Renal cancer amongst aircrew becoming more common?

[OKOC]

I had a cancerous kidney removed a little while ago and, like most private clubs, you don’t get to know what’s going on with other fellow sufferers until you become a member of this not-so-desirable club.

Are there other fellow renal cancer people out there? I am trying to establish if there is a common thread in all of this—after all this is quote “a rare cancer” and I personally know of 3 fellow aircrew (all 40+) who have this rather unusual disease.

Please get in touch; all info will be strictly confidential even so far as not disclosing your name to me if you don’t wish to.

Thanks

OKOC
President (One Kidney Owners Club).

[gingernut]

Not heard of any connection myself. My textbook doesn't even list any aetiology. (Aetiology= the science of cause of disease.)

Had a quick look on medical databases, and again no association between aircrew and renal cancer.

There is some connection between living near Chenobyl, and renal cancer- apparently Caesium exposure doubles the incidence.

If you want to have a search of a thorough medical database, try http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=Search&DB=PubMed (http://)

Be prepared to spend a little time learning the system !

[backin5]

My mother was an artist and passed away from renal cancer. Coincidentally one of her good friends, also an artist, passed away from this rare form of the disease. Perhaps something to do with certain chemicals in certain paints / thinners etc., probably a coincidence.
But in any case I wish you all the best, and good luck with your research!

[Not Nightowl]

I don't know if this helps but check out this site;

http://www.osh.govt.nz/touch/press/2002/PR020520a.shtml

The study done here in New Zealand links occupation to bladder cancer occurance. For example, truck drivers. That is, they probably don't urinate as often as they should while on the job.

The same could be said for aircrew who can't or don't want to leave their seats while working.

The theory is; the person is exposed, while at work, to chemicals/fumes which are carcinogenic and get in the urine. If the bladder is not emptied regularly these carcinogens, over a prolonged period get their chance to trigger tumours.

[DocSullivan]

Hi OKOC -

Sorry to hear of your entry into the one kidney owners' club, but I admire your upbeat approach to dealing with it.

I'm a research scientist (PhD, not MD) who is currently studying the health of aircrews. In preparation for this I have reviewed a massive amount of research literature on quite a number of topics. Cancer incidence is one of those topics -- esp. the kinds related to crews' increased exposure to high altitude (galactic) radiation. I have not seen renal cancer mentioned in relation to this exposure.

To the best of my knowledge, renal cancer is linked most frequently to exposure to various chemicals, especially occupational exposure. People who work with chemicals (ranging from housepainters to hairdressers), have a higher incidence of renal/bladder cancer than the general population.

Smoking has been linked to renal cancer, so if you have a history of smoking -- or of being around a lot of smoke -- that may have been a contributing factor.

Awhile back, epidemiologists discovered a link for renal cancer with chronic use of certain analgesics, particularly phenacetin, which was contained in many over-the-counter remedies for headache, muscle aches, and so on. Phenacetin has since been removed for the market in most countries.

Other over-the-counter medications are suspected as well, including certain laxatives and the analgesic acetaminophen (AKA paracetamol). Mind you, small, irregular doses are probably not damaging. It is chronic, frequent use over a long period of time which may do the harm.

Here is a link to a recent study carried out in Germany on these topics.

http://ndt.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/full/14/12/2892

There is possibly a hereditary component in some of these cancers, as well. By that I do not mean that you inherit cancer. Rather it is some factor in cell function which either protects/does not protect the cells in the presence of certain carcinogens or mutagens which is heritable.

I know this post is a little long-winded, but the topic is important -- esp. if you are indeed in the OKOC.

Good luck to you.

I wish you well.

Bobbie Sullivan, PhD
Principal Researcher
http://AirCrewStudy.com

[OKOC]

Many thanks to everyone who has contacted me both openly and privately--your threads to other information and kind wishes are very much appreciated.

If you know anyone else who suffers from this dreadful disease please ask them to contact us (in strict confidence) so that we can begin to get an idea how common this is amongst aviators.

OKOC

[OKOC]

I cannot go into actual numbers at this time but this disease seems to be more common than was suspected. Thanks to everyone for contacting me: please keep the thread open.

OKOC

[FTI]

I am about to join the Military side of this profession.

I am very interested to hear of any related factors, no matter how irrelevant they may seem OKOC. If you are starting up a database, or considering starting up a site, I would be very interested to know, as I'm sure everyone else here would.

Please don't hesitate to contact me on the P.M.'s or just here is fine.
:ok:

[OKOC]

Hi FTI,

Are you joining/have joined my not-so-desirable club or are you joining the military? Your reply was somewhat confusing. If it's the former then you have my heart-felt condolences and if it's the latter then you also have have my hf condolences. Incidentally, I did send you a private reply but apparentally to no avail.

I hope you aren't a journalist.