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Published on: June 11, 2014
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Environmental Quality and Invasive Breast Cancer
Larisa M Gearhart-Serna1,2,3, Kate Hoffman3, Gayathri R Devi4,2,5
1Department of Surgery, Division of Surgical Sciences, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
Summary
Environmental quality, particularly land quality, showed associations with invasive breast cancer risk in North Carolina women. Rural land quality impacts, like pesticide use, warrant further study for breast cancer prevention.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Health
- Epidemiology
- Cancer Research
Background:
- Breast cancer risk is influenced by multifactorial elements, including environmental exposures.
- Previous studies often examined single environmental factors, not reflecting real-world combined exposures.
- A comprehensive assessment of environmental quality is needed to understand breast cancer associations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between breast cancer and a comprehensive Environmental Quality Index (EQI).
- To explore how different domains of environmental quality relate to breast cancer risk and stage.
- To identify specific environmental components that may influence breast cancer development.
Main Methods:
- Utilized North Carolina breast cancer diagnoses (2009-2014) linked to county-level EQI data.
- Assessed five EQI domains: air, water, land, sociodemographic, and built environments.
- Compared odds of invasive breast cancer stages against carcinoma in situ using logistic regression.
Main Results:
- Overall EQI was not significantly associated with invasive breast cancer.
- Inverse association observed between land quality and breast cancer risk, especially in rural areas.
- Distant metastatic breast cancer was more likely with poorer land quality (OR 1.08).
Conclusions:
- Broad measures of environmental quality are linked to invasive breast cancer, but associations differ by domain, stage, and urbanicity.
- Land quality components, such as pesticide applications, require further investigation for their role in breast cancer.
- Findings highlight the complexity of environmental influences on breast cancer risk.
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