TY - JOUR
T1 - Dietary intake of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and breast cancer risk
T2 - Evidence from the French E3N-Generations prospective cohort
AU - Amadou, Amina
AU - Praud, Delphine
AU - Marques, Chloé
AU - Noh, Hwayoung
AU - Frenoy, Pauline
AU - Vigneron, Arnaud
AU - Coudon, Thomas
AU - Deygas, Floriane
AU - Severi, Gianluca
AU - Fervers, Béatrice
AU - Mancini, Francesca Romana
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025
PY - 2025/6/1
Y1 - 2025/6/1
N2 - Background: While there is compelling evidence of the association between occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and risk of breast cancer (BC), findings on PAH dietary exposure are less consistent. The present study aims to evaluate the association between PAH dietary intake and BC risk. Methods: The study included 67,879 women who completed a validated semi-quantitative dietary questionnaire (208 food items) from the E3N-Generations cohort study. PAH dietary intake was estimated by combining E3N food consumption data with food contamination levels obtained from the second French total diet study (TDS2). Cox regression was used to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between PAH dietary intake (sum of four PAHs (PAH4) namely benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), chrysene (CHR), benzo[a]anthracene (BaA) and benzo[b]fluoranthene (BbF)) and BC risk. Additionally, BaP, a surrogate for total PAHs, was investigated as the second exposure variable. Results: After an average follow-up of 17.6 years, 5,686 incident BC were diagnosed. Overall, the estimated HRs for the associations between each quintile of PAH4 and BC risk, taking the first quintile as reference, were all greater than 1, but were statistically significant only for the third quintile (HRQ3 vs Q1 = 1.10; CI: 1.01–1.20). By estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) hormone receptor status, we observed a positive association between PAH4 dietary intake and ER-PR- BC (HRQ4 vs Q1 = 1.34; CI: 1.01–1.76). Moreover, there was a borderline positive association with BaP, for the second (HRQ2 vs Q1 = 1.08; CI: 0.99–1.17) and third (HRQ3 vs Q1 = 1.07; CI: 0.98–1.16) quintiles. Conclusions: This study supports a relationship between PAH4 dietary intake and BC risk, notably with a non-linear trend. A positive but marginal association was observed between BaP dietary intake and BC risk.
AB - Background: While there is compelling evidence of the association between occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and risk of breast cancer (BC), findings on PAH dietary exposure are less consistent. The present study aims to evaluate the association between PAH dietary intake and BC risk. Methods: The study included 67,879 women who completed a validated semi-quantitative dietary questionnaire (208 food items) from the E3N-Generations cohort study. PAH dietary intake was estimated by combining E3N food consumption data with food contamination levels obtained from the second French total diet study (TDS2). Cox regression was used to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between PAH dietary intake (sum of four PAHs (PAH4) namely benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), chrysene (CHR), benzo[a]anthracene (BaA) and benzo[b]fluoranthene (BbF)) and BC risk. Additionally, BaP, a surrogate for total PAHs, was investigated as the second exposure variable. Results: After an average follow-up of 17.6 years, 5,686 incident BC were diagnosed. Overall, the estimated HRs for the associations between each quintile of PAH4 and BC risk, taking the first quintile as reference, were all greater than 1, but were statistically significant only for the third quintile (HRQ3 vs Q1 = 1.10; CI: 1.01–1.20). By estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) hormone receptor status, we observed a positive association between PAH4 dietary intake and ER-PR- BC (HRQ4 vs Q1 = 1.34; CI: 1.01–1.76). Moreover, there was a borderline positive association with BaP, for the second (HRQ2 vs Q1 = 1.08; CI: 0.99–1.17) and third (HRQ3 vs Q1 = 1.07; CI: 0.98–1.16) quintiles. Conclusions: This study supports a relationship between PAH4 dietary intake and BC risk, notably with a non-linear trend. A positive but marginal association was observed between BaP dietary intake and BC risk.
KW - Breast cancer
KW - Dietary exposure
KW - Hormone receptor status
KW - Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
KW - Prospective cohort
KW - benzo[a]pyrene (BaP)
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105004920281&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.envint.2025.109505
DO - 10.1016/j.envint.2025.109505
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105004920281
SN - 0160-4120
VL - 200
JO - Environment International
JF - Environment International
M1 - 109505
ER -