Outdoor air pollution and risk of incident adult haematologic cancer subtypes in a large US prospective cohort
W. Ryan Diver, Lauren R. Teras, Emily L. Deubler, Michelle C. Turner
Abstract
Abstract Background Outdoor air pollution and particulate matter (PM) are classified as Group 1 human carcinogens for lung cancer. Pollutant associations with haematologic cancers are suggestive, but these cancers are aetiologically heterogeneous and sub-type examinations are lacking. Methods The American Cancer Society Cancer Prevention Study-II Nutrition Cohort was used to examine associations of outdoor air pollutants with adult haematologic cancers. Census block group level annual predictions of particulate matter (PM 2.5 , PM 10 , PM 10-2.5 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), ozone (O 3 ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), and carbon monoxide (CO) were assigned with residential addresses. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) between time-varying pollutants and haematologic subtypes were estimated. Results Among 108,002 participants, 2659 incident haematologic cancers were identified from 1992–2017. Higher PM 10-2.5 concentrations were associated with mantle cell lymphoma (HR per 4.1 μg/m 3 = 1.43, 95% CI 1.08–1.90). NO 2 was associated with Hodgkin lymphoma (HR per 7.2 ppb = 1.39; 95% CI 1.01–1.92) and marginal zone lymphoma (HR per 7.2 ppb = 1.30; 95% CI 1.01–1.67). CO was associated with marginal zone (HR per 0.21 ppm = 1.30; 95% CI 1.04–1.62) and T-cell (HR per 0.21 ppm = 1.27; 95% CI 1.00–1.61) lymphomas. Conclusions The role of air pollutants on haematologic cancers may have been underestimated previously because of sub-type heterogeneity.