Vietnam War & Health and Medicine (V). Cancers.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has conducted a population-based Selected Cancers Study (SCS) to determine whether Vietnam veterans are at an increased risk of developing particular types of cancer that have been suggested as being possibly related to dioxin exposure. Specific cancers studied included non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, soft tissue sarcoma, Hodgkin's disease, nasopharyngeal cancer, and primary liver cancer. An increased risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was found among Vietnam veterans compared with men who did not serve in Vietnam, but no increased risk was identified for the other five cancers. The risk of having non-Hodgkin's lymphoma increased with length of service in Vietnam and was higher among men in the sea-based Navy than among other veterans. However, little difference in risk was noted according to dates of service, type of unit, military region, or any other characteristics that may have been associated with the use of the “Agent Orange” herbicide formulation. The Selected Cancers Study (SCS) is one of several studies undertaken to assess the effects of military service in Vietnam and exposure to herbicides on the subsequent health of American veterans of that conflict. Because of concerns among veterans over Agent Orange exposure, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has conducted a series of studies of specific cancers among Vietnam veterans. Lung cancer was the topic of investigation in a research where the VA's Patient Treatment File (PTF) was used to identify 329 Vietnam era veterans with a diagnosis of lung cancer made between 1983 and 1990. The PTF is a computerised hospitalised database of inpatient records, including patients' demographic data, and diagnoses. A record is created for each patient discharged from any one of the VA's Medical Centers. Variables abstracted from the military record included education, race, branch of service, Military Occupational Specialty Code, rank, and units served within Vietnam. Two hundred sixty-nine controls were randomly selected from the PTF file of men hospitalised for a reason other than cancer. A second control group numbering 111 patients with colon cancer was also selected from the PTF file. Data were also gathered on exposure to Agent Orange through the location of each individual ground troop veteran's unit in relation to an area sprayed and the time elapsed since that area was sprayed. The crude odds ratio between service in Vietnam and lung cancer was of borderline significance (odds ratio = 1.39 with 95 per cent confidence interval = 1.01-1.92). The relationship disappeared when the confounder year of birth was considered. The researchers concluded from these data that there is no evidence of increased risk in lung cancer associated with service in Vietnam at this time.
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