Analysis of Environmental Chemical Mixtures and Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Risk in the NCI-SEER NHL Study.
BACKGROUND
There are several suspected environmental risk factors for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). The associations between NHL and environmental chemical exposures have typically been evaluated for individual chemicals (i.e., one-by-one).


OBJECTIVE
We determined the association between a mixture of 27 correlated chemicals measured in house dust and NHL risk.


METHODS
We conducted a population-based case-control study of NHL in four National Cancer Institute-Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results centers--Detroit, Michigan; Iowa; Los Angeles County, California; and Seattle, Washington--from 1998 to 2000. We used weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression to model the association of a mixture of chemicals and risk of NHL. The WQS index was a sum of weighted quartiles for 5 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), 7 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and 15 pesticides. We estimated chemical mixture weights and effects for study sites combined and for each site individually, and also for histologic subtypes of NHL.


RESULTS
The WQS index was statistically significantly associated with NHL overall [odds ratio (OR) = 1.30; 95% CI: 1.08, 1.56; p = 0.006; for one quartile increase] and in the study sites of Detroit (OR = 1.71; 95% CI: 1.02, 2.92; p = 0.045), Los Angeles (OR = 1.44; 95% CI: 1.00, 2.08; p = 0.049), and Iowa (OR = 1.76; 95% CI: 1.23, 2.53; p = 0.002). The index was marginally statistically significant in Seattle (OR = 1.39; 95% CI: 0.97, 1.99; p = 0.071). The most highly weighted chemicals for predicting risk overall were PCB congener 180 and propoxur. Highly weighted chemicals varied by study site; PCBs were more highly weighted in Detroit, and pesticides were more highly weighted in Iowa.


CONCLUSIONS
An index of chemical mixtures was significantly associated with NHL. Our results show the importance of evaluating chemical mixtures when studying cancer risk.
Department of Biostatistics, School of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA.
Jenna
J
Czarnota
Chris
C
Gennings
Joanne S
JS
Colt
Anneclaire J
AJ
De Roos
James R
JR
Cerhan
Richard K
RK
Severson
Patricia
P
Hartge
Mary H
MH
Ward
David C
DC
Wheeler
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D005430:Floors and Floorcoverings; D006801:Humans; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012044:Regression Analysis; D018426:SEER Program; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
D000393:Air Pollutants; D004391:Dust