Correlation of white female breast cancer incidence trends with nitrogen dioxide emission levels and motor vehicle density patterns

Abstract

The long-term trend of female breast cancer incidence rates in the United States and some European countries demonstrates a similar pattern: an increasing trend in the last century followed by a declining trend in this century. The well-known risk factors cannot explain this trend. We compared the breast cancer incidence trends obtained from SEER data with the trend of nitrogen dioxides (NOx) emission and monitoring data as well as motor vehicle density data. The upward followed by downward trend of NOx is similar to the breast cancer incidence trend but with an offset of 20 years earlier. Motor vehicles are the major source of NOx emissions. The geographic distribution of motor vehicles density in 1970 in the observed US counties is positively correlated with breast cancer incidence rates (R(2) 0.8418, the correlation coefficient = 0.9175) in 1980-1995. Because both the time trend and geographic pattern are associated with breast cancer incidence rates, further studies on the relationship between breast cancer and air pollution are needed.

Epidemiological Evaluation of Breast Cancer in Ecological areas of Kazakhstan - Association with Pollution Emissions

“…In the US a higher incidence rate of breast cancer was found in high emission regions and metropolitan areas (Wei et al, 2012). Because both the time trend and geographic pattern of motor vehicles as a major source of NOx emissions are associated with breast cancer incidence rates, it has been stressed that further studies on the relationship between breast cancer and air pollution are needed (Chen and Bina, 2012). In Canada, evidence of an association between the incidence of postmenopausal breast cancer and exposure to ambient concentrations of NO2 has been presented (Crouse et al, 2010).…”

Long-term Particulate Matter Exposures during Adulthood and Risk of Breast Cancer Incidence in the Nurses' Health Study II Prospective Cohort

“…(1) However, some recent studies have suggested associations. (2-7) Studies with large numbers of breast cancer cases, information on specific breast cancer subtypes, and the ability to control for other breast cancer risk factors are needed. Therefore, we examined the association of particulate matter (PM) exposures and roadway proximity on risk of overall, hormone-receptor specific, and menopausal status-specific breast cancer risk among women in the nationwide, prospective Nurses’ Health Study II (NHSII) cohort.…”

Hypothesis of Consumption of Gasoline as a Risk Factor of Breast Cancer Incidence in Korea in an Ecological Study

“…We considered only two indicators and did not consider other factors such as diet or screening rate and other ecological studies conducted in both Korea and Western countries have focused on the certain factors (Cho et al, 2010;Chen and Bina, 2012). As the authors' knowledge, there are few or no ecological studies considering many factors associated with a disease with interest.…”

“…The other studies investigating the geographical variations in cancer incidence also used registry data such as SEER data (Chen et al, 2007;Chen and Bina, 2012) which do not consider dwelling period or point of dwelling time of each individual. It is caused by inherent limitation of ecological study that cannot consider the exposure at the individual level.…”