Air pollution and breast cancer risk: a Mendelian randomization study
Previous research yields inconsistent findings on the association between air pollution and breast cancer risk, with no definitive causal relationship established. To address this, we conducted a two-sample Mendelian randomization study on data from the IEU open GWAS databases and the Breast Cancer Association Consortium to explore the potential link between air pollution (including PM<sub>2.5</sub>, PM<sub>2.5</sub> absorbance, PM<sub>2.5-10</sub>, PM<sub>10</sub>, NO<sub>2</sub>, and NO<sub>x</sub>) and breast cancer risk. We found that PM<sub>10</sub> (odds ratio (OR) = 1.39, 95% CI: 1.07-1.80, <i>p</i> = 0.013) and NO<sub>x</sub> (OR = 1.67, 95% CI: 1.16-2.41, <i>p</i> = 0.006) were significantly associated with elevated breast cancer risk. Furthermore, PM<sub>2.5</sub> (OR = 2.10, 95% CI: 1.09-4.03, <i>p</i> = 0.027) and NO<sub>x</sub> (OR = 3.08, 95% CI: 1.24-7.64, <i>p</i> = 0.015) were significantly associated with an elevated risk of luminal B/HER2-negative-like cancer. Results were stable in sensitivity analyses. This suggested that controlling air pollution could potentially reduce breast cancer risk.
Authors
- Kangdi Cao
- Jinkun Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7030-5035)
- Wei Hou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-7502-6981)
Institutions
- Beijing University of Chinese Medicine (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College (CN)
- China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences (CN)
- Guang’anmen Hospital (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- International Journal of Environmental Health Research
- Published
- 2025-01-10
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1080/09603123.2025.2451622
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Air Quality and Health Impacts
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.40