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Case–Cohort Study of the Association between PFAS and Selected Cancers among Participants in the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Prevention Study II LifeLink Cohort

Andrea Winquist, James M Hodge, W. Diver, Juan Rodriguez, Alyssa N. Troeschel, Johnni Daniel, L. Teras

Environmental Health Perspectives, 2023

1,610 participants · 65 citations

Abstract

Background: Previous epidemiological studies found associations between exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and some cancer types. Many studies considered highly exposed populations, so relevance to less-exposed populations can be uncertain. Additionally, many studies considered only cancer site, not histology. Objectives: We conducted a case–cohort study within the American Cancer Society’s prospective Cancer Prevention Study II (CPS-II) LifeLink cohort to examine associations between PFAS exposure and risk of selected cancers, considering histologic subtypes. Methods: Serum specimens were collected from cohort participants during the period 1998–2001. This study included a subcohort (500 men, 499 women) randomly selected from participants without prior cancer diagnoses at serum collection, and all participants with incident (after serum collection) first cancers of the breast (females only, n=786), bladder (n=401), kidney (n=158), pancreas (n=172), prostate (males only, n=1,610) or hematologic system (n=635). PFAS concentrations [perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA)] were measured in stored serum. We assessed associations between PFAS concentrations and incident cancers, by site and histologic subtype, using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models stratified by sex and controlling for age and year at blood draw, education, race/ethnicity, smoking,…

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a cohort study, done in people. Its evidence level is 3 of 5 (Moderate · trial / cohort / secondary analysis). Trials without a large randomized design, cohorts and secondary analyses give moderate evidence. Reported size: 1,610 participants or records.

How the five levels of evidence work. The level is assigned automatically from the abstract and can be wrong, so check the paper.

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