A French cohort study on agriculture and cancer (AGRICAN) has been launched to examine possible links between the prevalence of certain cancers within farming communities in France. The study aims to identify different factors responsible for cancer incidence amongst the agricultural community and follows an earlier small-scale study which revealed these potential patterns.

According to the AGRICAN team, it is possible that cancer of the brain, prostate, and stomach, as well as leukaemia, and non Hodgkin lymphomas are more prevalent in agricultural communities than in the rest of the population in France. These assumptions would appear to sit well with the ever growing evidence in the scientific community to support the link between the certain pathologies and pesticides.

The AGRICAN study was designed by the French Agriculture Social Security Organisation (MSA). It aims to gather evidence from 180 000 participants, all of whom will answer questionnaires to help trace their occupational histories. The preliminary results for this study will be released at the end of this year – with the full publication following in 2012.