Abstract
We conducted a case-control study of nasopharyngeal carcinoma among Malaysian Chinese to test inhalants, salted fish consumption, and use of tobacco, alcohol, and nasal ointments as risk factors for the disease. Interviews with 100 cases and 100 controls indicated that salted fish consumption during childhood was a significant risk factor (relative risk, 3.0; p = 0.04); childhood daily consumption of this food item compared to nonconsumption carried a relative risk of 17.4 [95% confidence interval = (2.7, 111.1)]. Occupational exposure to smokes (relative risk, 6.0; p = 0.006) and to dusts (relative risk, 4.0; p < 0.001) was also significantly associated with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The two risk factors (consumption of salted fish and exposure to smoke and/or dust) were independent of each other. There was no association between nasopharyngeal carcinoma and tobacco, alcohol, or nasal ointments.
Footnotes
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↵1 This research was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant NSF-SOC 79-10521.
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↵2 To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at School of Public Health, University of Hawaii, 1960 East-West Road, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822.
- Received October 5, 1982.
- Accepted February 10, 1983.
- ©1983 American Association for Cancer Research.
Volume 43, Issue 6
