The 9th Conference on Metal Toxicity and Carcinogenesis: The conference overview

Abstract

Heavy metals, such as arsenic, chromium, cadmium, nickel, mercury, and uranium are known to cause many human diseases and health complications after occupational or environmental exposure. Consequently, metals are environmental health concerns. This manuscript is an overview of the 9th Conference on Metal Toxicity and Carcinogenesis held in October 2016 in Lexington, Kentucky. Since 2000, this biennial meeting brings together experts in the field to discuss current and prospective research in an effort to advance research pertaining to metal toxicity and carcinogenesis. In this review we summarize the major topics discussed and provide insight regarding current research in the field and an account of the direction in which the field is progressing.

Blood screening for heavy metals and organic pollutants in cancer patients exposed to toxic waste in southern Italy: A pilot study

“…Moreover, metals can also activate mitogenic signals and perturb signal transduction pathways, such as that of mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK), thus promoting cancer development (Cavigelli et al, ; Chen, Zhu, & Chan, ; Yao & Costa, ). Also, metals can impact on epigenetic modulation of gene expression (Wise, Wang, Zhang, & Shi, ), with an example being the As‐induced DNA hypomethylation (Zhao, Young, Diwan, Coogan, & Waalkes, ). Finally, some heavy metals are considered metalloestrogens, which can induce the development of estrogen‐dependent diseases, including breast and endometrial cancers (Aquino, Sevigny, Sabangan, & Louie, ; Johnson et al, ; Martinez‐Campa et al, ; Rzymski et al, ).…”

“…Moreover, metals can also activate mitogenic signals and perturb signal transduction pathways, such as that of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), thus promoting cancer development (Cavigelli et al, 1996;Chen, Zhu, & Chan, 2014;Yao & Costa, 2014). Also, metals can impact on epigenetic modulation of gene expression (Wise, Wang, Zhang, & Shi, 2017), with an example being the As-induced DNA hypomethylation (Zhao, Young, Diwan, Coogan, & Waalkes, 1997).…”

Current Status and Development of Remediation for Heavy Metals in China

“…The 9th Conference on Metal Toxicity and Carcinogenesis held in 2016, discussed current and future studies on the effects of heavy metal exposure on human disease and health complications, showing that metals are an important public health issue leading to diseases (Wise et al, 2017). Nonetheless, as can be seen from the above content, different heavy metals have different physical or chemical properties.…”

Tobacco influence in heavy metals levels in head and neck cancer cases

“…Some carcinogens as physical, chemical, or viral agents are well known, but heavy metal's relation to malignant neoplasms and the mechanism by which it induces carcinogenesis remain unclear (Condoluci et al 2016;Galazyn-Sidorczuk et al 2008;Koedrith et al 2013;Maret 2016;Tsai et al 2017;Viana et al 2011;Wise et al 2017). Metals such as cadmium, arsenic, nickel, and chromium are already classified as carcinogenic to humans (Groups 1 and 2) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (WHO-IARC.…”

“…Currently, toxicogenomic researchers study several mechanisms, such as DNA damage and repair, as well as the oxidative stress present in multiple processes, such as autophagy, angiogenesis, inflammation, epigenetic alterations, metabolic reprogramming, and genomic instability (Koedrith et al 2013;Wise et al 2017;Wu et al 2016). Furthermore, low concentration of some heavy metals can have an important influence on the double strand breaks (DSBs) at the DNA level and can thereby cause mutagenic changes to the cell repair process (Morales et al 2016).…”