The local environment and germline genetic variation predict cancer risk in the UK Biobank prospective cohort.

BACKGROUND

There is a growing body of evidence on the effect of the local environment exposure on cancer susceptibility. Nonetheless, several of the associations remain controversial. Moreover, our understanding of the possible interaction between the local environment and the genetic variability is still very limited.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to clarify the role of the local environment and its possible interplay with genetics on common cancers development.

METHODS

Using the UK Biobank (UKBB) prospective cohort, we selected 12 local environment exposures: nitrogen oxides, nitrogen dioxides, particulate matter (10 and 2.5 μm), noise pollution, urban traffic, living distance from the coast, percentage of greenspace, natural environment, water, and domestic garden within 1000 m from the residential coordinates of each participant. All these exposures were tested for association with 17 different types of cancer for a total of 53,270 cases and 302,645 controls. Additionally, a polygenic score (PGS) was computed for each cancer, to test possible gene-environment interactions. Finally, mediation analyses were carried out.

RESULTS

Thirty-six statistically significant associations considering multiple testing (p < 2.19 × 10

DISCUSSION

Living close to the coast and air pollution were associated with a decreased risk of prostate cancer and skin melanoma, respectively. These findings from the UKBB support the role of the local environment on cancer development, which is independent from genetics and may be mediated by several lifestyle factors.

Informations de copyright

Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.