Skip to main page content
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.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jul 3;13(13):3345.
doi: 10.3390/cancers13133345.

Blood Arsenic Levels as a Marker of Breast Cancer Risk among BRCA1 Carriers

Wojciech Marciniak  1   2 , Tomáš Matoušek  3 , Susan Domchek  4 , Angelo Paradiso  5 , Margherita Patruno  5 , Arvids Irmejs  6 , Irita Roderte  6 , Róża Derkacz  1   2 , Piotr Baszuk  1   2 , Magdalena Kuświk  1 , Cezary Cybulski  1   2 , Tomasz Huzarski  1   2   7 , Jacek Gronwald  1   2 , Tadeusz Dębniak  1 , Michał Falco  8 , Marcin R Lener  1 , Anna Jakubowska  1 , Katherine Pullella  9 , Joanne Kotsopoulos  10 , Steven Narod  11 , Jan Lubiński  1   2
Affiliations

Blood Arsenic Levels as a Marker of Breast Cancer Risk among BRCA1 Carriers

Wojciech Marciniak et al. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

An important group of breast cancers is those associated with inherited susceptibility. In women, several predisposing mutations in genes involved in DNA repair have been discovered. Women with a germline pathogenic variant in BRCA1 have a lifetime cancer risk of 70%. As part of a larger prospective study on heavy metals, our aim was to investigate if blood arsenic levels are associated with breast cancer risk among women with inherited BRCA1 mutations. A total of 1084 participants with pathogenic variants in BRCA1 were enrolled in this study. Subjects were followed from 2011 to 2020 (mean follow-up time: 3.75 years). During that time, 90 cancers were diagnosed, including 67 breast and 10 ovarian cancers. The group was stratified into two categories (lower and higher blood As levels), divided at the median (<0.85 µg/L and ≥0.85 µg/L) As level among all unaffected participants. Cox proportional hazards models were used to model the association between As levels and cancer incidence. A high blood As level (≥0.85 µg/L) was associated with a significantly increased risk of developing breast cancer (HR = 2.05; 95%CI: 1.18-3.56; p = 0.01) and of any cancer (HR = 1.73; 95%CI: 1.09-2.74; p = 0.02). These findings suggest a possible role of environmental arsenic in the development of cancers among women with germline pathogenic variants in BRCA1.

Keywords: BRCA1 carriers; blood arsenic; breast cancer; cancer risk; epidemiology; prospective cohort.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

We have to disclose that Jan Lubiński is CEO of Read-Gene which offers measurements of cadmium levels. The following authors are part-time employees of Read-Gene R.D., W.M., P.B., J.G., T.H., C.C., A.J.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Probability of breast cancer-free survival stratified by median total blood arsenic levels (µg/L).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Probability of cancer-free survival stratified by median total blood arsenic levels (µg/L).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

  • The carcinogenic capacity of arsenic in normal epithelial breast cells and double-positive breast cancer cells.
    Zimta AA, Cenariu D, Tigu AB, Moldovan C, Jurj A, Pop L, Berindan-Neagoe I. Zimta AA, et al. Med Pharm Rep. 2024 Apr;97(2):184-195. doi: 10.15386/mpr-2682. Epub 2024 Apr 25. Med Pharm Rep. 2024. PMID: 38746032 Free PMC article.
  • Blood Lead Level as Marker of Increased Risk of Ovarian Cancer in BRCA1 Carriers.
    Kiljańczyk A, Matuszczak M, Marciniak W, Derkacz R, Stempa K, Baszuk P, Bryśkiewicz M, Lubiński K, Cybulski C, Dębniak T, Gronwald J, Huzarski T, Lener MR, Jakubowska A, Szwiec M, Stawicka-Niełacna M, Godlewski D, Prusaczyk A, Jasiewicz A, Kluz T, Tomiczek-Szwiec J, Kilar-Kobierzycka E, Siołek M, Wiśniowski R, Posmyk R, Jarkiewicz-Tretyn J, Sun P, Scott RJ, Narod SA, Lubiński J. Kiljańczyk A, et al. Nutrients. 2024 Apr 30;16(9):1370. doi: 10.3390/nu16091370. Nutrients. 2024. PMID: 38732616 Free PMC article.
  • Arsenic and Benzo[a]pyrene Co-exposure Effects on MDA-MB-231 Cell Viability and Migration.
    Maleki AS, Ghahremani MH, Shadboorestan A. Maleki AS, et al. Biol Trace Elem Res. 2024 Apr 11. doi: 10.1007/s12011-024-04170-z. Online ahead of print. Biol Trace Elem Res. 2024. PMID: 38602648
  • Update of the risk assessment of inorganic arsenic in food.
    EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM); Schrenk D, Bignami M, Bodin L, Chipman JK, Del Mazo J, Grasl-Kraupp B, Hogstrand C, Hoogenboom LR, Leblanc JC, Nebbia CS, Nielsen E, Ntzani E, Petersen A, Sand S, Vleminckx C, Wallace H, Barregård L, Benford D, Broberg K, Dogliotti E, Fletcher T, Rylander L, Abrahantes JC, Gómez Ruiz JÁ, Steinkellner H, Tauriainen T, Schwerdtle T. EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM), et al. EFSA J. 2024 Jan 18;22(1):e8488. doi: 10.2903/j.efsa.2024.8488. eCollection 2024 Jan. EFSA J. 2024. PMID: 38239496 Free PMC article.
  • Maternal Exposure to Arsenic and Its Impact on Maternal and Fetal Health: A Review.
    Ortiz-Garcia NY, Cipriano Ramírez AI, Juarez K, Brand Galindo J, Briceño G, Calderon Martinez E. Ortiz-Garcia NY, et al. Cureus. 2023 Nov 21;15(11):e49177. doi: 10.7759/cureus.49177. eCollection 2023 Nov. Cureus. 2023. PMID: 38130554 Free PMC article. Review.

References

    1. Anastasiadi Z., Lianos G.D., Ignatiadou E., Harissis H.V., Mitsis M. Breast Cancer in Young Women: An Overview. Updates Surg. 2017;69:313–317. doi: 10.1007/s13304-017-0424-1. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lubinski J., Huzarski T., Byrski T., Lynch H.T., Cybulski C., Ghadirian P., Stawicka M., Foulkes W.D., Kilar E., Kim-Sing C., et al. The Risk of Breast Cancer in Women with a BRCA1 Mutation from North America and Poland. Int. J. Cancer. 2012;131:229–234. doi: 10.1002/ijc.26369. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kotsopoulos J. BRCA Mutations and Breast Cancer Prevention. Cancers. 2018;10:524. doi: 10.3390/cancers10120524. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Terry P., Suzuki R., Hu F.B., Wolk A. A Prospective Study of Major Dietary Patterns and the Risk of Breast Cancer. Cancer Epidemiol. Biomark. Prev. 2001;10:1281–1285. - PubMed
    1. Playdon M.C., Ziegler R.G., Sampson J.N., Stolzenberg-Solomon R., Thompson H.J., Irwin M.L., Mayne S.T., Hoover R.N., Moore S.C. Nutritional Metabolomics and Breast Cancer Risk in a Prospective Study. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 2017;106:637–649. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.116.150912. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
-