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Traces of intact paraben molecules in endometrial carcinoma

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Abstract

Endometrial carcinoma is the most commonly encountered gynecological cancer in women worldwide and is also one of the popular models of the hormone-dependent carcinomas. This study was aimed to evaluate and compare the concentrations of five paraben molecules (methylparaben, ethylparaben, N-propylparaben, benzylparaben, isobutylparaben + N-butylparaben) in the endometrial and myometrial tissue samples of patients diagnosed with endometrial carcinoma and benign gynecologic diseases. A total of 88 patients were included in the study and chemical analysis was performed on 176 tissue samples. The study group comprised of 33 patients with endometrial carcinoma and 6 patients with endometrial intraepithelial neoplasia. The control group comprised of 49 patients. One endometrial and one myometrial tissue samples were collected from each patient. The analyses were performed using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). At least one type of paraben molecule was detected in 23.07% (9/39) of the patients in the study group, and in 2.04% (1/49) of the patients in the control group; this difference between the groups was statistically significant (p = .002). N-Propylparaben and isobutyl + N-butylparaben were the most frequently detected (in 7/10 of the samples) paraben molecules in the study. Tumor characteristics (tumor diameter, myometrial invasion, architectural grade, nuclear grade, lymphovascular space invasion, and tumor stage) were comparable between the two groups of endometrial carcinoma (paraben-detected and paraben-undetected groups). In conclusion, paraben molecules were more frequently detected in the endometrial carcinoma tissue samples than in the normal endometrium.

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Funding

This study was financially supported by the Coordination Unit, Scientific Research Project Council of the Akdeniz University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gynecologic Oncology, Antalya Training and Research Hospital, Antalya, Turkey

    Selen Dogan

  2. Food Safety and Research Institute, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey

    Timur Tongur, Taner Erkaymaz & Bulent Sik

  3. Department of Pathology, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey

    Gulgun Erdogan & Betul Unal

  4. Department of Gynecologic Oncology, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey

    Tayup Simsek

Authors
  1. Selen Dogan
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  2. Timur Tongur
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  3. Taner Erkaymaz
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  4. Gulgun Erdogan
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  5. Betul Unal
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  6. Bulent Sik
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  7. Tayup Simsek
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Contributions

SD: Methodology, formal analysis and investigation, conceptualization, writing—original draft preparation, writing—review and editing; TT, TE, and BS: Formal analysis and investigation, methodology, validation; GE and BU: Conceptualization; TS: Supervision; All authors: Final approval of the manuscript

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Correspondence to Selen Dogan.

Ethics declarations

This study was approved by the ethical committee of the Akdeniz University. Informed consent from participants was obtained

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Dogan, S., Tongur, T., Erkaymaz, T. et al. Traces of intact paraben molecules in endometrial carcinoma. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 31158–31165 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06228-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06228-1

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