- Full (HTML) - Full (PDF) - Related EHP Articles - PubMed:Related Articles - PubMed:Citation - Cited in PMC - Purchase This Issue

National Occupational Research Agenda Team (Elizabeth M. Ward,¹ Paul A. Schulte,¹ Steve Bayard,² Aaron Blair,³ Paul Brandt-Rauf,⁴ Mary Ann Butler,¹ David Dankovic,¹ Ann F. Hubbs,¹ Carol Jones,⁵ Myra Karstadt,⁶ Gregory L. Kedderis,⁷ Ronald Melnick,⁸ Carrie A. Redlich,⁹ Nathaniel Rothman,³ Russell E. Savage,¹ Michael Sprinker,¹⁰ Mark Toraason,¹ and Ainsley Weston¹) and Contributors*

¹National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; ²Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Washington, DC, USA; ³National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, USA; ⁴Columbia University, School of Public Health,New York, NY, USA; ⁵Mine Safety and Health Administration, Arlington, Virginia, USA; ⁶U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, USA; ⁷Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology Centers for Health Research, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA; ⁸National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA; ⁹Yale University, Occupational/Environmental Medicine Program, New Haven, Connecticut, USA; ¹⁰International Chemical Workers Union Council-United Food and Commercial Workers, Akron, Ohio, USA

Abstract

Occupational cancer research methods was identified in 1996 as 1 of 21 priority research areas in the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) . To implement NORA, teams of experts from various sectors were formed and given the charge to further define research needs and develop strategies to enhance or augment research in each priority area. This article is a product of that process. Focus on occupational cancer research methods is important both because occupational factors play a significant role in a number of cancers, resulting in significant morbidity and mortality, and also because occupational cohorts (because of higher exposure levels) often provide unique opportunities to evaluate health effects of environmental toxicants and understand the carcinogenic process in humans. Despite an explosion of new methods for cancer research in general, these have not been widely applied to occupational cancer research. In this article we identify needs and gaps in occupational cancer research methods in four broad areas: identification of occupational carcinogens, design of epidemiologic studies, risk assessment, and primary and secondary prevention. Progress in occupational cancer will require interdisciplinary research involving epidemiologists, industrial hygienists, toxicologists, and molecular biologists. Key words: cancer research, National Occupational Research Agenda, occupational health, research priorities. Environ Health Perspect 111:1-12 (2003) . doi:10.1289/ehp.5537 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 29 November 2002]