Sanjeev Bagga

BACKGROUND: Prioritising control measures for occupationally related cancers should be evidence based. We estimated the current burden of cancer in Britain attributable to past occupational exposures for International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) group 1 (established) and 2A (probable) carcinogens. METHODS: We calculated attributable fractions and numbers for cancer mortality and incidence using risk estimates from the literature and national data sources to estimate proportions exposed. RESULTS: 5.3% (8019) cancer deaths were attributable to occupation in 2005 (men, 8.2% (6362); women, 2.3% (1657)). Attributable incidence estimates are 13 679 (4.0%) cancer registrations (men, 10 063 (5.7%); women, 3616 (2.2%)). Occupational attributable fractions are over 2% for mesothelioma, sinonasal, lung, nasopharynx, breast, non-melanoma skin cancer, bladder, oesophagus, soft tissue sarcoma, larynx and stomach cancers. Asbestos, shift work, mineral oils, solar radiation, silica, diesel engine exhaust, coal tars and pitches, occupation as a painter or welder, dioxins, environmental tobacco smoke, radon, tetrachloroethylene, arsenic and strong inorganic mists each contribute 100 or more registrations. Industries and occupations with high cancer registrations include construction, metal working, personal and household services, mining, land transport, printing/publishing, retail/hotels/restaurants, public administration/defence, farming and several manufacturing sectors. 56% of cancer registrations in men are attributable to work in the construction industry (mainly mesotheliomas, lung, stomach, bladder and non-melanoma skin cancers) and 54% of cancer registrations in women are attributable to shift work (breast cancer). CONCLUSION: This project is the first to quantify in detail the burden of cancer and mortality due to occupation specifically for Britain. It highlights the impact of occupational exposures, together with the occupational circumstances and industrial areas where exposures to carcinogenic agents occurred in the past, on population cancer morbidity and mortality; this can be compared with the impact of other causes of cancer. Risk reduction strategies should focus on those workplaces where such exposures are still occurring.

<h3>Introduction</h3> Prioritising control of occupationally-related cancers should be evidence based. We have estimated the current burden of cancer in Great Britain attributable to occupation for IARC group 1 and 2A carcinogens. <h3>Methods</h3> We calculated attributable fractions and numbers for mortality/incidence using risk estimates from published literature and national data sources to estimate proportions exposed. <h3>Results</h3> Cancer deaths attributable to occupation in 2005 are 5.3% (8023) (men: 8.2% (6366); women 2.3% (1657)). Attributable incidence estimates are 13694 (4.0%) cancer registrations (men: 10074 (5.7%); women 3620 (2.1%)). Occupational attributable fractions are over 2% for mesothelioma, sinonasal, lung, nasopharynx, breast, non-melanoma skin, bladder, oesophagus, soft tissue sarcoma and stomach cancers. Asbestos, shift work, mineral oils, solar radiation, silica, diesel engine exhaust, coal tars and pitches, occupation as a painter or welder, dioxins, environmental tobacco smoke, radon, tetrachloroethylene, arsenic and strong inorganic mists each contribute 100+ registrations. Industries/occupations with over 200 cancer registrations include construction, women9s shift work, metal working, personal/household services, mining, land transport, printing/publishing, retail/hotels/restaurants, public administration/defence, farming and several manufacturing sectors. <h3>Conclusions</h3> This study is the first detailed cancer burden study using all IARC 1 and 2A carcinogens and quantifying the contribution of individual industry sectors. Our methodology provides a basis for adaptation for use in other countries and global occupational burden estimation and for extension to include social and economic impact evaluation. The results highlight specific carcinogenic agents and the occupational circumstances and industrial areas where exposures to these agents occurs, facilitating prioritisation of risk reduction strategies.

A Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) detection system for lung cancer diagnosis through deep learning (DL) technology is implemented in a special Hollow-Core Photonic Crystal Fibre (HC-PCF) sensor platform. COMSOL Multiphysics is used to simulate the HC-PCF. A hexagonal lattice structure of silica material with 1 μm pitch dimensions and 0.5 μm air hole diameters allow for exceptional light guidance and VOC interaction when detecting exhaled breath components. The sensor achieves a remarkable refractive index sensitivity of 920 nm/RIU for detecting cancerous and non-cancerous VOC profiles. The refractive index measurements of lung cancer-related VOC samples fell within 1.380 to 1.392, while VOC samples from healthy patients ranged from 1.350 to 1.360. Sensor spectral response data processing relied on a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) model that was trained to distinguish different VOC signature patterns. When applied to a dataset of 1,200 breath samples consisting of 600 cancer-positive and 600 healthy specimens, the CNN architecture reached a 96.3% overall classification accuracy combined with 94.7% sensitivity and 97.8% specificity. Full Text: PDF References S. Sharma, L. Tharani, "Photonic Crystal Fiber Sensor Design for Enhanced Tumor Detection: Structural Optimization and Sensitivity Analysis", Photonics Lett. Poland 16(2), 25 (2024). CrossRef A. Yasli, "Cancer Detection with Surface Plasmon Resonance-Based Photonic Crystal Fiber Biosensor", Plasmonics 16, 1605 (2021). CrossRef S. Sharma, S. Das, C.S. Shieh et al. "Design and Numerical Analysis of a Gold-Coated Photonic Crystal Fiber Sensor for Metabolic Disorder Detection with Deep Learning Assistance", Plasmonics (2025). CrossRef N. Ayyanar, G.T. Raja, M. Sharma, D.S. Kumar, "Photonic Crystal Fiber-Based Refractive Index Sensor for Early Detection of Cancer", IEEE Sensors Journal 18(17), 7093 (2018). CrossRef S. Sharma, L. Tharani, "Photonics for AI and AI for photonics integration : Materials and characteristics", J. Information and Optimization Sciences 45(3), 805 (2024). CrossRef M. Babińska, A. Władziński, "Enhanced Sensitivity of Absorption Spectroscopy Glucose Detection by Machine Learning", Photonics Lett. Poland 17(1), 16 (2025). CrossRef M. Babińska, A. Władziński, T. Talaśka, M. Szczerska, "Machine Learning Enhanced Optical Fiber Sensor For Detection Of Glucose Low Concentration In Samples Mimicking Tissue", Photonics Lett. Poland 17(1), 20 (2025). CrossRef

<h3>Objectives</h3> Prioritising control of occupationally-related cancers should be evidence based. We have estimated the current burden of cancer in Great Britain attributable to occupation for IARC group 1 and 2A carcinogens. <h3>Methods</h3> We calculated attributable fractions and numbers for mortality/incidence using risk estimates from published literature and national data sources to estimate proportions exposed. <h3>Results</h3> Cancer deaths attributable to occupation in 2005 are 5.3% (8023) (men: 8.2% (6366); women 2.3% (1657)). Attributable incidence estimates are 13694 (4.0%) cancer registrations (men: 10074 (5.7%); women 3620 (2.1%)). Occupational attributable fractions are over 2% for mesothelioma, sinonasal, lung, nasopharynx, breast, non-melanoma skin, bladder, oesophagus, soft tissue sarcoma and stomach cancers. Asbestos, shift work, mineral oils, solar radiation, silica, diesel engine exhaust, coal tars and pitches, occupation as a painter or welder, dioxins, environmental tobacco smoke, radon, tetrachloroethylene, arsenic and strong inorganic mists each contribute 100+ registrations. Industries/occupations with over 200 cancer registrations include construction, women9s shift work, metal working, personal/household services, mining, land transport, printing/publishing, retail/hotels/restaurants, public administration/defence, farming and several manufacturing sectors. <h3>Conclusions</h3> This study is the first detailed cancer burden study using all IARC 1 and 2A carcinogens and quantifying the contribution of individual industry sectors. Our methodology provides a basis for adaptation for use in other countries and global occupational burden estimation and for extension to include social and economic impact evaluation.. The results highlight specific carcinogenic agents and the occupational circumstances and industrial areas where exposures to these agents occurs, facilitating prioritisation of risk reduction strategies.