Increased risk of incident nasopharyngeal carcinoma with exposure to air pollution

Hueng-Chuen Fan; Chiu-Ying Chen; Yi-Chao Hsu; Ruey-Hwang Chou; Chieh-Lin Jerry Teng; Chun-Hsiang Chiu; Chung Y Hsu; Chih-Hsin Muo; Mei-Yin Chang; Kuang-Hsi Chang

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0204568

Increased risk of incident nasopharyngeal carcinoma with exposure to air pollution

PLoS One. 2018 Sep 28;13(9):e0204568. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0204568. eCollection 2018.

Authors

Hueng-Chuen Fan^{1

2

3}, Chiu-Ying Chen⁴, Yi-Chao Hsu⁵, Ruey-Hwang Chou^{6

7}, Chieh-Lin Jerry Teng^{8

9

10}, Chun-Hsiang Chiu^{11

12}, Chung Y Hsu¹³, Chih-Hsin Muo¹⁴, Mei-Yin Chang¹⁵, Kuang-Hsi Chang^{1

3

13}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical Research, Tungs' Taichung Metroharbor Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
² Department of Pediatrics, Department of Medical Research, Tungs' Taichung Metroharbor Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
³ Department of Rehabilitation, Jen-Teh Junior College of Medicine, Nursing and Management, Miaoli, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of Public Health, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
⁵ Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Mackay Medical College, New Taipei, Taiwan.
⁶ Graduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences and Center for Molecular Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
⁷ Department of Biotechnology, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan.
⁸ Division of Hematology/Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
⁹ Department of Life Science, Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan.
¹⁰ Department of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
¹¹ Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taiwan.
¹² Institute of Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taiwan.
¹³ Graduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
¹⁴ Management Office for Health Data, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
¹⁵ Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, School of Medical and Health Sciences, Fooyin University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

Abstract

Background: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a race-specific malignancy. The nasal cavity is the main entry point for air pollutants or poisonous gases into the human body. However, the risk of NPC in populations exposed to air pollution remains unknown.

Methods: We combined data from the Taiwan Air Quality Monitoring Database (TAQMD) and the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database (LHID) to assess the risk of NPC in a population exposed to air pollution.

Results: Multivariate analysis revealed positive trends for the association between the risk of NPC and exposure to air pollution. After adjusting for potential covariates, the risk of developing NPC increased with the increase in nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure concentrations from 1.39 to 2.28 and 2.01 to 1.97, respectively, compared to the risks at the lowest concentration levels.

Conclusions: We identified a significant risk of NPC in a population exposed to air pollution. However, this study had several limitations. Moreover, additional experimental and clinical studies on the associations between environmental factors and NPC risk are warranted.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Air Pollutants / adverse effects
Air Pollutants / analysis
Air Pollution / adverse effects*
Air Pollution / analysis
Databases, Factual
Environmental Exposure / adverse effects
Environmental Exposure / analysis
Environmental Monitoring
Female
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Middle Aged
Multivariate Analysis
Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma / epidemiology
Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma / etiology*
Nitrogen Dioxide / adverse effects
Nitrogen Dioxide / analysis
Particulate Matter / adverse effects
Particulate Matter / analysis
Risk Factors
Sulfur Dioxide / adverse effects
Sulfur Dioxide / analysis
Taiwan / epidemiology
Young Adult

Substances

Air Pollutants
Particulate Matter
Sulfur Dioxide
Nitrogen Dioxide

Grants and funding

This study was supported in part by the Taiwan Ministry of Health and Welfare Clinical Trial and Research Center of Excellence (MOHW105-TDU-B-212-133019); China Medical University Hospital, Academia Sinica Taiwan Biobank, Stroke Biosignature Project (BM104010092); the NRPB Stroke Clinical Trial Consortium (MOST 103-2325-B-039 -006); the Tseng-Lien Lin Foundation, Taichung, Taiwan; the Taiwan Brain Disease Foundation, Taipei, Taiwan; the Katsuzo and Kiyo Aoshima Memorial Funds, Japan; and the CMU under the Aim for Top University Plan from the Ministry of Education of Taiwan. (CMU is China Medical University; NRPB is National Research Program for Biopharmaceuticals.)