Different Mortality Risks of Long-Term Exposure to Particulate Matter across Different Cancer Sites

Miyoun Shin,Sun-Young Kim,Seung-Ah Choe,Seongwoo Yang,Ok-Jin Kim

doi:10.3390/ijerph19063180

Abstract

Particulate matter (PM) air pollution has challenged the global community and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified airborne particulate matter as carcinogenic to humans. However, while most studies of cancer examined a single cancer type using different cohorts, few studies compared the associations of PM between different cancer types. We aimed to compare the association of long-term exposure to PM (PM10 and PM2.5) and cancer mortality across 17 different types of cancer using a population-based cohort in the Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA), South Korea; Our study population includes 87,608 subjects (mean age: 46.58 years) residing in the SMA from the National Health Insurance Services–National Sample cohort (NHIS–NSC) and followed up for 2007–2015. We used the time-dependent Cox proportional hazards model to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) of each cancer mortality per 10 μg/m3 increase in PM concentrations, after adjusting for individual and areal characteristics. During eight years of follow-up, 1487 people died with any of 17 cancer types. Lung cancer death was the highest, followed by liver and stomach cancer. Although we did not find the association for all cancer types, possibly because of limited cancer cases, HRs of PM2.5 were relatively high for lung, stomach, pancreas, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, prostate, esophagus, oral and pharynx, and brain cancer mortality (HRs = 1.44–7.14). High HRs for pancreas, non–Hodgkin’s lymphoma, esophagus, and oral and pharynx cancer were also seen for PM10; our findings suggest PM air pollution as a potential risk factor of cancer mortality for upper digestive tracts, mouth, pancreas, and non–Hodgkin’s lymphoma in a highly urbanized population with high exposure to PM for a long time.

Highlights

Cancer remains one of the major burdens of disease worldwide
Using the population-based nationwide cohort, this study aims to compare the associations of long-term exposure to Particulate matter (PM) ≤2.5 or 10 μm in diameter (PM2.5 or PM10 ) with cancer mortality by 17 cancer types in the Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA)
We primarily focused on the Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA), where our previous study found the association between PM and lung cancer incidence [16]

Summary

Introduction

Cancer remains one of the major burdens of disease worldwide. In 2016, the WorldHealth Organization reported that about 70% of all deaths are attributed to non-communicable diseases, in which cancer makes up more than 20% [1]. Cancer remains one of the major burdens of disease worldwide. Health Organization reported that about 70% of all deaths are attributed to non-communicable diseases, in which cancer makes up more than 20% [1]. Despite the overall decrease in cancer deaths, owing to early cancer detection and management, the burden of cancer mortality persists, with constant global increase in cancer incidence. The newly diagnosed cancer cases are expected to be 28.4 million cases in 2040, approximately a 50%. As the most common cause of cancer death, makes up 18.0%. Of 9.9 million deaths for the global population, followed by colorectum (9.4%) and liver cancer (8.3%) in 2020 [2]. In order to reduce the heavy burden of cancer, efforts have been devoted to identifying risk factors of cancer.

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