Trial Information

Interdisciplinary Case-Control Study of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) incidence rates have risen three percent per year in the U.S.
for four decades. Mortality from NHL has risen 1.6 percent, compared with 0.2 percent for
all cancers combined. This epidemic curve appears in both sexes and around the world,
suggesting the possibility of an etiologic agent increasing in prevalence in the general
environment. Recent research has identified several possible candidates including
pesticides, other organochlorines, drinking water nitrates, and sunlight. There is an
urgent need to evaluate whether these common exposures are contributing to the rapid rise in
NHL, and to investigate other hypothesized risk factors such as viruses, medical conditions,
hair dye use, and genetic factors. The purpose of this study is to examine the contribution
to NHL risk of these important environmental, occupational, viral, medical, and personal
exposures, and to pursue important leads emerging from on-going NHL research. This
multidisciplinary, population-based case-control study will involve personal interviews to
collect information on demographics, residential history, pesticide use, and occupational
exposures; self-administered questionnaires to collect information on diet, family and
medical history, and other exposures; tap water and carpet dust sampling to collect
information on nitrate and pesticide exposures; and blood sampling for measurements of
compounds in the serum, antibodies to viruses, and examination of genetic polymorphisms.