers.
This increased rate seen among flight attendants remained even after Rafnsson adjusted for the women's reproductive history. "We found that flight attendants who never had children were more likely to develop breast cancer than those who gave birth," he says. "While this is known in the general population, it has never been studied specifically in flight attendants."
But a Swedish study shows the risk of breast cancer wasn't much higher than the general population. And it shows no link between length of employment and breast-cancer risk, and they question whether reproductive history is really a factor.