Relationship of occupation with cancer of the maxillary sinuses in Hokkaido, Japan.

The age-standardized mortality rates for cancers of the nose, middle ear, and maxillary sinuses in Japan were calculated for 1970 and compared with those for 1975 and 1980. Japan shows a downward trend of these rates in both sexes in recent years. Demographic correlation analyses revealed that only the proportion of persons engaged in the lumber industry was positively correlated with the male maxillary sinus cancer mortality rate. A matched-pair case-control study was performed in Hokkaido in 1982; we collected data by questionnaires mailed to 41 male patients with maxillary sinus cancer and their age-, sex-, and residence-matched community controls and 82 males with laryngeal cancer and their community controls. Family, educational, and past histories of chronic sinusitis were not correlated with either maxillary sinus or laryngeal cancer. A cluster of occupations comprised of workers exposed to some chemical substances, coal miners, and tailors showed a significant elevated risk for maxillary sinus cancer but not for laryngeal cancer.