Serum Cadmium Levels in Pancreatic Cancer Patients from the East Nile Delta Region of Egypt

Abstract

The northeast Nile Delta region exhibits a high incidence of early-onset pancreatic cancer. It is well documented that this region has one of the highest levels of pollution in Egypt. Epidemiologic studies have suggested that cadmium, a prevalent pollutant in the northeast Nile Delta region, plays a role in the development of pancreatic cancer.Objective: We aimed to assess serum cadmium levels as markers of exposure in pancreatic cancer patients and noncancer comparison subjects from the same region in Egypt.Design and Participants: We assessed serum cadmium levels of 31 newly diagnosed pancreatic cancer patients and 52 hospital comparison subjects from Mansoura, Egypt.Evaluation/Measurements: Serum cadmium levels were measured using a novel immunoassay procedure.Results: We found a significant difference between the mean serum cadmium levels in patients versus comparison subjects (mean ± SD, 11.1 ± 7.7 ng/mL vs. 7.1 ± 5.0 ng/mL, respectively; p = 0.012) but not in age, sex, residence, occupation, or smoking status. The odds ratio (OR) for pancreatic cancer risk was significant for serum cadmium level [OR = 1.12; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.04–1.23; p = 0.0089] and farming (OR = 3.25; 95% CI, 1.03–11.64; p = 0.0475) but not for age, sex, residence, or smoking status.Conclusions: The results from this pilot study suggest that pancreatic cancer in the East Nile Delta region is significantly associated with high levels of serum cadmium and farming.Relevance to Clinical Practice/Public Health: Future studies should further investigate the etiologic relationship between cadmium exposure and pancreatic carcinogenesis in cadmium-exposed populations.

Cadmium exposure in the population: from health risks to strategies of prevention

“…An increase in urinary Cd by 1 lg/g creatinine was associated with a 35% increase in PSA levels, in subjects with a zinc intake below the median (12.7 mg/day). In a case-control study, pancreatic cancer was associated with serum Cd levels (Kriegel et al 2006). For each 1 lg Cd per l serum increase, the odds for pancreatic cancer increased with 12% (Table 3).…”

Detection of hexavalent uranium with inline and field-portable immunosensors

“…Previous work in our laboratory has focused on the isolation/characterization of antibodies that bind to metal-chelate complexes and on the development of antibody-based assays useful for measuring a variety of heavy metals in a given sample (Khosraviani et al, 1998;Delehanty et al, 2003;Darwish and Blake, 2004;Kriegel et al, 2006;Zhu et al, 2007). The work described in this report represents some of the first experiments carried out by our laboratory in a field setting and demonstrates the portability, speed and overall utility of immunosensors for environmental analysis.…”

Risk of pancreatic cancer in Minia district, Egypt

“…5 This finding was supported by a previous study by Kriegel et al, who found that East Nile Delta region in Egypt exhibited a high rate of young-onset pancreatic cancer (<65 years) which was associated with elevated serum cadmium and farming occupations. 6 They concluded that pancreatic cancer could occur at a younger age (<65 years) due to environmental exposure and also hereditary causes. 6 Regarding sex, the GLOBOCAN estimates for 2012 reported that the sex ratio of pancreatic cancer is close to one.…”

“…6 They concluded that pancreatic cancer could occur at a younger age (<65 years) due to environmental exposure and also hereditary causes. 6 Regarding sex, the GLOBOCAN estimates for 2012 reported that the sex ratio of pancreatic cancer is close to one. 1 So, it seems that the gap between age groups and sexes can be explained by differences in exposures such as smoking, hereditary causes and sex-specific risk factors that could be important in pancreatic carcinogenesis.…”