Transplacental exposure to environmental carcinogens: Association with childhood cancer risks and the role of modulating factors

• Published in: Reproductive toxicology (Elmsford, N.Y.) Vol. 72; pp. 182 - 190
• Main Authors: Fucic, A., Guszak, V., Mantovani, A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.09.2017
• Subjects: Air Pollutants - toxicity; Air pollution; Carcinogens, Environmental - toxicity; Child; Childhood cancer; Female; Food; Food Contamination; Humans; Juvenile cancer; Maternal-Fetal Exchange; Neoplasms - etiology; Newborn; Pesticides; Pesticides - toxicity; Pregnancy; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; Radiation, Ionizing; Risk; Sex Characteristics; Sex-related susceptibility; Transplacental; Water Pollutants - toxicity; Transplacental; Juvenile cancer; Newborn; Sex-related susceptibility; Pesticides; Air pollution; Childhood cancer; Food
• ISSN: 0890-6238; 1873-1708
• DOI: 10.1016/j.reprotox.2017.06.044

•There is a significant knowledge gap on child cancer due to transplacental exposure.•Child cancer risk is defined by genomic, epigenomic and non-genomic mechanisms.•Modulators of transplacental cancer risk are diet, smoking and child gender. Biological responses to carcinogens from environmental exposure during adulthood are modulated over years or decades. Conversely, during transplacental exposure, the effects on the human foetus change within weeks, intertwining with developmental mechanisms: even short periods of transplacental exposure may be imprinted in the organism for a lifetime. The pathways leading to childhood and juvenile cancers, such as leukaemias, neuroblastoma/brain tumours, hepatoblastoma, and Willm’s tumour involve prenatally-induced genomic, epigenomic and/or non-genomic effects caused by xenobiotics. Pregnant women most often live in complex environmental settings that cause transplacental exposure of the foetus to xenobiotic mixtures. Mother-child biomonitoring should integrate the analysis of chemicals/radiation present in the living and workplace environment with relevant risk modulators related to life style. The interdisciplinary approach for transplacental cancer risk assessment in high-pressure areas should be based on an integrated model for mother-child exposure estimation via profiling the exposure level by water quality analysis, usage of emission grids, and land use maps.