Document VJ6Re8XQz2yYGM6zBbNeRDqq

CANCERS OF THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM 445 recent years did not decrease but increased. The average yearly incidence in the period 1869 to 1877 was approximately 16 cases; there were approxi P'i mately 10 cases a year during 1878 to 1885; 4 cases a year in 1879 to 1914; \ - V 5 cases a year from 1923 to 1925; and 3.6 cases a year between 1926 and ! 1935. Thus, while there was a reduction in the absolute number of cases of I; Schneeberg cancer in the last decade, the decrease in the number of active and retired miners was very much more marked, resulting in an actual increased incidence of the disease. During 1869 to 1877, when between 700 to 800 miners were employed, two miners out of every hundred died from lung cancer each year; during 1879 to 1885, with about 600 employed 13 miners, 1.6 miners per 100 miners employed died each year from cancer of S' the lung; in 1921, when only 149 miners were working, about 4 miners It died, or 2.6 miners out of 100 morkers employed. This actual increase in the ! $ incidence of pulmonary malignancy may be accounted for by the fact that i- :'i the majority of miners at work in recent years were elderly men, who had been with the mines for many years, while new and young men were not '4 added to the working crew due to the constantly shrinking operation of the mines. This conclusion is supported by Hueck's recent statement that 75 to 80 per cent of the miners die with lung cancer. These data suggest, on the other hand, that the various technical and sanitary improvements introduced in the mines and for the miners have not yet yielded definite or appreciable reduction in the frequency of the disease. As at least ten to fifteen years must elapse before the efficacy of the pre cautionary and preventive measures that have been taken can be judged, as to the effect on miners newly employed after the introduction of such procedures, a considerable number of years may elapse before definite information on this matter may become available. Age of the Miners at the Time of Death from Lung Cancer. The age distribution of the Schneeberg disease has undergone definite and marked changes since 1900. In more recent decades, the average age of miners dying from cancer of the lung was 55 years (range: 37 to 69 years--Rostoski, Saupe and Schmorl). These investigators noted that in former years the majority of miners died at an earlier age (between 40 to 50 years) from this disease. The correctness of this statement is born out by the statistical data supplied by Uhlig for deaths in 1879 to 1885. The age distribution of the 72 cases listed by this investigator is as follows: Age ufto-25 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60 and. over Cases 2 4 15 13 11 IO 9 II 8 Whereas the present age distribution of the Schneeberg cancers is similar to that of the cryptogenetic pulmonary carcinomas, the age distribution of the x Schneeberg disease, from 1879 to 1885 was shifted toward'the younger age groups (72.22 per cent of the cases occurred in miners under 50 years, in