Abstract:

Objective: To explore occupational risks linked to the etiology of uveal melanoma. Methods: This analysis pooled data from two case-control studies (hospital and population-based) conducted in Germany between 1995 and 1998, with incident cases matched with several controls by age, sex, and region of residence. Subjects were contacted through personal or telephone interviews. The exposure status was based on the individuals' occupational history. Dichotomous coding for the main task, and categorization into different occupational classification systems was performed. A total of 118 cases and 475 controls were included. Adjusted odds ratios were calculated by conditional logistic regression. Results: Relevant occupations included (odds ratio; 95% confidence intervals): food, beverage, and tobacco processors (4.7; 0.99-22.0), and miners (2.3; 0.92-5.99) in men; station, engine, heavy equipment operators and freight handlers (2.5; 0.94-6.58), and medical, dental, pharmaceutical and veterinary workers (2.1; 0.71-6.02) in women according to the International Standard Classification of Occupations. Food industry (3.4; 1.08-10.5), and chemical and pharmaceutical industry (2.8; 1.01-7.78) in men; machine production (3.2; 0.96-10.7), and health and veterinary sector (2.4; 0.97-5.71) in women according to the European Industrial Classification. Conclusions: These analyses support the potential role of occupational exposure as a risk factor for uveal melanoma. Findings must be interpreted carefully since the exposure was assessed indirectly.