Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and risk of gastric cancer in the Shanghai Women's Health Study.
OBJECTIVE
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are byproducts of incomplete combustion of organic materials. Sources include tobacco smoke, charbroiled meat, and air pollution. Indirect evidence suggests that PAHs may be associated with carcinogenesis, but the association with gastric cancer is unclear.


METHODS
Using a nested case-control study design, we examined prediagnostic urinary concentrations of 1-hydroxypyrene glucuronide (1-OHPG), a PAH metabolite, in 153 gastric cancer cases and 306 matched controls within the Shanghai Women's Health Study. Conditional logistic regression adjusted for potential risk factors was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs).


RESULTS
Urinary 1-OHPG concentrations were slightly higher among cases than controls, with medians of 0.29 μmol/mol Cr (interquartile range, 0.16-0.48) and 0.24 μmol/mol Cr (interquartile range, 0.12-0.45), respectively. Increasing concentrations of 1-OHPG appeared to be associated with elevated risk of gastric cancer, but not within the highest category of 1-OHPG (Q4 vs Q1: OR = 1.4; 95% CI = 0.8-2.5).


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that higher concentrations of 1-OHPG are related to gastric cancer risk, but no clear dose-response relationship was observed.
Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute Bethesda, MD, USA.
Linda M
LM
Liao
Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute Bethesda, MD, USA.
Jonathan N
JN
Hofmann
Department of Public Health Analysis, School of Community Health and Policy, Morgan State University Baltimore, MD, USA.
Farin
F
Kamangar
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Baltimore, MD, USA.
Paul T
PT
Strickland
Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute Bethesda, MD, USA.
Bu-Tian
BT
Ji
Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN, USA.
Gong
G
Yang
Department of Epidemiology, Shanghai Cancer Institute Shanghai, China.
Hong-Lan
HL
Li
Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute Bethesda, MD, USA.
Nathaniel
N
Rothman
Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN, USA.
Wei
W
Zheng
Department of Epidemiology, The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center Houston, TX, USA.
Wong-Ho
WH
Chow
Department of Epidemiology, Shanghai Cancer Institute Shanghai, China.
Yu-Tang
YT
Gao
Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN, USA.
Xiao-Ou
XO
Shu
1-hydroxypyrene glucuronide; China; gastric cancer; polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons