Chromium in exhaled breath condensate and pulmonary tissue of non-small cell lung cancer patients.
OBJECTIVE
Chromium in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) has recently been proposed as a biomarker of pulmonary exposure. The aim of this study was to measure the Cr levels in the EBC and pulmonary tissue of patients with early, operable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had not been occupationally exposed to Cr before and after tumour resection and to correlate Cr in lung tissue with that in EBC.


METHODS
Cr levels in the EBC and pulmonary tissue of 20 NSCLC patients were measured by means of electrothermal atomic absorption before and after tumour resection. Cr levels were also measured in the urine of 15 of these patients.


RESULTS
The pre-surgery EBC Cr levels of the NSCLC patients were not different from those of the controls, but both EBC and urinary Cr levels increased after surgery. There was a significant correlation between Cr levels in EBC and pulmonary tissue (R = 0.55, P = 0.01), but not between these and urinary Cr levels.


CONCLUSIONS
Cr levels in EBC and urine of NSCLC patients were increased after surgical intervention. Measured Cr EBC levels were by one order of magnitude lower than those observed in moderately exposed workers. This fact, together with the correlation between Cr in EBC and in pulmonary tissue, confirms that EBC is a promising biological fluid to test pulmonary exposure to Cr, giving complementary information to that provided by urinary Cr, not correlated with EBC and tissue.
Goldoni
Matteo
M
Laboratory of Industrial Toxicology, Department of Clinical Medicine, Nephrology and Health Sciences, University of Parma, Via Gramsci 14, 43100 Parma, Italy.
Caglieri
Andrea
A
Corradi
Massimo
M
Poli
Diana
D
Rusca
Michele
M
Carbognani
Paolo
P
Mutti
Antonio
A
D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers; D001944:Breath Tests; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000378:metabolism*; D002857:Chromium / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000737:chemistry*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
D015415:Biomarkers; D002857:Chromium