Blood levels of cadmium and lead in relation to breast cancer risk in three prospective cohorts
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Cadmium and lead have been classified as carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. However, their associations with breast cancer risk are unknown despite their persistence in the environment and ubiquitous human exposure. We examined associations of circulating levels of cadmium and lead with breast cancer risk in three case-control studies nested within the Cancer Prevention Study-II (CPS-II) LifeLink Cohort, European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition - Italy (EPIC-Italy), and the Northern Sweden Health and Disease Study (NSHDS) cohorts. Metal levels were measured in stored erythrocytes from 1,435 cases and 1,433 controls using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Summary relative risks (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using random-effects models with each study result weighted by the within- and between-study variances. I2 values were calculated to estimate proportion of between study variation. Using common cut-points, cadmium levels were not associated with breast cancer risk in the CPS-II cohort (continuous RR=1.01, 95% CI 0.76 - 1.34), but were inversely associated with risk in the EPIC- Italy (continuous RR=0.80, 95% CI 0.61 - 1.03) and NSHDS cohorts (continuous RR=0.73, 95% CI 0.54 - 0.97). The inverse association was also evident in the meta-analysis (continuous RR=0.84, 95% CI 0.69 - 1.01) with low between-study heterogeneity. Large differences in lead level distributions precluded a meta-analysis of their association with breast cancer risk; no associations were found in the three studies. Adult cadmium and lead levels were not associated with higher risk of breast cancer in our large meta-analysis.
Date Issued
2019-03-01
Date Acceptance
2018-07-26
ISSN
0020-7136
Publisher
Wiley
Start Page
1010
End Page
1016
Journal / Book Title
International Journal of Cancer
Volume
144
Issue
5
Copyright Statement
© 2018 Owner. This is the accepted version of the following article: Gaudet, M. M., Deubler, E. L., Kelly, R. S., Ryan Diver, W. , Teras, L. R., Hodge, J. M., Levine, K. E., Haines, L. G., Lundh, T. , Lenner, P. , Palli, D. , Vineis, P. , Bergdahl, I. A., Gapstur, S. M. and Kyrtopoulos, S. A. (2019), Blood levels of cadmium and lead in relation to breast cancer risk in three prospective cohorts. Int. J. Cancer, 144: 1010-1016. doi:10.1002/ijc.31805, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/ijc.31805.
Sponsor
Commission of the European Communities
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30117163
Grant Number
513943
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Oncology
cadmium
lead
breast cancer
URINARY CADMIUM
ENVIRONMENTAL CADMIUM
SEX-HORMONES
EXPOSURE
POPULATION
HEALTH
WOMEN
HERITABILITY
PREVENTION
MORTALITY
breast cancer
cadmium
lead
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Breast Neoplasms
Cadmium
Carcinogens
Case-Control Studies
Environmental Exposure
Female
Humans
Italy
Lead
Middle Aged
Prospective Studies
Risk Factors
Sweden
Humans
Breast Neoplasms
Cadmium
Lead
Carcinogens
Risk Factors
Case-Control Studies
Prospective Studies
Environmental Exposure
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Middle Aged
Italy
Sweden
Female
breast cancer
cadmium
lead
1112 Oncology and Carcinogenesis
Oncology & Carcinogenesis
Publication Status
Published
Country
United States
Date Publish Online
2018-08-17