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Adipose levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers and risk of breast cancer

  • Epidemiology
  • Published:
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Abstract

We conducted a case–control study to evaluate the risk of breast cancer associated with adipose concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) among women undergoing surgical breast biopsies in the San Francisco Bay Area of California (n = 78 cases; 56 controls). Adipose tissue was analyzed for the five major congeners of PBDEs. Unconditional logistic regression was used to estimate age- and race-adjusted exposure-specific odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Adipose levels of PBDEs were among the highest ever reported. Adjusted ORs for the highest compared with lowest levels of exposures were as follows: 0.56 (95% CI 0.19–1.68) for BDE-47; 1.19 (95% CI 0.35–4.10) for BDE-99; 0.91 (95% CI 0.33–2.53) for BDE-100; 0.52 (95% CI 0.19–1.39) for BDE-153; 1.67 (95% CI 0.44–6.29) for BDE-154; 2.04 (95% CI 0.45–9.20) for total BDEs. These results provide no evidence of an association between PBDE adipose concentrations measured at or near the time of diagnosis and breast cancer risk. Our study was limited by a small sample size. Given the high levels of PBDEs found in this population of California women, future studies are warranted. Such studies would benefit from a larger sample size, a more representative control series, and/or a prospective design.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the California Breast Cancer Research Program (Grants #2RB-0054 and 10IB-0061) and by the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (Grant #DAMD17-94-J-4429 P6003). The ideas and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and endorsement by the Cancer Prevention Institute of California, Stanford University, or the California Department of Toxic Substances Control is not intended or should be inferred. The authors would like to thank all the women who participated in the study; Ms. M. Suzuki and Ms. A. Rothblatt who interviewed the women; Dr. Dawn LeManne who helped initiate the study; Drs. K. O’Neal, E. Mahoney, and L Bailey for assistance in recruiting patients; and Lynn Brissette and the other surgical staff who assisted in this effort.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cancer Prevention Institute of California, 2001 Center Street, Berkeley, CA, 94704, USA

    Susan Hurley, Peggy Reynolds, Debbie Goldberg & David O. Nelson

  2. Department of Health Research and Policy, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Peggy Reynolds

  3. Department of Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Stefanie S. Jeffrey

  4. Environmental Chemistry Laboratory, California Department of Toxic Substances Control, 700 Heinz Ave, Suite 100, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Myrto Petreas

Authors
  1. Susan Hurley
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  2. Peggy Reynolds
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  3. Debbie Goldberg
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  4. David O. Nelson
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  5. Stefanie S. Jeffrey
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  6. Myrto Petreas
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Correspondence to Susan Hurley.

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Hurley, S., Reynolds, P., Goldberg, D. et al. Adipose levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers and risk of breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat 129, 505–511 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-011-1481-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-011-1481-7

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