Non-hodgkin's lymphoma and work in agriculture: Results of a two case-control studies in Saskatchewan, Canada

Evaluation of NHL subtypes, staging, and prognostic factors: A single-centric retrospective cohort study

OBJECTIVE

The study aims to improve the diagnosis and management of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), identify crucial prognostic factors, expand our understanding of patients, facilitate comparative analyses, and provide clear guidance for managing NHL patients. By addressing these objectives, the study provides valuable insights into the distribution of NHL subtypes, staging workup, prognostic factors, and survival patterns in the Indian population.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This study employed a single-centric, retrospective cohort design, which was conducted from 2009 to 2014. A total of 410 participants were included with a confirmed diagnosis of NHL based on their biopsy results; the ages ranged from 4 to 91 years. Patients who missed follow-ups or did not complete the study were excluded from the survival rate analysis results.

RESULTS

The gender distribution revealed that the mean ages for male and female patients were 49.37 ± 18.9 and 49.06 ± 18.34, respectively. The majority of cases in the diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) group were under Stage 1A (47.7) and Stage 3A (23.2%). A significant portion of DLBCL cases fell into the low intermediate risk (LIR) category (27.3%). Smaller percentages are observed in the high intermediate risk (HIR) category (17.5%) and the high-risk category (9.7%). It is observed that in patients with relapse, a significant majority of cases (77.4%) were those initially diagnosed at Stage 3 or higher. 71.1% of the cases that did not have relapse had completed chemotherapy. The median survival time, according to Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, was 24 ± 1.8 months overall.

CONCLUSION

While gender-based smoking and occupational disparities stand out, the prevalence of complete remission underscores treatment efficacy. Detecting challenges in advanced-stage diagnosis and incomplete treatments highlights the importance of timely intervention and comprehensive patient care. The absence of survival differences based on immunohistochemistry (IHC) subtypes suggests multifactorial influences on patient outcomes, motivating further investigation.

Investigation of occupational risk factors for the development of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in adults: A hospital-based case-control study

Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL) is a malignancy of the lymphoid lineage of the hematopoietic system has worldwide, especially in developed countries. Better diagnostic and recording techniques, longer life expectancy, and greater exposure to risk factors are hypotheses for this growing incidence curve. Occupational exposures to chemical, biological, and physical agents have also been associated with NHL development, but the results are still controversial. We have investigated the occupational and lifestyle case-control study design with 214 adult patients and 452 population controls. Socio-demographic, clinical, and occupational exposure data were obtained through individual interviews with a standardized questionnaire. Clinical, laboratory, and histopathological data were obtained through medical records. Risk of NHL (any subtype), B-cell lymphoma, DLBCL, Follicular lymphoma and T-cell lymphoma was elevated among the those who had ever been exposed to any solvents, hydrocarbon solvents, pesticides, meat and meat products, and sunlight and tended to increase by years of exposure. A significant upward trend with years of exposure was detected for any solvents and hydrocarbon solvents (NHL (any subtype) p-value for trend<0.001), B-cell lymphoma (p-value for trend<0.001), and T-cell lymphoma (p-value for trend<0.023), pesticides (NHL (any subtype), p for trend<0.001) and T-cell lymphoma (p for trend<0.002), meat and meat products (NHL (any subtype) (p for trend<0.001) and DLBCL (p for trend<0.001), and sunlight (B-cell lymphoma (p for trend<0.001). The results of this study agree line with other international studies, can be extrapolated to other countries that have the same socio-demographic and occupational characteristics as Brazil and support strategies for surveillance and control of work-related cancer.

Occupational Exposures and Risks of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma: A Meta-Analysis

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is a heterogeneous group with different types of diseases. It remains unclear as to what has led to an increase in incidences of NHL, however, chemical substance exposure is known to be one of the risk factors for the disease. Therefore, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis including case-control, cohort, and cross-sectional observational epidemiological studies to verify the association between occupational exposure to carcinogens and NHL risk. Articles between the years 2000 and 2020 were collected. Two different reviewers performed a blind selection of the studies using the Rayyan QCRI web app. Post-completion, the selected articles were extracted and analyzed via the RedCap platform. Our review resulted in 2719 articles, of which 51 were included in the meta-analysis, resulting in an overall OR of 1.27 (95% CI 1.04-1.55). Furthermore, it was observed that the main occupation associated with the increased risk of NHL was that in which workers are exposed to pesticides. We therefore conclude that the evidence synthesis of the epidemiological literature supports an increased risk for NHL, regardless of subtype, considering occupational exposure to certain chemical compounds, mainly pesticides, benzene, and trichlorethylene, and certain classes of work, primarily in the field of agriculture.

Titanium dioxide based nanocomposites - Current trends and emerging strategies for the photocatalytic degradation of ruinous environmental pollutants

Many ruinous pollutants are omnipresent in the environment and among them; pesticides are xenobiotic and pose to be a bio-recalcitrance. Their detrimental ecological and environmental impacts attract attention of environmental excerpts and the surge of stringent regulations have endows the need of a technically feasible treatment. This critical review emphasizes about the occurrence, abundance and fate of structurally distinct pesticides in different environment. The practiced remedial strategies and in particular, the advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) those utilize the photo-catalytic properties of nano-composites for the degradation of pollutants are critically discussed. Photo-catalytic degradation utilizes many composite materials at nano-scale level, wherein synthesis of nano-composites with appropriate precursors and other adjoining functional moieties are of prime importance. Therefore, suitable starter materials along with the reaction conditions are prerequisite for effectively tailoring the nano-composites. The aforementioned aspects and their customized applications are critically discussed. The associated challenges, opportunities and process economics of degradation using photo-catalytic AOP techniques are highlighted and in addition, the review tries to explain how best the photo-degradation can be a stand-alone tool with a societal importance. Conclusively, the future prospects for undertaking new researches in photo-catalytic breakdown of pollutants that can be judiciously sustainable.

Pesticide exposure and cancer: an integrative literature review

ABSTRACT We conducted an integrative literature review of published studies on pesticide and cancer exposure, focusing on farmers, rural population, pesticide applicators, and rural workers. The Medline/PubMed was used as searching database. After the retrieval, 74 articles were selected according to pre-established criteria, which design involved 39 case-controls, 32 cohorts, 2 ecological ones, and 1 cross-sectional. Among them, 64 studies showed associations between pesticides and cancer while 10 did not find any significant association. The studies found 53 different types of pesticides significantly associated with at least one type of cancer and 19 different types of cancers linked to at least one type of pesticide. Although few studies presented contradictory results, the sole fact of being a farmer or living near crops or high agricultural areas have also been used as a proxy for pesticide exposure and significantly associated with higher cancer risk. The literature well illustrates the case of prostate cancer, Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, leukemia, multiple myeloma, bladder and colon cancers. Studies are recommended to further investigate the relationship between pesticide and neoplasm of testis, breast, esophagus, kidney, thyroid, lip, head and neck, and bone.

Comparison of cancer incidence in Australian farm residents 45 years and over, compared to rural non-farm and urban residents - a data linkage study

BACKGROUND

It is not known if the incidence of common cancers in Australian farm residents is different to rural non-farm or urban residents.

METHODS

Data from farm, rural non-farm and urban participants of the 45 and Up Study cohort in New South Wales, Australia, were linked with state cancer registry data for the years 2006-2009. Directly standardised rate ratios for cancer incidence were compared for all-cancer, prostate, breast, colorectal cancer, melanoma and non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL). Proportional hazards regression was used to generate incidence hazard ratios for each cancer type adjusted for relevant confounders.

RESULTS

Farm women had a significantly lower all-cancer hazard ratio than rural non-farm women (1.14, 1.01-1.29). However, the lower all-cancer risk observed in farm men, was not significant when compared to rural non-farm and urban counterparts. The all-cancer adjusted hazard ratio for combined rural non-farm and urban groups compared to farm referents, was significant for men (1.08,1.01-1.17) and women (1.13, 1.04-1.23). Confidence intervals did not exclude unity for differences in risk for prostate, breast, colorectal or lung cancers, NHL or melanoma. Whilst non-significant, farm residents had considerably lower risk of lung cancer than other residents after controlling for smoking and other factors.

CONCLUSIONS

All-cancer risk was significantly lower in farm residents compared to combined rural non-farm and urban groups. Farm women had a significantly lower all-cancer adjusted hazard ratio than rural non-farm women. These differences appeared to be mainly due to lower lung cancer incidence in farm residents.

Holistic paradigm in carcinogenesis: Genetics, epigenetics, immunity, inflammation and oral infections

Recent debate among the experts of cancer research regarding the main causes of carcinogenesis encouraged us to review the etiology of cancer pathogenesis. The somatic mutation theory attributes carcinogenesis to random errors in DNA multiplication while the tissue organization field theory ascribes causation to environmental factors. We recognize complexity in cancer pathogenesis and accept the premise of both DNA multiplication errors and environmental factors in cancer development. Furthermore, it should also be noted that the combination of these factors and the relative importance of the each differ in various types of cancers. For example, in some cancers, genetics plays a prominent role while in others environment such as obesity plays a much stronger role. Additionally, the cancer mitigating factors should also be considered. The balance of cancer-enhancing and cancer-suppressing forces determines the cancer incidence. Ultimately, identifying the lifestyle factors that revise somatic mutations or epigenetic alterations will lead to a clear understanding of pathogenic mechanisms of cancer and to the optimal preventive strategies. This narrative review evaluates the published evidence on carcinogenesis pertaining to the whole organism (thus, holistic) incorporating genetics, epigenetics, immunology, inflammation and infections with emphasis on oral infections.

Pesticides: an update of human exposure and toxicity

Pesticides are a family of compounds which have brought many benefits to mankind in the agricultural, industrial, and health areas, but their toxicities in both humans and animals have always been a concern. Regardless of acute poisonings which are common for some classes of pesticides like organophosphoruses, the association of chronic and sub-lethal exposure to pesticides with a prevalence of some persistent diseases is going to be a phenomenon to which global attention has been attracted. In this review, incidence of various malignant, neurodegenerative, respiratory, reproductive, developmental, and metabolic diseases in relation to different routes of human exposure to pesticides such as occupational, environmental, residential, parental, maternal, and paternal has been systematically criticized in different categories of pesticide toxicities like carcinogenicity, neurotoxicity, pulmonotoxicity, reproductive toxicity, developmental toxicity, and metabolic toxicity. A huge body of evidence exists on the possible role of pesticide exposures in the elevated incidence of human diseases such as cancers, Alzheimer, Parkinson, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, asthma, bronchitis, infertility, birth defects, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, diabetes, and obesity. Most of the disorders are induced by insecticides and herbicides most notably organophosphorus, organochlorines, phenoxyacetic acids, and triazine compounds.