SELF-REPORTED INFECTIOUS-MONONUCLEOSIS AND 6 CANCERS - A POPULATION-BASED, CASE-CONTROL STUDY

A study was undertaken to estimate the magnitude of association betwee n self-reported infectious mononucleosis (IM) and 6 types of cancer, i ncluding Hodgkin's disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, nasopharyngeal can cer, nasal cancer, primary liver cancer, and sarcoma, Cases were male, aged 15-39 y in 1968, who lived in 8 cancer registry areas. Controls were men selected by random-digit telephone dialing. Cases included 15 11 persons with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, 343 with Hodgkin's disease, 38 6 with sarcoma and 168, 113 and 70 with primary liver, nasopharyngeal and nasal cancers, respectively, There mere 1910 controls. For the 6 c ancers combined, the overall odds ratio for 1M occurring < 5 and great er than or equal to 5 y of the reference date mere 5.40 [95%, Confiden ce Interval (CI)= 1.61, 18.09] and 1.08 (0.84, 1.40), respectively. An alogous values were 4.59 (1.25, 16.85) and 1.07 (0.78, 1.48) for non-H odgkin's lymphoma and 7.49 (1.52, 36.92) and 1.35 (0.87, 2.09) for Hod gkin's disease. There mas the suggestion of a protective association w ith IM occurring greater than or equal to 5 y before cancer onset for the 4 non-lymphomatous cancers. Strongly positive associations between self-reported IM and 6 types of cancer were observed for IM occurring < 5 y before the onset of cancer. There was a suggestion, which is no ted with extreme caution, that IM earlier in life might have had a pro tective association with the 4 non-lymphomatous cancers.