Utility of a surveillance system to detect associations between work and cancer among women in Canada, 1965-1991.

Data on the occupation and industry in which 242,196 females worked in Canada between 1965 and 1971 are available from a national survey of employers by Statistics Canada. As an example of the future utility of this cohort, computerized record linkage was conducted with the Canadian National Mortality Data Base through 1979. This article presents selected results. Associations are measured by standardized relative risks. Those meeting specific criteria (two or more observed deaths, relative risk > 2.0, and 95% confidence interval excluding 1.00) include (a) buccal cavity and pharyngeal cancer among mechanics and repairers, tobacco preparers and product makers, and telephone systems industry workers; (b) lung cancer among service station attendants, motor vehicle mechanics, and petroleum refinery workers; and (c) breast cancer among workers manufacturing electrical industrial equipment and printing and publishing industry workers. The mortality experience of the cohort through 1991 is currently being determined by another record linkage, thus providing up to 25 years of follow-up and over 8,500 cancer deaths anticipated among females.