Environmental organochlorine exposure as a potential etiologic factor in breast cancer.

Environmental organochlorine exposure as a potential etiologic factor in breast cancer.

Known risk factors for breast cancer do not account for a significant proportion of the overall incidence. Reproductive factors and endogenous hormones are thought to be responsible for a large component of risk. An environmental contribution has been sought in the past to explain the international trends in breast cancer rates and changes in risk among migrating populations. Recently, environm...

Environmental Organochlorine Exposure and Risk of Breast Cancer

Polychlorobiphenyls (PCB’s) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) are persistent organic pollutants in the Great Lakes and other aquatic ecosystems. Currently in North America, human exposure to these compounds occurs primarily through the ingestion of contaminated fish, meat and dairy products. Many of these compounds have interacted with the estrogen receptor, but the interactions are com...

Risk of breast cancer and organochlorine exposure.

A prospective investigation of breast cancer and organochlorine (OC) exposures was undertaken in the New York University Women's Health Study. Cases (n = 148) and individually matched controls (n = 295) were identified among women whose blood had been obtained 6 months or more prior to breast cancer diagnosis. In addition, among 84 cases and 196 controls, two or more consecutive annual blood sa...

Natural environmental gamma radiation exposure and prevalence of breast cancer in Poços de Caldas, MG, Brazil

Background: Environmental ionizing radiation has been associated with increased cancer risk by several studies.  The Brazilian city of Poços de Caldas, MG, seats on a huge deposit of uranium, which was until recently mined.  We performed a retrospective analysis of  310 cases of patients with breast cancer, who were exposed for at least ten years to different levels of ion...

Tobacco smoking as an etiologic factor in disease; cancer.