ArticleJournal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England)2019
IARC 2019: "Night shift work" is probably carcinogenic: What about disturbed chronobiology in all walks of life?
Article in Journal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England), 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A systematic review of epidemiological studies into daylight-saving time & health identifying beneficial & adverse effects.European journal of epidemiology · 2026Pooled it
- Unstable hours, unequal health: Gendered occupational health costs of work-hour volatility in the U.S.SSM - population health · 2026Article
- Shift Work and Psychological Distress Among Healthcare Workers: The Mediating Role of Sleep Quality and the Association with Job Dissatisfaction.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Biological time and occupational leukemogenesis: the circadian rhythm as a cofactor in benzene toxicity.Journal of the National Cancer Center · 2026Article
- Obesity and Cancer: From Systemic Metabolic Reprogramming to Immunotherapy Paradox.Metabolites · 2026Review
- Rhythms of risk: the intersection of clocks, cancer, and chronotherapy.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2026Review
- Night shift work and breast cancer: from etiopathology to precision risk analysis.NPJ breast cancer · 2025Review
- Rhythm is essential: Unraveling the relation between the circadian clock and cancer.Critical reviews in oncology/hematology · 2025Review
- CirRFKB: A knowledgebase of circadian-related risk factors for cancer pathogenesis and personalized medicine.Computational and structural biotechnology journal · 2025Article
- The Impact of Night Work on the Sleep and Health of Medical Staff-A Review of the Latest Scientific Reports.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- Extracellular Vesicles, Circadian Rhythms, and Cancer: A Comprehensive Review with Emphasis on Hepatocellular Carcinoma.Cancers · 2024Review
- Cancer odds among Ohio firefighters: data from the Ohio Cancer Incidence Surveillance System (OCISS) 1996-2019.BMJ public health · 2024Article
- Protective Effects of Melatonin against Carcinogen-Induced Oxidative Damage in the Thyroid.Cancers · 2024Review
- A cross-sectional analysis of the association between sleep disorders and cancer using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005-2014.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2024Article
- Review
- Increased breast cancer incidence among nurses in a tertiary university hospital in South Korea.Annals of occupational and environmental medicine · 2023Article
- Analysis and mapping of global research publications on shift work (2012-2021).Journal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England) · 2022Article
- Review
- Work as a Social Determinant of Racial Health Inequalities.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Current Insights into Optimal Lighting for Promoting Sleep and Circadian Health: Brighter Days and the Importance of Sunlight in the Built Environment.Nature and science of sleep · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In June of 2019, a working group convened by the International Agency for Research on Cancer [IARC] concluded that "night shift work" is probably carcinogenic to humans (a Group 2A carcinogen). This was based on sufficient evidence of cancer and strong mechanistic evidence in experimental animals and limited evidence from human epidemiological studies. The biological basis from experimental work is clear and compelling: Disturbed chronobiology such as due to alterations in the light-dark schedule which shift-workers experience is associated with carcinogenicity. But is it correct to assume in epidemiological studies that "night shift work" provides the same dose of disturbed chronobiology to all night workers and that disturbed chronobiology from activities outside of work does not count? Both chronobiological theory and supporting evidence suggest that much-needed future epidemiology should address these questions and should consider disturbed chronobiology in all walks of life.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.