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Volume 337:1253-1258 October 30, 1997 Number 18 Next

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ABSTRACT

Background Exposure to "environmental estrogens" such as organochlorines in pesticides and industrial chemicals has been proposed as a cause of increasing rates of breast cancer. Several studies have reported higher blood levels of 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethylene (DDE) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in patients with breast cancer than in controls.

Methods We measured plasma levels of DDE and PCBs prospectively among 240 women who gave a blood sample in 1989 or 1990 and who were subsequently given a diagnosis of breast cancer before June 1, 1992. We compared these levels with those measured in matched control women in whom breast cancer did not develop. Data on DDE were available for 236 pairs, and data on PCBs were available for 230 pairs.

Results The median level of DDE was lower among case patients than among controls (4.71 vs. 5.35 parts per billion, P = 0.14), as was the median level of PCBs (4.49 vs. 4.68 parts per billion, P = 0.72). The multivariate relative risk of breast cancer for women in the highest quintile of exposure as compared with women in the lowest quintile was 0.72 for DDE (95 percent confidence interval, 0.37 to 1.40) and 0.66 for PCBs (95 percent confidence interval, 0.32 to 1.37). Exposure to high levels of both DDE and PCBs was associated with a nonsignificantly lower risk of breast cancer (relative risk for women in the highest quintiles of both DDE and PCBs as compared with women in the lowest, 0.43; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.13 to 1.44).

Conclusions Our data do not support the hypothesis that exposure to 2,2-bis (p-chlorophenyl)-1,1,1-trichloroethane (DDT) and PCBs increases the risk of breast cancer.

Source Information

From the Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine (D.J.H., S.E.H., F.L., G.A.C., J.E.M., W.C.W., F.E.S.), and the Division of Preventive Medicine (J.E.M.), Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston; the Departments of Epidemiology (D.J.H., S.E.H., F.L., G.A.C., J.E.M., W.C.W.), Environmental Health (F.E.S.), and Nutrition (W.C.W.), Harvard School of Public Health, Boston; Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention, Boston (D.J.H., G.A.C., W.C.W.); and the Division of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York (M.S.W.).

Address reprint requests to Dr. Hunter at the Channing Laboratory, 181 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA 02115.

Full Text of this Article

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Organochlorine Residues and Breast Cancer
vom Saal F. S., Welshons W. V., Hansen L. G., Talbott E. O., Zborowski J. V., Kuller L. H., Gammon M. D., Terry M. B., Teitelbaum S. L., Britton J. A., Levin B., Bigsby R. M., Steinmetz R., Verma S. P., Goldin B. R., Murray D. W., Lichter S. R., Hunter D. J., Laden F., Wolff M. S., Safe S.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 1998; 338:988-991, Apr 2, 1998. Correspondence

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