[Cancers and pesticides].

Cancers, cancer incidence and cancer-associated deaths remain an area of concern. The proportion of cancers of occupational origin is estimated between 2 and 8 percent of the mortality per cancer. Pesticides (insecticides, fungicides and herbicides) are widely used in France. Epidemiological studies on cancers in agriculture have been conducted for approximately forty years. While meta-analyses have revealed a lower rate of certain types of cancer in farmers (lung, esophagus, bladder), others seem to be slightly over-represented. Some cancers, such as hematological malignancies, are studied more frequently when it comes to an association with pesticides, but other suspected risk factors, often associated, are studied as well. Simultaneously, the IARC has conducted several research studies on pesticides, which are progressively classified according to their carcinogenicity. Currently, a better statistical validity is reached with cohort studies. In 2005, France initiated a large-scale cohort, "AGRIGAN", including 175,000 subjects.