The California Cancer Registry's United Farmworkers of America Project

From 1987 to 1997, the California Cancer Registry (CCR) conducted a study to evaluate the incidence of cancer among members of the United Farmworkers of America (UFW), a largely Hispanic farmworkers' labor union in California. In this electronic data linkage project, information from the CCR was linked with a membership roster of the UFW to determine whether risks for specific cancers were higher or lower among UFW members than among the overall California Hispanic population.

The goal of this program is to understand and address cancer in a more effective way.

The results of the study showed that the risk for leukemia, stomach, cervical, and uterine cancers was higher among UFW members. Members of the UFW also were at a later stage of disease at diagnosis than were other California Hispanics for most major cancers except for breast cancer. As a follow-up to the UFW study, additional research is planned to examine which pesticides were used and how long farmworkers were exposed to each of them. This study will help determine whether specific occupational exposures are associated with cancer. Similar occupational studies have identified chemical carcinogens and have provided direction for prevention activities to reduce or eliminate cancer-causing exposures in the workplace and elsewhere.