title: Perinatal Light Imprinting of Circadian Clocks and Systems (PLICCS): The PLICCS and Cancer Hypothesis.
abstract: Circadian disruption is associated with sleep, mood, and metabolic disorders, and-according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer-even with cancer. Mechanistically, the source of disease may be circadian system instability which likely arises during development. In animal experiments, both low perinatal light:dark ratios and chronic perinatal photoperiod phase shifting yield enduring, detrimental effects on neuroendocrine physiologyviacircadian system instability. Certainly, accumulating disturbances to neuroendocrine physiology and detrimental downstream effects could predispose to internal cancers. Epidemiologically, either season of birth or latitude of birth, both of which co-determine perinatal photoperiod-zeitgeber strengths, have been utilized independently as proxies for other environmental co-etiologies of cancer. Both have been independently associated with cancer; however, the evidence is inconclusive. We hypothesize that time of birth and location of birth, together determining perinatal photoperiod, contribute to cancer development throughPerinatalLightImprinting ofCircadianClocks andSystems.
authors.affiliation: Institute and Policlinic for Occupational Medicine, Environmental Medicine and Prevention Research, University Hospital of Cologne , Cologne , Germany.
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.affiliation: Institute and Policlinic for Occupational Medicine, Environmental Medicine and Prevention Research, University Hospital of Cologne , Cologne , Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Erren
keywords: cancer prevention; chronodisruption; circadian; epidemiology; latitude; perinatal; photoperiod; season