Complex organochlorine pesticide mixtures as determinant factor for breast cancer risk: a population-based case–control study in the Canary Islands (Spain)

Luis D Boada,Eva E Álvarez-León,Lluis Serra-Majem,Luis Alberto Henríquez-Hernández,Octavio P Luzardo,Maira Almeida-González,Manuel Zumbado

doi:10.1186/1476-069x-11-28

Abstract

BackgroundAll the relevant risk factors contributing to breast cancer etiology are not fully known. Exposure to organochlorine pesticides has been linked to an increased incidence of the disease, although not all data have been consistent. Most published studies evaluated the exposure to organochlorines individually, ignoring the potential effects exerted by the mixtures of chemicals.MethodsThis population-based study was designed to evaluate the profile of mixtures of organochlorines detected in 103 healthy women and 121 women diagnosed with breast cancer from Gran Canaria Island, and the relation between the exposure to these compounds and breast cancer risk.ResultsThe most prevalent mixture of organochlorines among healthy women was the combination of lindane and endrin, and this mixture was not detected in any affected women. Breast cancer patients presented more frequently a combination of aldrin, dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane (DDD), and this mixture was not found in any healthy woman. After adjusting for covariables, the risk of breast cancer was moderately associated with DDD (OR = 1.008, confidence interval 95% 1.001-1.015, p = 0.024).ConclusionsThis study indicates that healthy women show a very different profile of organochlorine pesticide mixtures than breast cancer patients, suggesting that organochlorine pesticide mixtures could play a relevant role in breast cancer risk.

Highlights

All the relevant risk factors contributing to breast cancer etiology are not fully known
Among environmental contaminants linked to Breast cancer (BC), most studies have focused in organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) due to their endocrine-disrupting properties observed both in in vivo and in vitro studies [12,13], and to their biochemical characteristics that result in their accumulation in body fat
Bearing in mind the alarming rates of mortality by BC among women from the Canary Islands (Spain) and in women from Gran Canaria Island [2,4], the aim of our study was to compare the profile of mixtures of OCPs detected in women diagnosed with BC living in Gran Canaria Island with that detected in healthy women selected among participants from our previous population-based studies, and secondarily to evaluate whether OCPsexposure could be considered as a risk factor for BC in such population

Summary

Introduction

All the relevant risk factors contributing to breast cancer etiology are not fully known. Among environmental contaminants linked to BC, most studies have focused in organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) due to their endocrine-disrupting properties (estrogenic or antiandrogenic effects) observed both in in vivo and in vitro studies [12,13], and to their biochemical characteristics (high lipophilic and resistant to biotransformation) that result in their accumulation in body fat Their persistence in the environment leads to bioaccumulation in animals and to biomagnification in the food chain [14], resulting in the bioaccumulation of these chemicals in the human body, including adipose tissue, fatty tissue, breast milk, or serum [15,16,17,18]. It has to be highlighted that most studies focused in the study of only one compound, and they did not take into account that human beings are exposed simultaneously to multiple OCPs, and that the biological effects exerted by the mixture of OCPs vary considerably from those exerted by any OCP individually [33,34]

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