Evaluation of cancer risk factors in a retirement community.

A mail questionnaire was distributed to residents of a retirement community as part of a study of factors associ ated with cancer risk in the elderly. Maternal and paternal age and birth order were not associated with increased risk. With the exception of a positive association between heart disease and prostate cancer, there was no association between a personal or familial history of allergy, diabetes, and heart disease and risk to the cancers studied. There was a familial risk associated with skin, colon, and breast cancer. A study of spouse cancer indicated that the familial risk of skin and colon cancer was related to environmental factors, whereas the risk to breast cancer appeared to be primarily genetic.