Blood Cadmium Level Is Associated with Short Progression-Free Survival in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 16; no. 16; p. 2952
• Main Authors: Du, Taifeng, Huang, Wenlong, Zheng, Shukai, Bao, Mian, Huang, Yuanni, Li, Anna, He, Meirong, Wu, Kusheng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 16.08.2019; MDPI
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Alcohol; Antigens; Arsenic; Bladder cancer; Blood levels; Cadmium; Cadmium - blood; Chromium; Classification; Drinking water; Environmental Pollutants - blood; Female; Females; Health risks; Heavy metals; Human body; Humans; Invasiveness; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Larynx; Lung cancer; Lymph nodes; Lymphatic system; Male; Males; Medical diagnosis; Medical prognosis; Medical records; Metastases; Metastasis; Middle Aged; Nasopharyngeal carcinoma; Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma - blood; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms - blood; Oral cancer; Pancreas; Patients; Progression-Free Survival; Proportional Hazards Models; Risk Factors; Selenium; Smoking; Smoking - blood; Stroma; Studies; Survival; Throat cancer; Tobacco; Trace elements; Tumor cells; Tumors; Zinc; China; Nasopharyngeal carcinoma; progression-free survival time; survival analysis; clinical characteristics; blood cadmium levels
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16162952

The prognosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is poor with disease progression. Cadmium exposure is a risk factor for NPC. We aimed to investigate the effect of cadmium exposure, by measuring cadmium level, and clinicopathologic factors on NPC disease progression and prognosis. A total of 134 NPC cases were analyzed and venous blood samples were collected. Blood cadmium level was analyzed by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Clinical data were collected at baseline for patients and tumor characteristics from medical records. Progression-free survival (PFS) was analyzed during follow-up. The effect of cadmium exposure and clinical factors on PFS was analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression models. Blood cadmium level was associated with history of disease and smoking history and pack-years. On Kaplan-Meier analysis, a high blood cadmium level, male sex, smoking history and increasing pack-years, as well as advanced clinical stage were all associated with short PFS. On multivariate analysis, blood cadmium level was an independent risk factor and predictor of NPC prognosis and disease progression. Cadmium exposure and related clinical factors can affect the prognosis of NPC, which merits further study to clarify.