Human Exposure to Selected Animal Neurocarcinogens: A Biomarker-Based Assessment and Implications for Brain Tumor Epidemiology

Abstract

This review is based on the proceedings from the Second Lebow Conference held in Chicago in 2007. The conference concentrated on developing a framework for innovative studies in the epidemiology of environmental exposures, focusing specifically on the potential relationship with brain tumors. Researchers with different perspectives, including toxicology, pharmacokinetics, and epidemiological exposure assessment, exchanged information and ideas on the use of biomarkers of exposure in molecular epidemiology studies and summarized the current knowledge on methods and approaches for biomarker-based exposure assessment. This report presents the state of science regarding biomarker-based exposure assessment of the 4 most common neurocarcinogens: acrylamide, 1,3-butadiene, N-nitroso compounds, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Importantly, these chemicals are also carcinogenic in other organs; therefore, this discussion is useful for environmental epidemiologists studying all cancer types.

New Exposure Biomarkers as Tools for Breast Cancer Epidemiology, Biomonitoring, and Prevention: A Systematic Approach Based on Animal Evidence

“…Many occupational studies, epidemiological studies, and studies comparing smokers and nonsmokers have used biomarkers of exposure to 1,3-butadiene in blood and urine. Common approaches include measuring DNA and hemoglobin adducts in blood ( Il’yasova et al 2009 ; Ogawa et al 2006 ; Swenberg et al 2011 ) and measuring mercapturic acid metabolites in urine ( Alwis et al 2012 ). The CDC is planning to measure the urinary mercapturic acid metabolites in future NHANES reports ( Alwis et al 2012 ).…”

“…We condensed the priority list into 17 chemical groups for immediate attention. Il’yasova et al (2009) recently published a similar approach for expanding the scope of brain tumor epidemiology by prioritizing animal neurocarcinogens.…”

Application of mutagen sensitivity assay in a glioma case-control study

“…This suggests a reduced capacity to repair DNA damage from radiation in individuals with glioma. Other chemicals known to cause DNA damage including alkylating agents, and acrylamide are suspected animal neurocarcinogens [ [5] , [6] , [11] , [12] , [13] , [14] ]. However, in this study, DNA repair did not differ significantly between glioma cases and controls in response to bleomycin or acrylamide treatment.…”

“…Lymphocytes from case and control subjects who consented to participate in a glioma case-control study conducted at Duke University and University of Illinois at Chicago were previously collected, immortalized with Epstein Barr Virus and stored frozen at vapor phase liquid nitrogen. Details of subject recruitment and data collection have previously been described [ [3] , [6] , [42] , [43] ] Briefly, study subjects were recruited during the period February 2006–April 2008 from Duke University Medical Center (DUMC) in North Carolina and North Shore University Health System (NSUHS; formerly Evanston Northwestern Healthcare) in Illinois. Survey data were stored and analyzed at University of Illinois at Chicago and Institutional Review Board approvals were obtained from all three institutions.…”

“…As an alkylating agent, acrylamide is a compound that has been identified both in occupational exposure and in the general environment and has been identified as one of the forty known or suspected neurocarcinogens in animal models [ [5] , [6] ]. Exposure to alkylating agents with the potential to cause brain cancer may result from both endogenous and environmental exposures.…”