Chemically Induced Leukemia in Humans

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and Brogan & Partners are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Environmental Health Perspectives.The human population may be exposed to potentially leukemogenic agents, either in the form of drugs and food additives or as environmental contaminants and pollutants. However, in spite of the large number and diversity of these chemicals, only a few have been implicated as human leukemogens. One such agent is benzene, a known bone marrow depressant. A number of case reports have associated chronic exposure to this agent with the development of acute leukemia, as have several epidemiologic surveys. Treatment with various antitumor agents, including procarbazine, melphalan, thio-TEPA, chlorambucil, and cyclophosphamide, has also been associated with the development of acute leukemia. In addition, chloramphenicol and phenylbutazone have been implicated as human leukemogens, but the association between exposure to these two agents and acute leukemia appears at present to be weaker than it is for benzene and antitumor agent exposure. Despite such associations between exposure to chemicals and acute leukemia, several important problems exist with regard to implicating specific agents in the development of this neoplasm in man, including the paucity of animal models for chemically induced leukemia, and the frequent necessity to rely on single case reports or clusters of cases in which chemical exposures are associated with acute leukemia. Future efforts should be directed at performing properly designed and well executed epidemiologic studies, and at developing new in vitro and in vivo models for the study of this neoplasm.

Leukemias and blood dyscrasias following exposure to chlordane and heptachlor

“…Unfortunately animal bioassays are, in general, a poor model for myelotoxic effects in humans. A recent survey of a wide range of human leukemogens showed that all produced only solid tumors in mice or rats, including lymphomas, but no nonlymphatic leukemias [20]. This review noted that the lack of suitable animal models necessitates more reliance "on single case reports or clusters of cases in which chemical exposures are associated with acute leukemia."…”

Butyrylcholinesterase Activity and Pregnancy‐Associated Differences in Immunologically Relevant Peripheral Blood Leukocyte Populations

“…For example, multiple immune derangements occurring as a result of chemical exposure include altered cell‐mediated immunity 28 and hormone production 29,30 . Functional abnormalities in the immune system following toxin exposure include neoplastic disorders such as leukemias which are seen to be significantly elevated among farmers exposed to agricultural chemicals 31–33 and among individuals occupationally exposed to petroleum products 31 . These factors taken in context with the potent capacity of BuChE as a detoxifying agent may account for the inverse relationship between levels of activated T cells and activity of the enzyme.…”

Potential confounders in epidemiologic studies of electric and magnetic fields and childhood leukemia

“…Another recent study of childhood leukemia (59) that, in addition to EMF, occupational exposures to pesticides and insecticides were associated with increased rates of acute leukemia. Exposures to chemicals that have been linked with leukemia risk in occupational situations are also found in other settings (66). Risks from household exposure to some of these chemicals have not been studied.…”