The relationship between renal-cell cancer (RCC) and occupation was investigated in an international multicenter population-based case-control study. Study centers in Australia, Denmark, Germany, Sweden and the United States interviewed 1732 incident RCC cases and 2309 controls. Significant associations were found with employment in the blast-furnace or the coke-oven industry [relative risk (RR), 1. 7; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1. 1-2. 7], the iron and steel industry (RR, 1. 6; 95% CI, 1. 2-2. 2) and exposure to asbestos (RR, 1. 4; 95% CI, 1. 1-1 VSports手机版. 8), cadmium (RR, 2. 0; 95% CI, 1. 0-3. 9), dry-cleaning solvents (RR, 1. 4; 95% CI, 1. 1-1. 7), gasoline (RR, 1. 6; 95% CI, 1. 2-2. 0) and other petroleum products (RR, 1. 6; 95% CI, 1. 3-2. 1). Asbestos, petroleum products and dry-cleaning solvents appear to merit further investigation, in view of the relationship between risk and duration of employment or exposure and after adjustment for confounding. There was a negative association between RCC and education, but it was not consistent across all centers. Overall, the results of our multicenter case-control study suggest that occupation may be more important in the etiology of RCC than indicated by earlier studies. .