Abstract
Introduction:
Arsenic is one of the heavy metals known to be a cause of cancer and many other serious human health problems. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), has classified arsenic as a Group 1 carcinogen. Studies were performed in different populations to investigate the association between arsenic and breast cancer and the present paper attempts to review these studies.
Methods and materials:
Accessible electronic resources including, PubMed, Web of Knowledge, Science Direct and Scopus and Google Scholar were searched, with relevant phrases up to October 30, 2016. All articles were reviewed by two people separately and among them, original epidemiologic studies that investigated the association between breast cancer and exposure to arsenic were included.
Results:
Eventually seven articles were selected from 126 retrieved articles. Although three studies (one case-control and two ecological) were not able to show a significant affect, others provide some evidence of a relation between arsenic and breast cancer in specific subgroups.
Conclusion:
Exposure to arsenic may increase the risk of breast cancer. The strength of this relation can vary due to regional and individual differences.
Author Statement
Research funding: Authors state no funding involved. Conflict of interest: Authors state no conflict of interest. Informed consent: Informed consent is not applicable. Ethical approval: The conducted research is not related to either human or animals use.
Appendix
Quality assessment for case-control studies based on the Newcastle-Ottawa scale.a
| Selection | |
| 1 | Is the case definition adequate? |
| A | Yes, with independent validationa |
| B | Yes, e.g. record linkage or based on self reports |
| C | No description |
| 2 | Representativeness of the cases |
| A | Consecutive or obviously representative series of casesa |
| B | Potential for selection biases or not stated |
| 3 | Selection of controls |
| A | Community controlsa |
| B | Hospital controls |
| C | No description |
| 4 | Definition of controls |
| A | No history of disease (endpoint)a |
| B | No description of source |
| Comparability | |
| 1 | Comparability of cases and controls on the basis of the design or analysis |
| A | Study controls for _______________ (Select the most important factor.)a |
| B | Study controls for any additional factora (This criteria could be modified to indicate specific control for a second important factor.) |
| Exposure | |
| 1 | Ascertainment of exposure |
| A | Secure record (e.g. surgical records)a |
| B | Structured interview where blind to case/control statusa |
| C | Interview not blinded to case/control status |
| D | Written self report or medical record only |
| E | No description |
| 2 | Same method of ascertainment for cases and controls |
| A | Yesa |
| B | No |
| 3 | Non-response rate |
| A | Same rate for both groupsa |
| B | Non respondents described |
| C | Rate different and no designation |
aA study can be awarded a maximum of one star for each numbered item within the Selection and Exposure categories. A maximum of two stars can be given for Comparability.
Quality assessment of the case-control studies included in this paper according to the Newcastle Ottawa Assessment scale for case-control studies.
| Author, publication year | Selection | Comparability | Exposure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garland et al. (13) | *-** | ** | **- |
| Muszyńska et al. (11) (conference abstract) | *--- | *- | **- |
| López-Carrillo et al. (10) | **** | *- | *** |
| Pineda-Belmontes et al. (12) | *-** | *- | -*- |
*For selection, comparability and exposure, 4, 2 and 3 questions are asked, respectively. Each study has been awarded stars according to the listed items.
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