Associations also were found with pesticides people use on their lawns and in their homes. A University of Iowa expert said that although many studies have linked chemical use with cancers, other factors could be at work. For instance, he said, farmers might wait longer before going to the doctor because they don't have good insurance. They also might opt for the cheapest treatment. Those tendencies could help explain higher cancer-death rates.
Lymphoma is a class of cancer that attacks the lymph-gland system running throughout the body.
The most common types are called non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The rate of new lymphoma diagnoses among Iowa men rose from 11 per 100,000 in 1974 to 19 in 1998, Lynch said. For women, those rates rose from nine to 14 over the same period. The increases are only partly due to better diagnosis techniques, Lynch said. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is now the fifth most common cancer in the state, with 600 new cases expected this year.