Work stress not linked to cancers, say researchers

London: Scientists have delinked work-related stress from development of colorectal, lung, breast or prostate cancers.

Around 90 percent of cancers are linked to environmental exposures, and while some exposures are well recognised (such as UV radiation and tobacco smoke), others are not (psychological factors such as stress). Therefore, researchers from the IPD-Work Consortium, led by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and University College London, carried out a meta-analysis of 12 studies. The project involved 116,000 participants aged 17-70, from Finland, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, and the UK, according to an IPD-Work Consortium statement. Results showed that 5,765 out of 116,056 (five percent) participants developed some form of cancer in the average 12-year follow-up. Researchers found no evidence of an association between job strain and overall cancer risk. IANS