Abstract
Breast and uterine cancer are the most frequent female gender related neoplasms whose growth is mostly estrogen dependent. Therefore, any EDC exhibiting estrogenic effects may increase the risk of these two malignancies. This review focuses on the potential role of EDCs with estrogenic potential on the risk of breast and uterine neoplasms but also points to the possible role of the exposure to EDCs in the pathogenesis of ovarian and cervical cancer. It also underlines the necessity of informing the public about the presence of EDCs in common consumer products, their detrimental health effects and methods of reducing the exposure risk.
Highlights
IntroductionEndocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are environmental compounds (natural or synthetic), which impair the function of the endocrine system leading to adverse health outcomes
Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are environmental compounds, which impair the function of the endocrine system leading to adverse health outcomes
There are several different mechanisms through which EDCs can impair the function of the endocrine system [2, 5], most of the reported adverse effects of their action are due to their interaction with estrogen receptors (ERs) or alteration of estrogen signaling pathways [6]
Summary
Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are environmental compounds (natural or synthetic), which impair the function of the endocrine system leading to adverse health outcomes. A group of chemicals with an endocrine disrupting potential is very heterogeneous and includes many synthetic substances used in agriculture, industry as well as many consumer products. The first two are estrogen dependent malignancies, their development and growth is usually due to the prolonged or exaggerated exposure to estrogens [7]. It is still debatable if ovarian cancer is estrogen dependent, whereas cervical cancer is mostly due to infection with oncogenic viruses [the human papilloma virus (HPV)] [8]
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