Occupational exposure to pesticides and central nervous system tumors: results from the CERENAT case-control study

BACKGROUND: The etiology of the central nervous system (CNS) tumors remains largely unknown. The role of pesticide exposure has been suggested by several epidemiological studies, but with no definitive conclusion. OBJECTIVE: To analyze associations between occupational pesticide exposure and primary CNS tumors in adults in the CERENAT study. METHODS: CERENAT is a multicenter case-control study conducted in France in 2004-2006. Data about occupational pesticide uses-in and outside agriculture-were collected during detailed face-to-face interviews and reviewed by experts for consistency and exposure assignment. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were estimated with conditional logistic regression. RESULTS: A total of 596 cases (273 gliomas, 218 meningiomas, 105 others) and 1 192 age- and sex-matched controls selected in the general population were analyzed. Direct and indirect exposures to pesticides in agriculture were respectively assigned to 125 (7.0%) and 629 (35.2%) individuals and exposure outside agriculture to 146 (8.2%) individuals. For overall agricultural exposure, we observed no increase in risk for all brain tumors (OR 1.04, 0.69-1.57) and a slight increase for gliomas (OR 1.37, 0.79-2.39). Risks for gliomas were higher when considering agricultural exposure for more than 10 years (OR 2.22, 0.94-5.24) and significantly trebled in open field agriculture (OR 3.58, 1.20-10.70). Increases in risk were also observed in non-agricultural exposures, especially in green space workers who were directly exposed (OR 1.89, 0.82-4.39), and these were statistically significant for those exposed for over 10 years (OR 2.84, 1.15-6.99). DISCUSSION: These data support some previous findings regarding the potential role of occupational exposures to pesticides in CNS tumors, both inside and outside agriculture

Dietary and alcohol intake and central nervous system tumors in adults: results of the CERENAT multicenter case-control study

Background: Little is known about the relationship between diet and central nervous system (CNS) tumors, especially in terms of their histological subtypes. This study investigated the overall associations between food groups, alcohol intake and CNS tumors, and in particular about the associations between neuroepithelial tumors and meningiomas. Methods: Data were collected through the CERENAT (CEREbral tumors: a NATional study) case-control study conducted in France during the period 2004-2010. Data were available for 1,479 subjects (494 cases, including 201 neuroepithelial tumors, 193 meningiomas, 100 other CNS tumors, and their 985 matched controls). Conditional logistic regressions for matched sets were adjusted based on the participants' educational level, occupation, smoking status and frequency of food group consumption. Results: A heavy consumption of grilled meat and poultry was associated with neuroepithelial tumors in a dose-related relationship (ORQ4vsQ1 = 3.72, 95% CI 1.62-8.52, p = 0.005). Higher fruit and vegetable intake was inversely associated with meningiomas (for fruits: ORQ4vsQ1 = 0.38, 95% CI 0.17-0.87, p = 0.06, for vegetables ORQ4vsQ1 = 0.26, 95% CI 0.11-0.62, p = 0.007). Consumption of alcohol on a daily basis was inversely associated with CNS tumors especially for meningiomas (ORQ4vsQ1 = 0.33, 95% CI 0.18-0.61, p = 0.001). Conclusions: Results obtained in terms of grilled meat, fruits and vegetables consumption were in line with those published in epidemiological literature. Contradictions in results between neuroepithelial tumors and meningiomas confirmed the need to analyze the effects of dietary factors on the basis of the histological subtypes of CNS tumors

Mobile phone use and brain tumours in the CERENAT case-control study

International audienceThe carcinogenic effect of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields in humans remains controversial. However, it has been suggested that they could be involved in the aetiology of some types of brain tumours.Objectives: The objective was to analyse the association between mobile phone exposure and primary central nervous system tumours (gliomas and meningiomas) in adults.Methods: CERENAT is a multicenter case-control study carried out in four areas in France in 2004-2006. Data about mobile phone use were collected through a detailed questionnaire delivered in a face-to-face manner. Conditional logistic regression for matched sets was used to estimate adjusted ORs and 95% CIs.Results: A total of 253 gliomas, 194 meningiomas and 892 matched controls selected from the local electoral rolls were analysed. No association with brain tumours was observed when comparing regular mobile phone users with non-users (OR=1.24; 95% CI 0.86 to 1.77 for gliomas, OR=0.90; 95% CI 0.61 to 1.34 for meningiomas). However, the positive association was statistically significant in the heaviest users when considering life-long cumulative duration (≥896 h, OR=2.89; 95% CI 1.41 to 5.93 for gliomas; OR=2.57; 95% CI 1.02 to 6.44 for meningiomas) and number of calls for gliomas (≥18,360 calls, OR=2.10, 95% CI 1.03 to 4.31). Risks were higher for gliomas, temporal tumours, occupational and urban mobile phone use.Conclusions: These additional data support previous findings concerning a possible association between heavy mobile phone use and brain tumours

Lewis Carroll et les mythologies de l'enfance

L’enfance est au cœur de l’œuvre carrollienne – mais comment cerner cette problématique ? Le thème des « mythologies de l’enfance » a pour but de l’approcher, en évoquant non seulement l’enfance comme mythe, mais également la question de l’enfance comme fonctionnement mythique dans l’œuvre de Carroll. Rassemblées à l’issue d’un colloque international, les études de ce recueil se donnent pour objectif d’interroger le statut ambigu de l’enfance dans l’œuvre de Lewis Carroll, fasciné par cette saison de la vie dont il n’eut de cesse de célébrer l’exceptionnelle sensibilité, dans ses textes comme dans ses photographies. La mythologie de l’enfance dans cette œuvre multiforme ne peut se comprendre qu’en mettant d’abord en perspective les différentes étapes par lesquelles le mythe s’est constitué, afin de saisir comment l’œuvre carrollienne élucide et élude par le même mouvement la problématique de l’enfance, puis comment la réception de l’œuvre s’est appuyée sur le thème de l’enfance, quitte parfois à le subvertir ou à en abuser. La question de la légitimité du mythe se pose ensuite : faut-il (et peut-on) démythifier le mythe ? Comment questionner sa portée pour comprendre ce qui se joue dans l’œuvre ? C’est dans le prolongement de cette interrogation que se pose enfin la question de la représentation de l’enfance dans l’œuvre carrollienne et dans les œuvres d’autres créateurs inspirés par l’imaginaire et l’univers carrolliens

Féminin/masculin

Les textes réunis dans ce volume rendent compte de la diversité des questions soulevées par les rapports féminin/masculin, en un temps où la participation des femmes à la vie de la cité est devenue d’une actualité brûlante, où l’analyse renouvelée de la notion d’identité (et d’identité sexuelle) se trouve au cœur des débats philosophiques. Le développement des études féministes a conduit à examiner les représentations de la femme dans la presse, les arts et les lettres ainsi qu’à s’interroger sur les marques du féminin dans l’écriture, questions dont il convenait d’esquisser un bilan quelque trente ans après le tournant décisif pris par les revendications des femmes dans les années soixante-dix. Les articles présentés dans l’ouvrage Féminin/masculin, sélectionnés à la suite du congrès de la Société des anglicistes de l’enseignement supérieur qui s’est tenu à Rennes en mai 1998, permettent d’aborder ces questions à partir d’études précises, qui interrogent spécifiquement les littératures et les cultures anglo-saxonnes

J Neurooncol

Inverse association between allergic conditions and glioma risk has been consistently reported in epidemiological studies with little attention paid to potential environmental confounders; the association with meningioma risk is less consistent. We examined the association between allergy history and risk of glioma and meningioma in adults using data from the CERENAT (CEREbral tumors: a NATional study) multicenter case-control study carried out in 4 areas in France in 2004-2010. Participants' histories of doctor-diagnosed allergic asthma, eczema, rhinitis/hay fever and other allergic conditions were collected at onset through a detailed questionnaire delivered in a face-to-face interview. Conditional logistic regression for matched sets was adjusted for participants' educational level and mobile phone use. A total of 273 glioma cases, 218 meningioma cases and 982 matched controls selected from the local electoral rolls were analyzed. A significant inverse association was found between glioma and a history of any allergy (OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.36-0.75), with a dose-effect relationship with the number of allergic conditions reported (p-trend = 0.001) and a particularly strong association with hay fever/allergic rhinitis (OR 0.46, 95% CI 0.30-0.72). Interestingly, associations with glioma risk were more pronounced in women. For meningioma, no association was observed with overall or specific allergic conditions. Our findings confirmed the inverse association between allergic conditions and glioma risk but questioned the role of allergy in meningioma risk. Future research is needed to clarify the biological mechanism of overall allergy and allergic rhinitis on glioma and to confirm the different effect by gender