Comments on a recent case-control study of malignant mesothelioma of the pericardium and the tunica vaginalis testis.

Comments on a recent case-control study of malignant mesothelioma of the pericardium and the tunica vaginalis testis. Scand J Work Environ Health. 2020 Jul 06;: Authors: Mezei G, Chang ET, Mowat FS, Moolgavkar SH Abstract As the first case-control study of malignant mesothelioma of the pericardium and the tunica vaginalis testis (mTVT), the paper by Marinaccio et al (1) is potentially an important epidemiologic contribution. A careful review of the paper, however, raises a number of methodological issues. Any case-control study can be viewed as being nested within a conceptual cohort, with controls being sampled from the at-risk cohort as cases arise over time. This view of case-control studies leads to the concept of incidence-density sampling of controls (eg, 2, 3). For Marinaccio et al (1) this would mean that, as cases were registered over the study period, each would be matched to an individual control or set of controls of the same gender, age, and region of the country (since asbestos exposure varies by time and region [4]). For example, if a case were 50 years old in 1995, then any matched control should be close to age 50 in 1995 and of the same gender and from the same region as the case. Matching for age in this fashion automatically results in matching for year of birth, which is essential in this context because birth-cohort effects are determinants of asbestos exposure and mesothelioma incidence (eg, 5-8). If Marinaccio...
Source: Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health - Category: Occupational Health Authors: Tags: Scand J Work Environ Health Source Type: research