Association of blood cadmium level with nonmelanoma skin cancer: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Purpose Cadmium is widely used in industries and found in cigarette smoke. While animal studies have shown some potential effects of cadmium exposure on the skin, little has been known about the role of chronic cadmium exposure on the development of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC). We conducted this study to examine whether blood cadmium was related to the risk of NMSC. Methods An analysis of cross-sectional data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999–2000 to 2017–2018 was conducted. NMSC was ascertained based on self-reported physician diagnoses. Taking the cadmium level as either a continuous variable or a quartile variable, we examined the association between the blood cadmium level and the odds of NMSC with a multivariable logistic regression model. Restricted cubic splines (RCS) were added to the regression model the estimate the non-linear relationship between cadmium and NMSC. Results A total of 41577 participants were included, of which 952 were reported to have NMSC and 40625 did not have any caners. Cadmium was not associated with NMSC when it was taken as a continuous or quartile variable. RCS showed an inverted U-shaped curve between the blood cadmium level and the odds of NMSC. The result remained similar when limiting the participants to non-Hispanic White. Conclusions Blood cadmium level was associated with the risk of NMSC. Further studies are needed to explore the causality and underlying mechanisms.