Abstract
Non-occupational exposure to cadmium has been suspected to be a risk factor for breast cancer. The present study examined the association between urinary cadmium level and the risk of breast cancer in a case–control study among Japanese women. Cases were 153 women newly diagnosed and histologically confirmed with breast cancer at a general hospital in Gifu, Japan. A total of 431 controls individually matched to cases by age, menopausal status, and the period of urine sampling were selected from those who attended a breast cancer mass screening at this hospital. Urinary cadmium levels were measured using spot urine samples. Spot urine samples were collected from cases after surgery but before any cancer therapy. For controls, spot urine samples were obtained at the date of the screening visit. Information on known or suggested breast cancer risk factors was obtained by a self-administered questionnaire. The odds ratios (ORs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) of breast cancer according to the tertile of the creatinine-adjusted cadmium level were calculated using conditional logistic regression models. Women in the highest tertile of the creatinine-adjusted cadmium level (>2.620 μg/g) had significantly elevated OR of breast cancer relative to those in the lowest tertile (<1.674 μg/g) after controlling for covariates [OR = 6.05, (95 % CI 2.90, 12.62)]. The trend of increase in risk with increasing cadmium level was also statistically significant [OR = 1.67, (95 % CI 1.39, 2.01) for every 1.0 μg/g increase in urinary cadmium level, P-trend <0.01]. These data suggested that exposure to cadmium was associated with a risk of breast cancer in Japanese women.
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Abbreviations
- BMI:
-
Body mass index
- CI:
-
Confidence interval
- NHANES:
-
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
- OR:
-
Odds ratio
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This research was supported in part by the Grant from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, Japan and by the Koshiyama Research Grant, Japan.
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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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Nagata, C., Nagao, Y., Nakamura, K. et al. Cadmium exposure and the risk of breast cancer in Japanese women. Breast Cancer Res Treat 138, 235–239 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-013-2414-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-013-2414-4