Bladder Lesions in Tannery Workers
Amal Saad and Safia Beshir
Environmental and Occupational Medicine Department – NRC – Egypt
Corresponding author: Dr. Amal Saad
Ass. Professor of Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine
Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine National Research Centre
El-Bohouth Street (Tahrir Street)
Dokki, Cairo, Egypt
Fax number: 00202-3370931
E-mail: amel_h3@yahoo.com
CEJOEM 2007, Vol.13. No.1.: 43–53
Key words:
Urinary bladder lesions, tannery workers, nuclear matrix protein, cytopathological examination and DNA image analysis
Abstract:
Carcinoma of urinary bladder is the fifth commonest form of cancer all over the world. In Egypt,
bladder carcinoma is the most common solid tumour in men. The aim of the present study was evaluation
of the carcinogenic effect of tannic on the urinary bladder of tannery workers, and comparison of the
diagnostic value of urinary cytology, nuclear matrix protein (NMP) and Kontron Image Analysis
System for the detection of occult bladder cancer.
Methodology: The study included 38 tannery workers and 40 unexposed
subjects. Urine samples were tested for abnormal cells through cytopathological examination and DNA image a
nalysis for any abnormality in the cell life cycle, in addition to NMP, a tumour marker specific for
bladder cancer, to detect suspected bladder lesions.
Results: Statistical analyses found that there were significant differences
between the examined groups according to the cytopathological examination of the urine samples and DNA
images. In smoking tannery workers, 4C and S phase were significantly higher and 2C was significantly
lower compared to those not smoking. There was no significant difference between the two groups according
to NMP. But, the percent of positive NMP in smoking workers was higher compared to non-smokers in both
groups.
Conclusion: Tannery workers were at high risk for bladder pre-cancerous
lesions. Smoking increases this risk. Urinary cytology as well as NMP can provide useful excluding
information, and can be used in screening for bladder cancer in the population at risk to exclude the
presence of the condition, but not as a diagnostic methods.
Received: 27 February 2007
Accepted: 08 June 2007
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