Abstract
BACKGROUND. Epidemiologic studies have recently related benzene hexachloride (BHC) to breast carcinoma risk. Experimental studies have also shown that β-BHC is weakly estrogenic, hence supporting the alleged association. By directly comparing β-BHC levels in breast adipose tissue from incident breast carcinoma cases and controls, this study examined the hypothesis that exposure to β-BHC increases the risk of breast carcinoma in females. METHODS. A total of 490 Connecticut women (304 cases and 186 controls) were enrolled in the study during the period 1994-1997. Cases were patients ages 40-79 years with histologically confirmed incident primary breast carcinoma. Controls were patients with histologically confirmed incident benign breast disease. Breast adipose tissue was collected and analyzed for BHC isomers. A linear logistic regression model was used to adjust for potential confounders in estimating the association of exposure with disease. RESULTS. No significant differences in breast adipose tissue levels of β-BHC were observed between the cases and their controls overall, nor by menopausal status or estrogen and progesterone receptor status of the breast carcinoma cases. A nonsignificant reduced risk was observed among all subjects and among pre- and postmenopausal women when the highest quartile was compared with the lowest. Parous women with higher β-BHC levels, regardless of lactation status, had a nonsignificantly reduced breast carcinoma risk, whereas a nonsignificantly increased risk was observed among nulliparous women with higher β-BHC levels, based on very few study subjects. CONCLUSIONS. The results of this study do not support the hypothesis that increasing adipose tissue levels of β-BHC are associated with an increased risk of breast carcinoma in females.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 2212-2218 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Cancer |
Volume | 85 |
Issue number | 10 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 15 1999 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- β-benzene hexachloride
- Breast carcinoma
- Case- control
- Environment
- Epidemiology
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cancer Research
- Oncology