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Environnement, Risques & Santé

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Occupational exposure to cytostatins and their CMR effects on healthcare personnel: an update Volume 16, issue 5, September-October 2017

Authors
Université Badji Mokhtar
Faculté de médecine d’Annaba
Rue Zaafrania
Annaba
Algérie
* Tirés à part

Experimental data have shown that most cytotoxins have effects that can be carcinogenic, mutagenic, or toxic to reproduction (reprotoxic), and numerous scientific articles have been published about the CMR effects of cancer chemotherapy among healthcare workers. Findings suggest reprotoxic (congenital malformations, pregnancy loss, low birth weight, and ectopic pregnancies), mutagenic (chromosomal abnormalities, sister chromatid exchanges, micronuclei, and DNA adducts) and carcinogenic risks in the absence of adequate protective measures. Most epidemiological studies of staff preparing and administering cytostatins indicate that the risk of cancers is increased only for hematopoietic tumors and bladder cancer. Despite methodological limitations in some studies (low power due to small sample sizes, retrospective study with risk of bias) and the difficulty of investigations, evidence clearly indicates serious risk for these professionals. This article is a review of published epidemiological studies on the relations between occupational exposure to cytostatins and CMR effects.