CANCER MORTALITY AMONG SWISS MIGRANTS IN FRANCE

Using French mortality data for the period 1979 to 1985, risks of death for cancer in Swiss migrants were calculated relative to these in the locally born. In the absence of valid population data for Swiss migrants, risks were estimated using a case-control approach, considering as cases cancer deaths at one specific site, and as controls all other deaths. In order to evaluate the change in risks after migration, death risks in Switzerland, compared to French natives, were calculated using a Poisson regression. For most of the cancer deaths, the risk in Swiss migrants is intermediate between that of their country of origin and that of the host country. Compared with French-born, Swiss migrants maintain however a significantly higher risk for lung cancer, urinary bladder cancer and melanoma in males, for breast cancer in females, and for non-Hodgkin lymphomas in both sexes. In contrast, the risk is significantly lower for liver cancer in male Swiss migrants. The observed difference are interpreted in the light of the available consumption data in both countries.