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Bulky DNA adducts and breast cancer risk in the prospective EPIC-Italy study

  • Epidemiology
  • Published:
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Abstract

The role of environmental carcinogen exposure in breast cancer development has long been suspected, but no specific association has been identified so far. A few molecular epidemiology studies reported that DNA adducts detected by different methods are associated with a modest increase of breast cancer risk. We aimed to evaluate the association between bulky DNA adducts, detected by the 32P-postlabelling method in peripheral leukocytes, and the risk of developing breast cancer in the female Italian cohorts of the EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and nutrition) study. By using a nested case–control design, breast cancer cases identified in the follow-up of over 30,000 women of EPIC-Italy study have been matched to controls by specific criteria. We measured the levels of bulky DNA adducts by the 32P-postlabelling method in peripheral leukocytes donated at enrolment. Conditional regression analyses adjusted for selected potential confounders were used. Results on DNA adduct levels were available for 292 cases and 292 matched controls. The mean DNA adduct levels were similar in both groups (P = 0.62). Multivariate regression analyses failed to show any significant association between bulky DNA adducts and breast cancer. Our results do not support any association of breast cancer risk with exposure to environmental carcinogens as measured through the levels of bulky DNA adducts in pre-diagnostic white blood cells. Larger studies by using different methods and/or biomarkers are needed to better evaluate the role of specific environmental carcinogens in breast carcinogenesis.

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Conflict of interest

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular and Nutritional Epidemiology Unit, ISPO (Cancer Research and Prevention Institute), Ponte Nuovo, Via delle Oblate 2, 50139, Florence, Italy

    Calogero Saieva, Giovanna Masala, Marco Ceroti, Francesco Sera, Benedetta Bendinelli & Domenico Palli

  2. Cancer Risk Factor Branch, Molecular Biology Laboratory, ISPO (Cancer Research and Prevention Institute), Florence, Italy

    Marco Peluso, Armelle Munnia & Sara Piro

  3. Nutritional Epidemiology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan, Italy

    Valeria Pala & Sabina Sieri

  4. Cancer Registry, ‘Civile M.P. Arezzo’ Hospital, ASP 7, Ragusa, Italy

    Rosario Tumino & Maria Concetta Giurdanella

  5. Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Federico II University, Naples, Italy

    Salvatore Panico & Amalia Mattiello

  6. Cancer Epidemiology Unit, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

    Paolo Vineis

  7. Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Imperial College, London, UK

    Paolo Vineis

  8. Human Genetics Foundation (HuGeF), Turin, Italy

    Silvia Polidoro

  9. Department of Genetics, Biology and Biochemistry, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

    Giuseppe Matullo

  10. Institute for Scientific Interchange Foundation, Turin, Italy

    Giuseppe Matullo

Authors
  1. Calogero Saieva
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  2. Marco Peluso
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  3. Giovanna Masala
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  4. Armelle Munnia
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  5. Marco Ceroti
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  6. Sara Piro
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  7. Francesco Sera
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  8. Benedetta Bendinelli
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  9. Valeria Pala
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  10. Sabina Sieri
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  11. Rosario Tumino
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  12. Maria Concetta Giurdanella
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  13. Salvatore Panico
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  14. Amalia Mattiello
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  15. Paolo Vineis
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  16. Silvia Polidoro
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  17. Giuseppe Matullo
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  18. Domenico Palli
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Domenico Palli.

Additional information

Calogero Saieva and Marco Peluso equally contributed to this work.

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Saieva, C., Peluso, M., Masala, G. et al. Bulky DNA adducts and breast cancer risk in the prospective EPIC-Italy study. Breast Cancer Res Treat 129, 477–484 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-011-1472-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-011-1472-8

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