Association between Trace Element and Heavy Metal Levels in Hair and Nail with Prostate Cancer

Golgis Karimi,Suzana Shahar,Nasim Homayouni,Mohd Sham Othman,Nor Faizah Abu Bakar,Roslee Rajikan

doi:10.7314/apjcp.2012.13.9.4249

Abstract

While associations between trace elements and heavy metals with prostate cancer are still debatable, they have been considered as risk factors for prostate cancer. Thus, this study aimed to detect any links between selected minerals and heavy metals including Se, Zn, Cu, Mn and Fe with prostate cancer. A case control study was carried out among 100 subjects (case n=50, control n=50), matched for age and ethnicity. Trace elements and heavy metals level in hair and nail samples were determined by ICP-MS. Mean selenium levels in hair and nail of the cases were significantly lower as compared to controls. A similar trend was noted for zinc in both hair and nail samples, whereas the mean level of copper was significantly higher in cases than controls. Similar elevation was noted for iron and manganese (p<0.05 for all parameters). Low levels of selenium and zinc and high levels of copper, iron and manganese appear to be associated with the risk of prostate cancer. Further studies to elucidate the causal mechanisms and appropriate chemopreventive measures are needed.

Highlights

Prostate cancer is the sixth most common type of cancer worldwide (Sapota et al, 2009)
The role of trace elements and heavy metals has not been fully investigated among Asian men, this study aimed to determine the association between trace elements and heavy metals with prostate cancer risk among men in Klang Valley of Malaysia
Unlike previous studies which suggested that development of prostate cancer may be affected by environmental factors such as alcohol consumption and smoking, our data did not find any significant association between these factors with incidence of prostate cancer (Gsur et al, 2004), probably due to a small number of the samples who smoke and consumed alcohol

Summary

Introduction

Prostate cancer is the sixth most common type of cancer worldwide (Sapota et al, 2009) Both genetic and environmental risk factors including diet (fat, vegetables and fruits, dairy products and certain micronutrients and vitamins intake), smoking, alcohol consumption, sexual and physical activity, hormones and body size are associated with increased risk of prostate cancer among Asian population. These factors play an important role in development and progression of tumour cells either by acting directly in a causative pathway or indirectly, by acting on genes related disease susceptibility. Prostate cancer mortality was found to be strongly contributed by cadmium (Cd), followed by zinc (Zn) and chromium (Cr) (Killilea et al, 2007)

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