Relationship Between Arsenic in Biological Media and Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Arsenic (As) is an environmental pollutant with carcinogenic effects and breast cancer (BC) is a prevalent malignant tumor in women. The goal of this meta-analysis was to establish a connection between biological sample As levels and the risk of developing BC. Pub Med, Web of Science, Scopus, and Elsevier were used to systematically screen the literature published between 1990 and 2023. The Newcastle-Ottawa scale was also used in assessing the quality of publications. A random-effects model was used to assess the pertinent data that was gleaned from these articles. Using the I² index the heterogeneity of studies was performed. Egger's test and funnel plots were used to look at publication bias. We identified 16 epidemiologic studies that included 2713 women with BC and 5347 healthy individuals. The results showed that the difference between the case group and the control group was 0.72 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.30 to 1.14]. According to subgroup analysis, the value for blood was 0.18 [95% CI 0.01 to 0.35], whereas the value for hair was 3.08 [95% CI 0.19 to 5.97]. The present meta-analysis suggested that As levels were significantly higher in BC patients than in controls. This systematic review and meta-analysis provide evidence supporting a positive relationship between arsenic levels in biological media and BC risk. These findings highlight the importance of further research to investigate the mechanisms of this association and explore potential preventive strategies to reduce the adverse effects of arsenic exposure on BC.