Table 2 Characteristics of case–control studies of phenoxy herbicides and chlorophenols
Author/year | Region/country | Time period | Age/gender | Cases | Controls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hardell et al., 1979 [22] | Northern Sweden | 1970–1977 | Male 26–80 | 52 histologically confirmed soft tissue sarcoma (STS) patients admitted to the department of oncology | Age, sex, and place of residence matched 208 controls from the National Population Registry |
Eriksson et al., 1981 [23] | Southern Sweden | 1974–1978 | Male | 110 histologically confirmed STS cases reported to the cancer registry of the National Social Welfare Board | By municipality and age matched 220 controls extracted from the National Population Registry |
Greenwald et al., 1984 [24] | US | 1962–1980 | Male | 281 men with Vietnam service and military service experiences who were diagnosed with STS | 281 controls derived from driver’s license files and matched on 5-year period of birth and ZIP code of residence |
Smith et al., 1984 [25] | New Zealand | 1976–1980 | Male | 82 subjects with histologically confirmed STS, reported to the National Cancer Registry from public hospitals | 92 controls with other types of cancer matched on age and had the same year of registration |
Hoar et al., 1986 [26] | Kansas, US | 1976–1982 | Male  > 21 | All newly diagnosed 133 STS cases through the University of Kansas Cancer Data Service | 948 controls from general population of Kansas, matched on age and vital status |
Kang et al., 1986 [27] | US | 1969–1983 | Male | 234 Vietnam-era veteran patients who served in the US military between 1964 and 1975, treated in one of the 172 Veterans Affairs hospitals with a diagnosis of STS | 13,496 Veterans Affairs patients who were sampled from the same Vietnam-era veteran patient population from which the cases were drawn |
Kang et al., 1987 [28] | US | 1975–1980 | Male | 217 of STS sarcoma cases selected form the Armed forced Institute of pathology, men who were diagnosed STS between 1975 and 1980 | 599 controls from the Vietnam service population |
Vineis et al., 1987 [29] | Northern Italy | 1981–1983 | Female/male  > 20 | 68 persons (31 women) histologically revised STS cases diagnosed between 1981 and 1983, majority of cases were employed in rice weeding for > 10 years | 158 randomly selected population referents (73 women) |
Woods et al., 1987 [30] | Western Washington, US | 1981–1984 | Male 20–79 | 128 men with STS identified through a population-based tumor registry that covered 13 counties | 694 randomly selected live controls without cancer |
Wingren et al., 1990 [31] | Southeast Sweden | 1975–1982 | Male 25–80 | 96 STS cases | 450 randomly selected population referents, including 200 individuals with a cancer diagnosis other than sarcoma |
Eriksson et al., 1990 [32] | Seven counties of Central Sweden | 1978–1986 | Male 25–80 | 218 histologically confirmed STS cases | 212 controls, matched by age, gender, and county of residence |
Franceschi et al., 1992 [33] | Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, Northeast Italy | 1985–1991 | Female/male 16–79 | 93 STS cases (53 males and 40 females), admitted in-patient or outpatient clinics of the Avino cancer center or to the general hospitals of the study area | 721 controls: 371 males and 350 females admitted to aforementioned hospitals for a wide spectrum of disease, malignant disorders were excluded |
Smith et al., 1992 [34] | Victoria, Australia | 1976–1987 | Male  > 30 | 30 males with STS treated at any of six major Melbourne hospitals and who were still alive at the time of selection for the study | For each case Cancer Registry staff randomly selected one control with another type of cancer |
Kogevinas et al., 1995 [35] | 11 countries | 1991 | Female/male | 21,183 workers from 24 cohorts. 13,898 workers were assessed as exposed to any phenoxy herbicide or chlorophenols, 3951 as unexposed, and 541 as of unknown exposure on the basis of job history. 11 STS cases were identified | 5 controls per case, matched on age, sex, and country of residence at the time of employment |
Hoppin et al., 1998 [36] | US | 1984–1988 | Male 32–60 | 251 STS cases, from eight population-based cancer registries: Connecticut; Kansas; Iowa; Miami, Florida; Detroit, Michigan; San Francisco, California; Seattle, Washington; and Atlanta, Georgia, men born in 1929–1953 to include the age group eligible for service in Vietnam | 1908 male living controls, enabling more complete job history |
Pahwa et al., 2011 [37] | Six provinces of Canada | 1991–1994 | Male  ≥ 19 | 357 cases with first diagnosis of STS in 1991–1994, ascertained from provincial cancer registries, except in Quebec, where hospital ascertainment was used | 1506 randomly selected, age matched, free of cancers of interest living controls, resident in the same province as cases |
Coggon et al., 2015 [38] | UK | Up to 2012 | Male | 15 men with STS employed at five factories in England, which had manufactured phenoxy herbicides, or in a contract spraying business | Age-matched 150 controls |