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Cadmium exposure and the risk of breast cancer in Japanese women

  • Epidemiology
  • Published:
Breast Cancer Research and Treatment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Non-occupational exposure to cadmium has been suspected to be a risk factor for breast cancer. The present study examined the association between urinary cadmium level and the risk of breast cancer in a case–control study among Japanese women. Cases were 153 women newly diagnosed and histologically confirmed with breast cancer at a general hospital in Gifu, Japan. A total of 431 controls individually matched to cases by age, menopausal status, and the period of urine sampling were selected from those who attended a breast cancer mass screening at this hospital. Urinary cadmium levels were measured using spot urine samples. Spot urine samples were collected from cases after surgery but before any cancer therapy. For controls, spot urine samples were obtained at the date of the screening visit. Information on known or suggested breast cancer risk factors was obtained by a self-administered questionnaire. The odds ratios (ORs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) of breast cancer according to the tertile of the creatinine-adjusted cadmium level were calculated using conditional logistic regression models. Women in the highest tertile of the creatinine-adjusted cadmium level (>2.620 μg/g) had significantly elevated OR of breast cancer relative to those in the lowest tertile (<1.674 μg/g) after controlling for covariates [OR = 6.05, (95 % CI 2.90, 12.62)]. The trend of increase in risk with increasing cadmium level was also statistically significant [OR = 1.67, (95 % CI 1.39, 2.01) for every 1.0 μg/g increase in urinary cadmium level, P-trend <0.01]. These data suggested that exposure to cadmium was associated with a risk of breast cancer in Japanese women.

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Abbreviations

BMI:

Body mass index

CI:

Confidence interval

NHANES:

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

OR:

Odds ratio

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by the Grant from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, Japan and by the Koshiyama Research Grant, Japan.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu, 501-1194, Japan

    Chisato Nagata, Kozue Nakamura, Keiko Wada, Yuya Tamai & Michiko Tsuji

  2. Gihoku Kosei General Hospital, 1187-3 Takatomi, Yamagata, Gifu, 501-2105, Japan

    Yasuko Nagao, Satoru Yamamoto & Yoshitomo Kashiki

Authors
  1. Chisato Nagata
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  2. Yasuko Nagao
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  3. Kozue Nakamura
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  4. Keiko Wada
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  5. Yuya Tamai
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  6. Michiko Tsuji
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  7. Satoru Yamamoto
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  8. Yoshitomo Kashiki
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Correspondence to Chisato Nagata.

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Nagata, C., Nagao, Y., Nakamura, K. et al. Cadmium exposure and the risk of breast cancer in Japanese women. Breast Cancer Res Treat 138, 235–239 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-013-2414-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-013-2414-4

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