Per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances in lung tissues and their association with lung cancer

The accumulation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in human tissues is known. However, PFAS accumulation in the lung tissue of lung cancer patients remains unexplored. We examined the distribution of 26 PFAS in lung tissues and found a total concentration ranging from 0.75 to 368 ng/g, with perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) identified as predominant compounds. Perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) and perfluoroalkyl sulfonic acids (PFSAs) were the most prevalent, and a firefighting-related exposure pattern was observed in male patients. PFAS accumulation was observed in older females and middle-aged males. This may be attributed to reduced menstrual clearance in females and protein-binding correlations in males. A negative correlation was found between carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cytokeratin 19 fragment (CYFRA 21-1) and perfluoropentane sulfonic acid (PFPeS) and N-ethyl perfluorooctane sulfonamido acetic acid (N-EtFOSAA) concentrations in lung tissue. A significant negative correlation of perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA), PFOA and a positive correlation of PFOS and perfluorononanesulfonic acid (PFNS), with CYFRA 21-1 was discerned. PFAS concentrations showed significant negative correlations with neuron-specific enolase (NSE) levels in patients over 60 years. This research highlights PFAS accumulation in lung tissues and the need for further studies associating exposure with health outcomes.