Objectives of the SYNERGY project

The SYNERGY project database contains individual lifetime data on occupations and smoking for more than 16 900 lung cancer cases and more than 20 950 control subjects. This database provides the best available tool for estimating the joint effects of occupational exposure to asbestos, PAHs, nickel, chromium, and silica.

Research projects on occupational exposures continue, given that exposures were higher in the past, when the studies included in SYNERGY were conducted, so there is a wide exposure range, making the SYNERGY data interesting for:

• testing and developing new statistical methods and analytical approaches on data that have already been explored with well-known methods;
• replicating new findings from other studies on occupational exposures and risk of lung cancer;
• in-depth analyses of joint effects between smoking and the occupational exposures included in SYN-JEM, with a view to promoting smoking prevention in workplaces.