Air Pollution and Its Association with Cervical Cancer: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Cervical cancer is one of the leading women cancer globally. The human papillomavirus (HPV) is the definite cause of cervical cancer, although other risk factors such as environmental variables, can also raise the likelihood of its development. The leading environmental cause of cancer death is air pollution. While it has long been linked to lung cancer, studies show that it is also a risk factor for other human cancers, including cervical cancer. This scoping review aims to identify and review published literature on the association of air pollution with the development of cervical cancer. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) protocol was applied to guide this review. Seven publications discussing air pollution and its association with cervical cancer were included based on specific criteria. The elaboration of the sources of air pollution, types of air pollutants, and the exposure-outcome related to cervical cancer were discussed. Several air pollutants were associated with different exposure outcomes pertaining to cervical cancer, including the development of cervical precancerous lesions, and the increment in cervical cancer incidence and mortality. This review emphasised the association of air pollution that acted as the co-risk factor in the development of cervical cancer. It identified the air pollutants that influenced cervical cancer development thus proposing future research to elucidate the mechanism of possible co-risk factors leading to cervical cancer.