Environment/Climate Change
Serum Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) concentrations and associations with Mammographic Density in postmenopausal women Sabiha Nasrin* Sabiha Nasrin Nasrin Nasrin Nasrin Nasrin University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA
Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are possible carcinogens with widespread population exposure. Mammographic density (MD) is a strong, established biomarker of breast cancer risk and may provide insight into biological mechanisms linking PFAS exposure to breast carcinogenesis. However, evidence on associations between PFAS and MD remains limited.
Data were analyzed from 196 postmenopausal, cancer-free women not using hormone therapy from the Susan G. Komen Tissue Bank. Percent mammographic density (PMD) and dense breast area (DBA) were measured from digital mammography images taken near the time of blood donation. Serum PFAS concentrations were measured using online solid-phase extraction followed by high-pressure liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). Associations were examined using multivariable linear regression, Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression (BKMR), and Quantile g-computation.
Participants had a mean age of 58.4 years and mean BMI of 29.6 kg/m², and most were White (71.4%). When evaluating individual PFASs through both traditional and mixtures approaches, only PFOA was significantly negatively associated with both PMD and DBA. There was some evidence of a positive association between PFUnDA concentration, categorized as quartiles, and PMD in the linear regression model, however this association was not supported by the mixtures analysis. No statistically significant associations were observed with other individual PFASs. BKMR analyses suggested a negative relationship between the total PFAS mixture and PMD, which was especially noted among parous women who had never breastfed. Quantile G-computation analyses, however, did not identify a statistically significant effect of the PFAS mixture on either measure of MD when exploring within the full study population or when stratifying on breastfeeding history.
This study adds to the limited literature by jointly evaluating individual and mixture PFAS effects on mammographic density.