Advances in Understanding How Heavy Metal Pollution Triggers Gastric Cancer

Abstract

With the development of industrialization and urbanization, heavy metals contamination has become a major environmental problem. Numerous investigations have revealed an association between heavy metal exposure and the incidence and mortality of gastric cancer. The mechanisms of heavy metals (lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium, and arsenic) contamination leading to gastric cancer are concluded in this review. There are four main potential mechanisms: (1) Heavy metals disrupt the gastric mucosal barrier by decreasing mucosal thickness, mucus content, and basal acid output, thereby affecting the function of E-cadherin and inducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) damage. (2) Heavy metals directly or indirectly induce ROS generation and cause gastric mucosal and DNA lesions, which subsequently alter gene regulation, signal transduction, and cell growth, ultimately leading to carcinogenesis. Exposure to heavy metals also enhances gastric cancer cell invasion and metastasis. (3) Heavy metals inhibit DNA damage repair or cause inefficient lesion repair. (4) Heavy metals may induce other gene abnormalities. In addition, heavy metals can induce the expression of proinflammatory chemokine interleukin-8 (IL-8) and microRNAs, which promotes tumorigenesis. The present review is an effort to underline the human health problem caused by heavy metal with recent development in order to garner a broader perspective.

Influence of Heavy Metals from the Flooded Areas of Tuzla Canton on the Growth of Stomach Adenocarcinoma

“…[1,11] Numerous studies have described the effects of heavy metals on the occurrence of gastric cancer [2,7,12]. Studies of other authors confirmed our study too, which shows that vegetables and fruit grown in soil contaminated with heavy metals can cause stomach carcinoma [12,13]. Our study has found an increase in the number of patients operated for gastric adenocarcinoma in industrial municipalities of Tuzla, Živinice, Lukavac and Gračanica.…”

“…There was an increase in the number of operated patients compared to the total number of respondents who mostly consumed vegetables from the areas contaminated by the floods. Other studies have also confirmed the effects of heavy metals on the occurrence of stomach carcinoma [13,14].…”

“…In these municipalities, there were fewer cases of operated patients. Many studies have showed that red and processed meat may increase the risk of colon, esophagus, stomach, and lung cancer [10,13].…”

Simultaneous determination of arsenic and cadmium by hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry using magnetic zero-valent iron nanoparticles for separation and pre-concentration

“…Bioaccumulation of arsenic and cadmium in the human body can cause damage to the liver, kidney, lung and immune system [5]. Therefore, it is essential to establish sensitive and accurate methods for arsenic and cadmium determination.…”

Biorremediación de arsénico mediada por microorganismos genéticamente modificados.

“…Los metales pesados son elementos como Pb, Hg, Cu, Ni, Cr, Tl, Se, Cd, Zn, Al, Br y As, con una densidad al menos cinco veces mayor a la del agua, se distinguen por su persistencia en el medioambiente (Tchounwou et al, 2012;Yuan et al, 2016). Por ser elementos de la corteza terrestre, no se pueden destruir ni degradar, su biodisponibilidad y toxicidad dependen completamente de su comportamiento químico (Bulgariu y Bulgariu, 2012;Pretorius et al, 2001).…”