TY - JOUR
T1 - Arsenic may be a carcinogenic determinant of a subset of gallbladder cancer
T2 - A pilot study
AU - De Palma, Giuseppe
AU - Carrasco-Avino, Gonzalo
AU - Gilberti, Enrica
AU - Cadei, Moris
AU - Pedrazzi, Tatiana
AU - Gallegos Mendez, Ivan M.
AU - Roman, Alejandra
AU - Demartines, Nicolas
AU - Boffetta, Paolo
AU - Labgaa, Ismail
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors
PY - 2023/2/15
Y1 - 2023/2/15
N2 - Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is one of the deadliest malignancy and treatment options are deplorably limited. Better strategies of prevention are urgently needed but knowledge on risk factors remains scarce. Recent data suggested that arsenic (As) may be involved in GBC carcinogenesis but the question remains debated. To date, there are no data on As measurement in GBC samples. This pilot study aimed to measure As concentrations in tissue samples from patients with GBC compared to non-cancerous gallbladder (NCGB). Included patients underwent cholecystectomy at Hospital Clinico Universidad de Chile, Santiago in Chile, a country with high As exposure, between 2001 and 2020. Tissue samples were preserved in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded blocks. Selected samples were retrieved, processed and submitted to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to determine As concentrations. A total of 77 patients were included, including 35 GBC and 42 NCGB. The two groups were comparable, except for age (68 vs. 49 years, p < 0.001). Measured in 11 GBC and 38 NCGB, total As was detected in 5 GBC (14%) compared to 0 NCGB samples (p < 0.001). GBC group also showed higher median values of As compared to NCGB (p < 0.001). This pilot study provided a proof-of-concept to measure As concentrations in gallbladder samples and showed higher level of As in GBC samples compared to NCGB, paving the way for future studies aiming to investigate the impact of As on GBC, which may contribute to the prevention of this deadly disease.
AB - Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is one of the deadliest malignancy and treatment options are deplorably limited. Better strategies of prevention are urgently needed but knowledge on risk factors remains scarce. Recent data suggested that arsenic (As) may be involved in GBC carcinogenesis but the question remains debated. To date, there are no data on As measurement in GBC samples. This pilot study aimed to measure As concentrations in tissue samples from patients with GBC compared to non-cancerous gallbladder (NCGB). Included patients underwent cholecystectomy at Hospital Clinico Universidad de Chile, Santiago in Chile, a country with high As exposure, between 2001 and 2020. Tissue samples were preserved in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded blocks. Selected samples were retrieved, processed and submitted to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to determine As concentrations. A total of 77 patients were included, including 35 GBC and 42 NCGB. The two groups were comparable, except for age (68 vs. 49 years, p < 0.001). Measured in 11 GBC and 38 NCGB, total As was detected in 5 GBC (14%) compared to 0 NCGB samples (p < 0.001). GBC group also showed higher median values of As compared to NCGB (p < 0.001). This pilot study provided a proof-of-concept to measure As concentrations in gallbladder samples and showed higher level of As in GBC samples compared to NCGB, paving the way for future studies aiming to investigate the impact of As on GBC, which may contribute to the prevention of this deadly disease.
KW - Carcinogen
KW - Exposure
KW - Heavy metals
KW - Prevention
KW - Toxicants
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85144259927&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.envres.2022.115030
DO - 10.1016/j.envres.2022.115030
M3 - Article
C2 - 36509118
AN - SCOPUS:85144259927
SN - 0013-9351
VL - 219
JO - Environmental Research
JF - Environmental Research
M1 - 115030
ER -