Examining BPA’s Mechanisms of Action: The Role of c-Myc

This study is important for showing that BPA has very significant effects on breast health,” says study coauthor Mickey Hu, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Stanford Medical School. “Finding c-Myc as a target of BPA actually is a very important step for us to know how to prevent an adverse effect of BPA on human health.” Hu cautions, however, that the findings should not be construed as saying that BPA will definitely cause breast cancer. “We cannot one hundred percent say that if you are exposed to BPA, you will develop breast cancer—that’s not true. There are a lot of genes involved in cancer development, and it’s a lot more complicated than what we saw [in this study], ” he says. Shanaz Dairkee, a senior scientist at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute, who studies the mechanistic effects of BPA and other estrogenic chemicals on healthy human breast cells in vitro,4,9 is intrigued by the effects induced within ERα-negative breast cells, since it suggests an impact on other tissues as well. But Dairkee, who was not involved in the study, also notes that while numerous studies have found estrogenic chemicals to alter molecular, cellular, or tissue integrity, the jury is still out regarding their classification as carcinogens. Using experimental models to demonstrate an unequivocal role of environmental chemicals in human carcinogenesis “will require a data matrix incorporating a broader range of doses, population-...
Source: EHP Research - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Featured News Science Selection December 2015 Source Type: research