• Title/Summary/Keyword: environmental cancer

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Heavy Metal Pollution in Sub-Saharan Africa and Possible Implications in Cancer Epidemiology

  • Fasinu, Pius Sedowhe;Orisakwe, Orish Ebere
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.14 no.6
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    • pp.3393-3402
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    • 2013
  • The increasing scourge of cancer epidemiology is a global concern. With WHO emphasizing that 40% of all cancer cases are preventable, exposure to known and suspected carcinogens must be discouraged. The battle with communicable diseases and other third world challenges has greatly de-emphasized anti-cancer campaigns in sub-Saharan Africa. The abundant deposit of mineral resources in sub-Saharan Africa has attracted high mining activity with its negative environmental aftermath. Poor regulatory mechanisms have led to environmental contamination by products of mining including heavy metals. In addition to poor urban planning, the springing up of settlements in industrial areas has led to generation and exposure to more hazardous wastes consequent on poor disposal systems. Studies establishing close association between exposure to heavy metals and cancer epidemiology in sub-Saharan Africa are increasing. The current review assesses the level of environmental pollution by heavy metals in sub-Saharan Africa, and brings to the fore available evidence implicating such in the increasing cancer epidemiology in the sub-continent.

Downregulation of Cdk1 and CyclinB1 Expression Contributes to Oridonin-induced Cell Cycle Arrest at G2/M Phase and Growth Inhibition in SGC-7901 Gastric Cancer Cells

  • Gao, Shi-Yong;Li, Jun;Qu, Xiao-Ying;Zhu, Nan;Ji, Yu-Bin
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.15 no.15
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    • pp.6437-6441
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    • 2014
  • Background: Oridonin isolated from Rabdosia rubescens, a plant used to treat cancer in Chinese folk medicine, is one of the most important antitumor active ingredients. Previous studies have shown that oridonin has antitumor activities in vivo and in vitro, but little is known about cell cycle effects of oridonin in gastric cancer. Materials and Methods: MTT assay was adopted to detect the proliferation inhibition of SGC-7901 cells, the cell cycle was assessed by flow cytometry and protein expression by Western blotting. Results: Oridonin could inhibit SGC-7901 cell proliferation, the $IC_{50}$ being $15.6{\mu}M$, and blocked SGC-7901 cell cycling in the $G_2/M$ phase. The agent also decreased the protein expression of cyclinB1 and CDK1. Conclusions: Oridonin may inhibit SGC-7901 growth and block the cells in the $G_2/M$ phase by decreasing Cdk1 and cyclinB1 proteins.

Estimation of Gaseous Hazardous Air Pollutants Emission from Vehicles (자동차에서 배출되는 가스상 유해대기오염물질 (HAPs) 배출량 추정)

  • Kim, Jeong;Jang, Young-Kee;Choi, Sang-Jin;Kim, Jeong-Soo;Seo, Choong-Yeol;Son, Ji-Hwan
    • Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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    • v.29 no.1
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    • pp.1-9
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    • 2013
  • Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs) are difficult to measure, analyze and assess for risk because of low ambient concentrations and varieties. Types of HAPs are Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) and Aldehydes. HAP emissions from vehicles are a contributor to serious adverse health effects in urban areas. In this study, hazardous air pollutant emissions from road transport vehicles by Non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC) weight fraction and PAHs emission factors are estimated in 2008. The top-five-most hazardous air pollutant emissions were estimated to toluene 864.3 ton/yr, acrolein 690.6 ton/yr, acetaldehyde 554.5 ton/yr, formaldehyde 498.7 ton/yr, propionaldehyde 421.6 ton/yr in 2008. The results for a cancer and non-cancer risk assessment of HAPs emissions show that the major cancer driver is formaldehyde and the non-cancer driver is acrolein.

Estimating the Economic Burden of Lung Cancer in Iran

  • Rezaei, Satar;Sari, Ali Akbari;Woldemichael, Abraha;Soofi, Moslem;Kazemi, Ali;Matin, Behzad Karami
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.17 no.10
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    • pp.4729-4733
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    • 2016
  • Objectives: Lung cancer is a major public health problem and one of the most costly illnesses. The study aimed to estimate the economic burden of lung cancer in Iran in 2014. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to estimate the direct and indirect costs for patients with lung cancer using a prevalence-based approach. A human capital approach was employed to estimate the indirect costs. Data were obtained from several sources such as through patient interview using structured questionnaire, medical records, the GLOBOCAN databases, the Iranian Statistical Center, the Iranian Ministry of Cooperation, Labor and Social Welfare, and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). Results: The economic burden of lung cancer in Iran in the year 2014 was 3,225,998,555,090 IR. The main components of the cost were associated with mortality (81.9 %) and hospitalization (7.6 %). The costs of direct medical care, non-medical aspects, patient time, and mortality accounted for 10.8%, 2.7%, 4.5%, and 81.5% of the total cost, respectively. Conclusion: Findings from this study indicated that the economic burden of lung cancer is substantial both to Iran's health system and to society as a whole. Early diagnosis, strengthening cancer prevention, implementing new cancer therapy and medical technology, and effective smoking-cessation interventions could offset some of the costs associated with lung cancer in Iran.

Genetic Susceptibility to Esophageal Cancer due to CYP1A1 Gene Variant rs4646903 in Tobacco Addicted Patients of Pashtun Ethnicity: a Case Control Study in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan

  • Zakiullah, Zakiullah;Saeed, Muhammad;Ali, Sajid;Javed, Nabila;Khisroon, Muhammad;Muhammad, Basir;Khuda, Fazli;Ahmad, Saeed;Ismail, Mohammad
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.15 no.16
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    • pp.6715-6720
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    • 2014
  • The purpose of this study was to evaluate associations of the CYP1A1 gene variant rs4646903 polymorphism with the risk of developing esophageal cancer (EC). A case-control study was carried out in Pashtun population of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan in which 140 hospital based EC cases and 196 population based healthy controls exposed to similar environmental conditions were included. A specific method based on the real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect genotypes in case and control groups and results were then analyzed with SPSS version 20. In our population, individuals with CC and TC genotypes of the CYP1A1 rs4646903 polymorphism had significantly higher risk of EC (adjusted odds (OR): 15.709, 95%CI: 6.065-40.686, OR: 3.256 95%CI: 1.902-5.574 respectively). The 'C' allele was strongly associated with the disease (p< 0.0001). Adjusted OR was higher (1.5 times in C/C) in case of variant alleles that show the contribution of environmental and nutritional factors towards the development of EC. Our findings suggest that presence of the 'C' allele of rs4646903 (T>C) may be one of the risk alleles for EC susceptibility in Pashtun population.

Correlation of Breast Cancer Incidence with the Number of Motor Vehicles and Consumption of Gasoline in Korea

  • Park, Boyoung;Shin, Aesun;Jung-Choi, Kyunghee;Ha, Eunhee;Cheong, Hae-Kwan;Kim, Hyun Jeong;Park, Kyung Hwa;Jang, Sungmi;Moon, Byung-In;Ha, Mina
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.15 no.7
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    • pp.2959-2964
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    • 2014
  • While several reproductive and lifestyle-related factors are already well-known as established risk factors for breast cancer, environmental factors have attracted attention only recently. The objective of the current study was to assess the association between the breast cancer incidences in females, the mortality rate and the number of motor vehicles on the one side and the consumption of gasoline which could work as a major source of air pollution at the other side. The breast cancer incidences and the mortality trends were compared with various indices of westernization like dietary patterns or industrialization with 10 years lag of time. Geographical variations with 10, 15 and 20 years lag of time were assessed between the breast cancer incidence in 2010 and the number of motor vehicles as well as the consumption of gasoline. The upward trend of motor vehicle numbers proved to be comparable to those of breast cancer incidence and mortality. However, the consumption of gasoline started to decrease since the mid-1990s. The geographic distribution of motor vehicle numbers and gasoline consumption in 1990 is in a positive correlation with the breast cancer incidence rates in 2010 and the 20-year lag time ($R^2$ 0.379 with the number of motor vehicles and 0.345 with consumption of gasoline). In a linear relationship between the breast cancer incidences in 2010 and the log transformed number of motor vehicles, the log transformed consumption of gasoline in 2000 also showed a positive relationship ($R^2$ 0.367 with the number of motor vehicles and 0.329 with consumption of gasoline). The results of the current study indicate that there may be a positive relation between the number of vehicles, gasoline consumption and the incidence of breast cancer from the aspects of long-term trends and geographical variation.