Blood Pb levels are associated with prostate cancer prevalence among general adult males: Linking National Cancer Registry (2002-2017) and KNHANES (2008-2017) databases of Korea

Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2024 Jan 2;256:114318. doi: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2023.114318. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTBACKGROUND: Exposure to heavy metals may increase the risk of developing prostate cancer. However, these observations are often inconsistent and not based on clinically diagnosed cases.OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and mercury (Hg) exposure with clinically determined prostate cancer cases among adult males in South Korea.METHODS: Metal biomonitoring data and cancer information from the general Korean population were extracted by linking National Cancer Center (NCC) cancer registration data (2002-2017) with Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) data (2008-2017). Among them, 46 prostate cancer cases (designated as 'all-prostate'), including 25 diagnosed after heavy metal measurement (designated as 'post-prostate'), and 93 matching controls were chosen. Logistic regression analysis was used to calculate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) between the heavy metal levels and prostate cancer.RESULTS: Post-prostate patients exhibited higher blood Pb levels than controls (median 3.1 μg/dL vs. 2.38 μg/dL, p = 0.01). For all-prostate cancer, the OR of prostate cancer increased by 2.04-fold for every doubling of Pb levels (95% CI = 1.08-3.87, p = 0.03). The OR was also significantly elevated when comparing the third quartile (Q3) to the lowest quartile (Q1), with ORs ranging from 3.38 to...
Source: International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental health - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Source Type: research