Cadmium Exposure And Risk Of Breast Cancer:

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Cadmium Exposure And Risk Of Breast Cancer: JoAnn Guest Mar 17, 2005 19:04

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http://www.thenhf.com/newsflash_09.htm

 

July 2003, Georgetown University Medical Center

 

 

 

 

 

Washington, D.C. -- For the first time, there is scientific evidence

that exposure to cadmium, a naturally occurring metal, may be a direct

risk factor for developing breast cancer in a woman and her unborn baby.

 

 

Published in today's online version of Nature Medicine, researchers at

the Lombardi Cancer Center at Georgetown University studied cadmium and

its uncanny ability to mimic estrogen's effects on the body. When

exposed to low doses of cadmium, female rats show an increase in mammary

gland density and uterine weight, and changes in the endometrial lining,

all telltale developments in the early onset of breast cancer.

 

Additionally, when pregnant rats were exposed to the same low dose,

their female offspring experienced earlier onset of puberty and mammary

gland development.

 

Early onset of puberty can increase a woman's chance for getting cancer

by fifty percent.

 

" We never expected to see this strong a relationship, given how

different the cadmium and estrogen compounds are, " said Mary Beth

Martin, Ph.D., associate professor of oncology at Georgetown University

Medical Center. " Cadmium's ability to functionally mimic estrogen and

its affect on cell growth is quite remarkable. What we saw suggests a

direct link between low dose cadmium exposure and increased risk for

breast cancer. "

 

Estrogens are a family of steroidal hormones that are synthesized in a

variety of tissues but are primarily produced in the ovaries during

reproductive years. One of the main functions of estrogens is to promote

the growth and differentiation of the sexual organs and other tissues

related to reproduction. The biological effects of estrogens are

mediated by estrogen receptors alpha and beta; molecules that bind to

and activate these receptors may pose health risks.

 

In this study, Martin and her colleagues exposed ovariectomized rats to

levels of cadmium comparable to the provisional tolerable weekly dietary

intake recommended by the World Health Organization. The cadmium bound

to and activated estrogen receptors, mimicking potentially dangerous

estrogenic activity.

 

Cadmium is a naturally occurring metal, found in soil, rocks, and water.

It has well known carcinogenic effects, with documented links between

cadmium exposure and lung cancer, lung disease, and kidney damage.

Additional studies have suggested a link to prostate cancer. People are

exposed to cadmium by eating food grown in contaminated soil or fish

from tainted water, but more extreme exposure comes from smoking or

interaction with smelting, welding or shipbuilding. Smoking doubles the

average daily intake of cadmium.

 

" There is great concern about what is an acceptable level of

environmental exposure to certain carcinogens, and how do those

exposures affect our risk for getting cancer, " said Martin. " The more we

learn about how this works in rats and eventually people, the better

lifestyle choices women can make. "

 

 

###

 

The Lombardi Cancer Center, part of Georgetown University Medical Center

and Georgetown University Hospital, seeks to improve the diagnosis,

treatment, and prevention of cancer through innovative basic and

clinical research, patient care, community education and outreach, and

the training of cancer specialists of the future. Lombardi is one of

only 39 comprehensive cancer centers in the nation, as designated by the

National Cancer Institute, and the only one in the Washington DC area.

_________________

JoAnn Guest

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