Air pollution and incidence of cancers of the stomach and the upper aerodigestive tract in the European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects (ESCAPE)

• Air pollution has been classified as carcinogenic to humans. However, to date little is known about the relevance for cancersof the stomach and upper aerodigestive tract (UADT). We investigated the association of long-term exposure to ambient airpollution with incidence of gastric and UADT cancer in 11 European cohorts. Air pollution exposure was assigned by land-useregression models for particulate matter (PM) below 10mm (PM10), below 2.5mm (PM2.5), between 2.5 and 10mm (PMcoarse),PM2.5absorbance and nitrogen oxides (NO2and NOX) as well as approximated by traffic indicators. Cox regression modelswith adjustment for potential confounders were used for cohort-specific analyses. Combined estimates were determined withrandom effects meta-analyses. During average follow-up of 14.1 years of 305,551 individuals, 744 incident cases of gastriccancer and 933 of UADT cancer occurred. The hazard ratio for an increase of 5mg/m3of PM2.5was 1.38 (95% CI 0.99; 1.92)for gastric and 1.05 (95% CI 0.62; 1.77) for UADT cancers. No associations were found for any of the other exposures consid-ered. Adjustment for additional confounders and restriction to study participants with stable addresses did not influencemarkedly the effect estimate for PM2.5and gastric cancer. Higher estimated risks of gastric cancer associated with PM2.5wasfound in men (HR 1.98 [1.30; 3.01]) as compared to women (HR 0.85 [0.5; 1.45]). This large multicentre cohort study showsan association between long-term exposure to PM2.5and gastric cancer, but not UADT cancers, suggesting that air pollutionmay contribute to gastric cancer risk.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Arbetsmedicin och miljömedicin (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Occupational Health and Environmental Health (hsv//eng)

Keyword

ESCAPE

air pollution

epidemiology

gastric cancer

upper aerodigestive tract cancer

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)