The Incidence of Breast and Other Cancers Among Female Flight Attendants

NCT00342407 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: 99990203902-C-N039
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 6,093
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Flight attendants may be at an increased risk of breast and other cancers due to work-place exposures including cosmic radiation and circadian rhythm disruption form traveling across multiple time zones. This cancer incidence study will determine whether female flight attendants are at increased risk of breast and other cancers and whether the risk is dose-related. The study will include a cohort of approximately 10,000 women who were employed as flight attendants for one or more years. Breast cancer cases will be identified from telephone interviews of living subjects and next-of-kin of deceased subjects, as well as from death certificates. The interview will also provide information about non-occupational risk factors for breast cancer such as parity. Both internal and external comparisons will be made. The primary analysis will evaluate the risk associated with occupational exposure within the cohort, controlling for non-occupational risk factors by stratification or modeling. The secondary analysis will compare the incidence of breast cancer in the cohort to that in the general population, with adjustment for factors such as lower parity which might increase breast cancer risk in the cohort independent of occupational exposure to cosmic radiation and circadian rhythm disruption. The risk of other ionizing radiation-related cancers, such as leukemia, lung cancer, and thyroid cancer, among flight attendants will also be evaluated. The results of the study will apply to female flight crew and frequent fliers.

Conditions

Thyroid Cancer; Breast Cancer; Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer; Melanoma

Keywords

Cancer Risk; Cosmic Radiation; Airlines; Flight Attendants; Circadian Rhythm

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Breast and other cancers

  survival

  Time of questionnaire, time of death

Study Arms (1)

Cohort

Female flight attendants

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 100 Years
• Sex: female
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

Female flight attendants

You may qualify if:

• Employed as a flight attendant for one or more years by Pan AM before Pan Am ceased operation in 1991. For flight attendants who transferred to Pan Am from National Airlines when Pan Am bought National Airlines in 1981, the time employed as a flight attendant at National Airlines will be counted towards the one year minimum.
• A U.S. citizen when they began working at Pan Am (or National Airlines, if the flight attendant transferred to Pan AM from National Airlines).
• Worked at least one day after January 1, 1953.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Cancer Institute (NCI): lead
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: collaborator
• National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH/CDC): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)

Cincinnati, Ohio, 45226, United States

Location

Related Publications (3)

• Grajewski B, Waters MA, Whelan EA, Bloom TF. Radiation dose estimation for epidemiologic studies of flight attendants. Am J Ind Med. 2002 Jan;41(1):27-37. doi: 10.1002/ajim.10018.

  PMID: 11757053 BACKGROUND

• Pinkerton LE, Waters MA, Hein MJ, Zivkovich Z, Schubauer-Berigan MK, Grajewski B. Cause-specific mortality among a cohort of U.S. flight attendants. Am J Ind Med. 2012 Jan;55(1):25-36. doi: 10.1002/ajim.21011. Epub 2011 Oct 10.

  PMID: 21987391 BACKGROUND

• Waters MA, Grajewski B, Pinkerton LE, Hein MJ, Zivkovich Z. Development of historical exposure estimates of cosmic radiation and circadian rhythm disruption for cohort studies of Pan Am flight attendants. Am J Ind Med. 2009 Oct;52(10):751-61. doi: 10.1002/ajim.20738.

  PMID: 19722196 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Thyroid Neoplasms; Breast Neoplasms; Melanoma

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Endocrine Gland Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms; Head and Neck Neoplasms; Endocrine System Diseases; Thyroid Diseases; Breast Diseases; Skin Diseases; Skin and Connective Tissue Diseases; Neuroendocrine Tumors; Neuroectodermal Tumors; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal; Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Neoplasms, Nerve Tissue; Nevi and Melanomas; Skin Neoplasms

Study Officials

• Mark P Little, Ph.D.

  National Cancer Institute (NCI)

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: CASE ONLY
• Time Perspective: OTHER
• Sponsor Type: NIH
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 19, 2006
• First Posted: June 21, 2006
• Study Start: November 6, 2001
• Primary Completion: December 31, 2005
• Study Completion: April 9, 2020
• Last Updated: April 10, 2020

Record last verified: 2020-04

Locations

US (1)