Occupation and oral cancer among women in the South.

A case-control interview study among 232 North Carolina women with oral or pharyngeal cancer and 410 matched controls evaluated the contribution of occupation to the high risk of this cancer among females in the South. Review of detailed occupational histories found no overall elevated odds ratios for employment in the textile, apparel, or hosiery industry, the major employer of women in the area. Risks also did not increase with years worked in the industry. The findings thus fail to confirm an association reported in surveys in the United States and Great Britain. A new clue to occupational factors was suggested by the excess risk associated with the electronics industry in coastal North Carolina, independent of the participants' tobacco habits.