Skip Navigation


Annals of Oncology Advance Access originally published online on September 2, 2008
Annals of Oncology 2009 20(3):550-555; doi:10.1093/annonc/mdn597
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
20/3/550    most recent
mdn597v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Related articles in Ann Oncol
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (2)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Boffetta, P.
Right arrow Articles by Autier, P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Boffetta, P.
Right arrow Articles by Autier, P.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society for Medical Oncology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

epidemiology

The causes of cancer in France

P. Boffetta1,*, M. Tubiana2,3, C. Hill2,4, M. Boniol1, A. Aurengo5,6,7, R. Masse7, A.-J. Valleron3,5,8,9, R. Monier2,3, G. de Thé7,10, P. Boyle1 and P. Autier1

1 International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon
2 Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif
3 The Academy of Sciences of the Institute of France
4 Fédération Nationale des Centres de Lutte contre le Cancer
5 Pierre & Marie Curie University
6 Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Assistance Publique de Paris
7 The Academy of Medicine
8 National Institute for Health and Medical Research
9 Saint Antoine Hospital, Assistance Publique de Paris
10 The Institut Pasteur, Paris, France

* Correspondence to: P. Boffetta MD, Genetics and Epidemiology Cluster, International Agency for Research on Cancer, 150 cours Albert Thomas, 69008 Lyon, France. Tel: +33-472738554; Fax: +33-472738320; E-mail: boffetta{at}iarc.fr

Background: While external factors are responsible for many human cancers, precise estimates of the contribution of known carcinogens to the cancer burden in a given population have been scarce.

Methods: We estimated the proportion of cancer deaths which occurred in France in 2000 attributable to known risk factors, based on data on frequency of exposure around 1985.

Results: In 2000, tobacco smoking was responsible for 23.9% of cancer deaths (33.4% in men and 9.6% in women), alcohol drinking for 6.9% (9.4% in men and 3.0% in women) and chronic infections for 3.7%. Occupation is responsible for 3.7% of cancer deaths in men; lack of physical activity, overweight/obesity and use of exogenous hormones are responsible for 2%–3% of cancer deaths in women. Other risk factors, including pollutants, are responsible for <1% of cancer deaths. Thus, known risk factors explain 35.0% of cancer deaths, and 15.0% among never smokers.

Conclusions: While cancer mortality is decreasing in France, known risk factors of cancer explain only a minority of cancers, with a predominant role of tobacco smoking.

Key words: alcohol, epidemiology, lifestyle factors, smoking

Received for publication June 19, 2008. Accepted for publication July 30, 2008.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?

Related articles in Ann Oncol:

in this issue

Ann Oncol 2009 20: 397. [Extract] [Full Text]  





Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.