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Exposure to environmental chemicals and heavy metals, and risk of pancreatic cancer

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Abstract

Purpose

Exposure to various chemicals and heavy metals has been associated with risk of different cancers; however, data on whether such exposures may increase the risk of pancreatic cancer (PC) are very limited and inconclusive. We examined PC risk with self-reported exposures to chemicals and heavy metals.

Methods

The design was a clinic-based, case–control study of data collected from 2000 to 2014 at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, USA. Cases were rapidly ascertained patients diagnosed with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (n = 2,092). Controls were cancer-free patients in primary care clinics (n = 2,353), frequency-matched to cases on age, race, sex, and state/region of residence. Cases and controls completed identical risk factor questionnaires, which included yes/no questions about regular exposure to pesticides, asbestos, benzene, chlorinated hydrocarbons, chromium, and nickel. Unconditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) comparing those who affirmed exposure to each of the chemicals/heavy metals to those who reported no regular exposure, adjusting for potential confounders.

Results

Self-reported regular exposure to pesticides was associated with increased odds of PC (OR 1.21, 95 % CI 1.02–1.44). Regular exposure to asbestos (OR 1.54, 95 % CI 1.23–1.92), benzene (OR 1.70, 95 % CI 1.23–2.35), and chlorinated hydrocarbons (OR 1.63, 95 % CI 1.32–2.02) also was associated with higher odds of PC. Chromium and nickel exposures were not significantly associated with PC.

Conclusions

These findings add to the limited data suggesting that exposure to pesticides, asbestos, benzene, and chlorinated hydrocarbons may increase PC risk. They further support the importance of implementing strategies that reduce exposure to these substances.

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Abbreviations

BMI:

Body mass index

CI:

Confidence interval

DDT:

Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane

EPTC:

S-ethyl dipropylthiocarbamate

MRR:

Meta-risk ratio

NSAIDS:

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs

OR:

Odds ratio

PC:

Pancreatic cancer

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the dedicated staff of the Mayo Clinic Pancreatic Cancer Registry and the study participants for their important contributions. The authors also thank Dr. Timothy J. Beebe for his expert advice on survey research.

Funding

This work was supported by funding from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Grants P50CA102701 and 2R25CA092049-11. It was also partly supported by CTSA Grant Number TL1 TR000137 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Epidemiology, Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Charlton 6-243, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA

    Samuel O. Antwi, Corinna V. Sabaque, Emma R. Leof & Gloria M. Petersen

  2. Department of Clinical and Translational Science, Mayo Clinic Graduate School, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA

    Elizabeth C. Eckert

  3. Division of Biomedical Statistics and Informatics, Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA

    Kieran M. Hawthorne, William R. Bamlet, Kari G. Chaffee & Ann L. Oberg

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  1. Samuel O. Antwi
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  2. Elizabeth C. Eckert
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Correspondence to Gloria M. Petersen.

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Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflict of interest to disclose. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants. This study was approved by the Mayo Clinic Institutional Review Board.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Antwi, S.O., Eckert, E.C., Sabaque, C.V. et al. Exposure to environmental chemicals and heavy metals, and risk of pancreatic cancer. Cancer Causes Control 26, 1583–1591 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-015-0652-y

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