Impact of exposure to tobacco smoke, arsenic, and phthalates on locally advanced cervical cancer treatment—preliminary results

PeerJ

article

Carmen A. Roba¹  Cristian Pop²  Claudia Ordeanu⁴  Ovidiu Balacescu⁵  Eugen S. Gurzau⁶  Iulia A. Neamtiu⁶  Michael S. Bloom⁶  Irina Dumitrascu² 

[1] Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Babes-Bolyai University;Physico-chemical and Biotoxicological Analysis Laboratory, Environmental Health Center;Cluj School of Public Health - College of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, Babes-Bolyai University;Radiotherapy II Department, The Oncology Institute “Prof. Dr. Ion Chiricuta”;Functional Genomics, Proteomics and Experimental Pathology Laboratory, The Oncology Institute “Prof. Dr. Ion Chiricuta”;Health Department, Environmental Health Center;IMOGEN Research Institut;University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Iuliu Hatieganu”;Departments of Environmental Health Sciences and Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University at Albany, State University of New York

关键词: Treatment response;    Locally advanced cervical cancer;    Arsenic;    Phthalates;    Exposure;    Tobacco smoke;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.2448

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundCancer research is a national and international priority, with the efficiency and effectiveness of current anti-tumor therapies being one of the major challenges with which physicians are faced.ObjectiveTo assess the impact of exposure to tobacco smoke, arsenic, and phthalates on cervical cancer treatment.MethodsWe investigated 37 patients with locally advanced cervical carcinoma who underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy. We determined cotinine and five phthalate metabolites in urine samples collected prior to cancer treatment, by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry, and urinary total arsenic by atomic absorption spectrometry with hydride generation. We used linear regression to evaluate the effects of cotinine, arsenic, and phthalates on the change in tumor size after treatment, adjusted for confounding variables.ResultsWe detected no significant associations between urinary cotinine, arsenic, or phthalate monoesters on change in tumor size after treatment, adjusted for urine creatinine, age, baseline tumor size, and cotinine (for arsenic and phthalates). However, higher %mono-ethylhexyl phthalate (%MEHP), a putative indicator of phthalate diester metabolism, was associated with a larger change in tumor size (β = 0.015, 95% CI [0.003–0.03], P = 0.019).ConclusionWe found no statistically significant association between the urinary levels of arsenic, cotinine, and phthalates metabolites and the response to cervical cancer treatment as measured by the change in tumor size. Still, our results suggested that phthalates metabolism may be associated with response to treatment for locally advanced cervical cancer. However, these observations are preliminary and will require confirmation in a larger, more definitive investigation.

【 授权许可】

CC BY