Hermann, Silke; Rohrmann, Sabine; Linseisen, Jakob; Nieters, Alexandra; Khan, Aneire; Gallo, Valentina; Overvad, Kim; Tjønneland, Anne; Raaschou-Nielsen, Ole; Bergmann, Manuela M; +34 more... Boeing, Heiner; Becker, Nikolaus; Kaaks, Rudolf; Bueno-de-Mesquita, H Bas; May, Anne M; Vermeulen, Roel CH; Bingham, Sheila; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Key, Timothy J; Travis, Ruth C; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Georgila, Christina; Triantafylou, Dimitra; Celentano, Egidio; Krogh, Vittorio; Masala, Giovanna; Tumino, Rosario; Agudo, Antonio; Altzibar, Jone M; Ardanaz, Eva; Martínez-García, Carmen; Suárez, Marcial Vicente Argüelles; Tormo, Maria José; Braaten, Tonje; Lund, Eiliv; Manjer, Jonas; Zackrisson, Sophia; Hallmans, Göran; Malmer, Beatrice; Boffetta, Paolo; Brennan, Paul; Slimani, Nadia; Vineis, Paolo; Riboli, Elio; (2010) Level of education and the risk of lymphoma in the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition. Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology, 136 (1). pp. 71-77. ISSN 0171-5216 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-009-0638-9
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Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Lymphomas belong to the few cancer sites with increasing incidence over past decades, and only a few risk factors have been established. We explored the association between education and the incidence of lymphoma in the prospective EPIC study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Within 3,567,410 person-years of follow-up, 1,319 lymphoma cases [1,253 non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) and 66 Hodgkin lymphomas (HL)] were identified. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to examine the association between highest educational level (primary school or less, technical/professional school, secondary school, university) and lymphoma risk. RESULTS: Overall, no consistent associations between educational level and lymphoma risk were observed; however, associations were found for sub-groups of the cohort. We observed a higher risk of B-NHL (HR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.02–1.68; n = 583) in women with the highest education level (university) but not in men. Concerning sub-classes of B-NHL, a positive association between education and risk of B cell chronic lymphatic leukaemia (BCLL) was observed only in women. In both genders, the risk of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) was significantly lower for subjects with university degree (HR = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.27–0.79) versus lowest educational level. No association was found for HL. CONCLUSION: We could not confirm an overall consistent association of education and risk of HL or NHL in this large prospective study; although, education was positively related to the incidence of BCLL and B-NHL (in women) but inversely to incidence of DLBCL. Due to limited number of cases in sub-classes and the large number of comparisons, the possibility of chance findings can not be excluded.
| Item Type | Article |
|---|---|
| Faculty and Department | Faculty of Public Health and Policy > Public Health, Environments and Society |
| Research Centre | Centre for Global Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) |
| PubMed ID | 19582474 |
| ISI | 271981600009 |
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