In 2004, there were about 1,295∼5,178 patients with occupational cancer, that is 2∼8% of total cancer patients (64,731) in Korea. The industrial carcinogen are mainly classified according to the guideline of International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as Group 1, 2A, 2B, 3 and 4. There are also classified by American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), National Toxicology Program (NTP). The occupational carcinogen classified by the Occupational Safety and Health Act in Korea are A1 (verified carcinogen) and A2 (presumed carcinogen). Some types of cancers were recognized as occupational diseases from 1999 to 2005, which originated from the respiratory organs (93 cases), the blood-forming organs (50 cases), and other organs (6 cases). Chemoprevention to protect the normal cells from the conversion to cancer cells using safe chemicals is becoming popular as an effective strategy to conquest the cancer. It has been reported that many ingredients in food were confirmed they have suppressive qualities in regard to carcinogenesis in each specific stage such as initiation, promotion and progression. This review focuses on many industrial carcinogens which workers are exposed to, and the mechanisms by which anti- oxidative/detoxified enzyme prevent metabolic activation of carcinogens, the preventive effects of phytochemicals in each stage of carcinogenesis, and the relationship between the phytochemicals and the expression of the enzymes. (Cancer Prev Res 15, 1-18, 2010)

Keywords: Industrial carcinogen, Prevention of occupational cancer with phytochemicals