Skip Navigation
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Use this QR code to view the newest version of this document
Use this QR code to view the newest version of this document

Your Environment. Your Health.

Publication Detail

Title: Polychlorinated biphenyls and their association with survival following breast cancer.

Authors: Parada Jr, Humberto; Wolff, Mary S; Engel, Lawrence S; Eng, Sybil M; Khankari, Nikhil K; Neugut, Alfred I; Teitelbaum, Susan L; Gammon, Marilie D

Published In Eur J Cancer, (2016 Mar)

Abstract: Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are hypothesised to influence breast carcinogenesis due to their persistence and potential to induce oestrogenic and anti-oestrogenic effects. Whether PCBs influence survival following breast cancer is unknown.A population-based cohort of women diagnosed with first primary invasive or in situ breast cancer in 1996-1997 and with blood-measured PCBs (n=627) collected shortly after diagnosis was followed for vital status through 2011. After 5 and 15 years, we identified 54 and 187 deaths, respectively, of which 36 and 74 were breast cancer related. Using Cox regression, we estimated hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for mortality for baseline PCB concentrations, individually and as oestrogenic (ΣGroup 1B: PCB101, PCB174, PCB177, PCB187, and PCB199), anti-oestrogenic (ΣGroup 2A: PCB66, PCB74, PCB105, and PCB118; ΣGroup 2B: PCB138 and PCB170), and cytochrome P450 enzyme-inducing (ΣGroup 3: PCB99, PCB153, PCB180, PCB183, and PCB203) groups.The highest PCB174 tertile was associated with an increase in all-cause (HR=2.22, 95% CI: 1.14-4.30) and breast cancer-specific (HR=3.15, 95% CI: 1.23-8.09) mortalities within 5 years of diagnosis and remained associated with breast cancer-specific mortality (HR=1.88, 95% CI: 1.05-3.36) at 15 years. At 5 years, the highest tertile of PCB177 was positively associated with all-cause mortality (HR=2.12, 95% CI: 1.05-4.30). At 15 years, the highest tertiles of ΣGroup 2A congeners and PCB118 were inversely associated with all-cause mortality (HR=0.60, 95% CI: 0.39-0.83; HR=0.63, 95% CI: 0.43-0.92, respectively).In this first US study of PCBs and breast cancer survival, PCBs were associated with mortality in biologically plausible directions. The investigation of other, structurally similar, chemicals may be warranted.

PubMed ID: 26798968 Exiting the NIEHS site

MeSH Terms: Adult; Aged; Biomarkers/blood; Breast Neoplasms/blood*; Breast Neoplasms/mortality; Breast Neoplasms/pathology; Breast Neoplasms/therapy*; Carcinoma in Situ/blood*; Carcinoma in Situ/mortality; Carcinoma in Situ/pathology; Carcinoma in Situ/therapy*; Cause of Death; Female; Humans; Middle Aged; Multivariate Analysis; New York/epidemiology; Polychlorinated Biphenyls/blood*; Proportional Hazards Models; Prospective Studies; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors; Time Factors; Treatment Outcome

Back
to Top