Cancer
Dimensions of Social and Environmental Vulnerability and Ovarian Cancer Risk and Mortality Rachel Pomazal* Rachel Pomazal Pomazal Pomazal Pomazal Pomazal Pomazal University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Population Health Sciences
Background: Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related death among women in the U.S. Some evidence suggests that environmental pollutants and social economic status are associated with ovarian cancer risk and mortality. Environmental and social factors are typically analyzed separately, though they often co-occur. This study evaluated the association between environmental and social factors, jointly and separately, with ovarian cancer risk and mortality.
Methods: We used data from an ovarian cancer case-control study (592 cases, 3489 controls) and publicly available data on social and environmental vulnerability indicators. We constructed a modified environmental justice index (EJI), which included dimensions of environmental and social vulnerability, based on 8 domains: air pollution, hazardous sites, the built environment, transportation, neighborhood SES, housing type, household characteristics, and racial/ethnic minority proportion. The EJI ranged from 0 to 8, with higher scores indicating more vulnerability. We used hierarchical logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards regression to assess associations between the EJI, its domains and its components with ovarian cancer risk and mortality.
Results: Domains of social and environmental vulnerability were similar between cases and controls, with limited racial diversity in the sample. Neither the EJI overall nor the domains were associated with ovarian cancer risk or mortality. A tertile increase in air pollution exposure was associated with 10% higher risk (95% CI: 0.99, 1.22) but not mortality (HR 0.99, 95% CI 0.84,1.15).
Conclusions: Air pollution may represent a modifiable risk factor for ovarian cancer risk. Further analyses will pursue mixtures analysis methods and more granular air pollution exposure assessment to further investigate factors associated with ovarian cancer risk and mortality. Future studies with more diverse populations are warranted.
