Blood Arsenic Levels as a Marker of Breast Cancer Risk among BRCA1 Carriers

Wojciech Marciniak; Tomas Matousek; Susan Domchek; Angelo Paradiso; Margherita Patruno; Arvīds Irmejs; Irita Roderte; Roza Derkacz; Piotr Baszuk; Magdalena Kuswik; Cezary Cybulski; Tomasz Huzarski; Jacek Gronwald; Tadeusz Debniak; Michal Falco; Marcin R. Lener; Anna Jakubowska; Katherine Pullella; Joanne Kotsopoulos; Steven Narod; Jan Lubinski

doi:10.3390/cancers13133345

Blood Arsenic Levels as a Marker of Breast Cancer Risk among BRCA1 Carriers

Wojciech Marciniak, Tomas Matousek, Susan Domchek, Angelo Paradiso, Margherita Patruno, Arvīds Irmejs, Irita Roderte, Roza Derkacz, Piotr Baszuk, Magdalena Kuswik, Cezary Cybulski, Tomasz Huzarski, Jacek Gronwald, Tadeusz Debniak, Michal Falco, Marcin R. Lener, Anna Jakubowska, Katherine Pullella, Joanne Kotsopoulos, Steven NarodJan Lubinski (Corresponding Author)

Department of Surgery

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

10 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

An important group of breast cancers is those associated with inherited susceptibility. In women, several predisposing mutations in genes involved in DNA repair have been discovered. Women with a germline pathogenic variant in BRCA1 have a lifetime cancer risk of 70%. As part of a larger prospective study on heavy metals, our aim was to investigate if blood arsenic levels are associated with breast cancer risk among women with inherited BRCA1 mutations. A total of 1084 participants with pathogenic variants in BRCA1 were enrolled in this study. Subjects were followed from 2011 to 2020 (mean follow-up time: 3.75 years). During that time, 90 cancers were diagnosed, including 67 breast and 10 ovarian cancers. The group was stratified into two categories (lower and higher blood As levels), divided at the median (<0.85 µg/L and ≥0.85 µg/L) As level among all unaffected participants. Cox proportional hazards models were used to model the association between As levels and cancer incidence. A high blood As level (≥0.85 µg/L) was associated with a significantly increased risk of developing breast cancer (HR = 2.05; 95%CI: 1.18–3.56; p = 0.01) and of any cancer (HR = 1.73; 95%CI: 1.09–2.74; p = 0.02). These findings suggest a possible role of environmental arsenic in the development of cancers among women with germline pathogenic variants in BRCA1.

Original language	English
Article number	3345
Number of pages	10
Journal	Cancers
Volume	13
Issue number	13
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13133345
Publication status	Published - 3 Jul 2021

Keywords*

blood arsenic
cancer risk
epidemiology
BRCA1 carriers
prospective cohort
breast cancer

Field of Science*

3.2 Clinical medicine
3.1 Basic medicine

Publication Type*

1.1. Scientific article indexed in Web of Science and/or Scopus database

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.3390/cancers13133345Licence: CC BY

Blood Arsenic Levels as a Marker of Breast CancerLicence: CC BY

Cite this

Marciniak, W., Matousek, T., Domchek, S., Paradiso, A., Patruno, M., Irmejs, A., Roderte, I., Derkacz, R., Baszuk, P., Kuswik, M., Cybulski, C., Huzarski, T., Gronwald, J., Debniak, T., Falco, M., Lener, M. R., Jakubowska, A., Pullella, K., Kotsopoulos, J., ... Lubinski, J. (2021). Blood Arsenic Levels as a Marker of Breast Cancer Risk among BRCA1 Carriers. Cancers, 13(13), Article 3345. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13133345

@article{a08f2ec430d44d95a9f0e39b6e2db10d,

title = "Blood Arsenic Levels as a Marker of Breast Cancer Risk among BRCA1 Carriers",

abstract = "An important group of breast cancers is those associated with inherited susceptibility. In women, several predisposing mutations in genes involved in DNA repair have been discovered. Women with a germline pathogenic variant in BRCA1 have a lifetime cancer risk of 70%. As part of a larger prospective study on heavy metals, our aim was to investigate if blood arsenic levels are associated with breast cancer risk among women with inherited BRCA1 mutations. A total of 1084 participants with pathogenic variants in BRCA1 were enrolled in this study. Subjects were followed from 2011 to 2020 (mean follow-up time: 3.75 years). During that time, 90 cancers were diagnosed, including 67 breast and 10 ovarian cancers. The group was stratified into two categories (lower and higher blood As levels), divided at the median (<0.85 µg/L and ≥0.85 µg/L) As level among all unaffected participants. Cox proportional hazards models were used to model the association between As levels and cancer incidence. A high blood As level (≥0.85 µg/L) was associated with a significantly increased risk of developing breast cancer (HR = 2.05; 95%CI: 1.18–3.56; p = 0.01) and of any cancer (HR = 1.73; 95%CI: 1.09–2.74; p = 0.02). These findings suggest a possible role of environmental arsenic in the development of cancers among women with germline pathogenic variants in BRCA1.",

keywords = "blood arsenic, cancer risk, epidemiology, BRCA1 carriers, prospective cohort, breast cancer",

author = "Wojciech Marciniak and Tomas Matousek and Susan Domchek and Angelo Paradiso and Margherita Patruno and Arvīds Irmejs and Irita Roderte and Roza Derkacz and Piotr Baszuk and Magdalena Kuswik and Cezary Cybulski and Tomasz Huzarski and Jacek Gronwald and Tadeusz Debniak and Michal Falco and Lener, {Marcin R.} and Anna Jakubowska and Katherine Pullella and Joanne Kotsopoulos and Steven Narod and Jan Lubinski",

note = "Funding Information: Funding: The study was funded by the National Centre for Research and Development Projects. INNOMED/1/16/NCBR/2014 and PBS3/B7/26/2015. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.",

year = "2021",

month = jul,

day = "3",

doi = "10.3390/cancers13133345",

language = "English",

volume = "13",

journal = "Cancers",

issn = "2072-6694",

publisher = "MDPI Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute",

number = "13",

}

Marciniak, W, Matousek, T, Domchek, S, Paradiso, A, Patruno, M, Irmejs, A , Roderte, I, Derkacz, R, Baszuk, P, Kuswik, M, Cybulski, C, Huzarski, T, Gronwald, J, Debniak, T, Falco, M, Lener, MR, Jakubowska, A, Pullella, K, Kotsopoulos, J, Narod, S & Lubinski, J 2021, 'Blood Arsenic Levels as a Marker of Breast Cancer Risk among BRCA1 Carriers', Cancers, vol. 13, no. 13, 3345. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13133345

TY - JOUR

T1 - Blood Arsenic Levels as a Marker of Breast Cancer Risk among BRCA1 Carriers

AU - Marciniak, Wojciech

AU - Matousek, Tomas

AU - Domchek, Susan

AU - Paradiso, Angelo

AU - Patruno, Margherita

AU - Irmejs, Arvīds

AU - Roderte, Irita

AU - Derkacz, Roza

AU - Baszuk, Piotr

AU - Kuswik, Magdalena

AU - Cybulski, Cezary

AU - Huzarski, Tomasz

AU - Gronwald, Jacek

AU - Debniak, Tadeusz

AU - Falco, Michal

AU - Lener, Marcin R.

AU - Jakubowska, Anna

AU - Pullella, Katherine

AU - Kotsopoulos, Joanne

AU - Narod, Steven

AU - Lubinski, Jan

N1 - Funding Information: Funding: The study was funded by the National Centre for Research and Development Projects. INNOMED/1/16/NCBR/2014 and PBS3/B7/26/2015. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

PY - 2021/7/3

Y1 - 2021/7/3

N2 - An important group of breast cancers is those associated with inherited susceptibility. In women, several predisposing mutations in genes involved in DNA repair have been discovered. Women with a germline pathogenic variant in BRCA1 have a lifetime cancer risk of 70%. As part of a larger prospective study on heavy metals, our aim was to investigate if blood arsenic levels are associated with breast cancer risk among women with inherited BRCA1 mutations. A total of 1084 participants with pathogenic variants in BRCA1 were enrolled in this study. Subjects were followed from 2011 to 2020 (mean follow-up time: 3.75 years). During that time, 90 cancers were diagnosed, including 67 breast and 10 ovarian cancers. The group was stratified into two categories (lower and higher blood As levels), divided at the median (<0.85 µg/L and ≥0.85 µg/L) As level among all unaffected participants. Cox proportional hazards models were used to model the association between As levels and cancer incidence. A high blood As level (≥0.85 µg/L) was associated with a significantly increased risk of developing breast cancer (HR = 2.05; 95%CI: 1.18–3.56; p = 0.01) and of any cancer (HR = 1.73; 95%CI: 1.09–2.74; p = 0.02). These findings suggest a possible role of environmental arsenic in the development of cancers among women with germline pathogenic variants in BRCA1.

AB - An important group of breast cancers is those associated with inherited susceptibility. In women, several predisposing mutations in genes involved in DNA repair have been discovered. Women with a germline pathogenic variant in BRCA1 have a lifetime cancer risk of 70%. As part of a larger prospective study on heavy metals, our aim was to investigate if blood arsenic levels are associated with breast cancer risk among women with inherited BRCA1 mutations. A total of 1084 participants with pathogenic variants in BRCA1 were enrolled in this study. Subjects were followed from 2011 to 2020 (mean follow-up time: 3.75 years). During that time, 90 cancers were diagnosed, including 67 breast and 10 ovarian cancers. The group was stratified into two categories (lower and higher blood As levels), divided at the median (<0.85 µg/L and ≥0.85 µg/L) As level among all unaffected participants. Cox proportional hazards models were used to model the association between As levels and cancer incidence. A high blood As level (≥0.85 µg/L) was associated with a significantly increased risk of developing breast cancer (HR = 2.05; 95%CI: 1.18–3.56; p = 0.01) and of any cancer (HR = 1.73; 95%CI: 1.09–2.74; p = 0.02). These findings suggest a possible role of environmental arsenic in the development of cancers among women with germline pathogenic variants in BRCA1.

KW - blood arsenic

KW - cancer risk

KW - epidemiology

KW - BRCA1 carriers

KW - prospective cohort

KW - breast cancer

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85121283545&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/cancers13133345

DO - 10.3390/cancers13133345

M3 - Article

SN - 2072-6694

VL - 13

JO - Cancers

JF - Cancers

IS - 13

M1 - 3345

ER -

Blood Arsenic Levels as a Marker of Breast Cancer Risk among BRCA1 Carriers

Abstract

Keywords*

Field of Science*

Publication Type*

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this