Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39229942›Full record

SynthesisEuropean journal of cancer prevention : the official journal of the European Cancer Prevention Organisation (ECP)2025

Occupational benzene exposure and risk of kidney and bladder cancers: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Monireh Sadat Seyyedsalehi, Mattia Bonetti, Darshi Shah, Vincent DeStefano, Paolo Boffetta

Abstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in European journal of cancer prevention : the official journal of the European Cancer Prevention Organisation (ECP), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Bladder cancer risk factors: a comprehensive umbrella review of meta-analyses.International journal of surgery (London, England) · 2026
    Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Review
  9. Observational
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Monireh Sadat SeyyedsalehiDepartment of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
Mattia BonettiDepartment of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
Darshi ShahDepartment of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine, Renaissance School of Medicine.
Vincent DeStefanoDepartment of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine, Renaissance School of Medicine.
Paolo BoffettaDepartment of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionBenzene is recognized as leukemogenic. However, the association between it and solid cancers has been the subject of less investigation. We aim to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the association between occupational exposure to benzene and the risk of urinary tract cancer, including kidney and bladder.

methodsWe included 41 cohort and case-control studies listed in the most recent International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Monograph on benzene exposure and the result of a literature review to identify more recent studies. Forest plots of relative risk (RR) were constructed for kidney, bladder, and urinary tract cancer overall. A random-effects model was used to address heterogeneity between studies. Stratified analyses were conducted to explore effect modification.

resultsOur findings revealed an association between exposure to occupational benzene and kidney and unspecified urinary tract cancers (RR = 1.20, 95% confidence interval = 1.03-1.39), and an association of borderline statistical significance with bladder cancer (RR = 1.07, 95% confidence interval = 0.97-1.18). Publication bias was excluded for both kidney ( P  = 0.809) and bladder cancer ( P  = 0.748). Stratification analysis according to the selected study characteristics showed no difference except regarding the industry for kidney cancer ( P  < 0.000), with a stronger association in the chemical industry. An analysis by exposure level did not reveal any trend for kidney cancer, whereas there was a trend ( P  = 0.01) for bladder cancer.

conclusionOur study found an association between occupational benzene exposure and kidney cancer and a dose-effect association between benzene exposure and bladder cancer.

Indexed as

BenzeneKidney NeoplasmsOccupational DiseasesOccupational ExposureUrinary Bladder NeoplasmsCase-Control StudiesHumansRisk FactorsBenzene

Identifiers

PMID39229942
PMCPMC11949222

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

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 Socratic graph.