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Query: UMLS:C0476089 (endometrial cancer)
 11,379 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The organochlorines, a diverse group of some 15,000 compounds, have been implicated increasingly as being harmful to humans. Some congeners of DDT and PCB elicit very weak estrogenic responses in animals, while the dioxin TCDD and related compounds have antiestrogenic properties. This review summarizes the evidence regarding whether certain organochlorine compounds, usually as persistent food-chain contaminants, increase the risk of breast and endometrial cancers through their estrogenic potential. In humans, neither ecologic data nor occupational studies provide clear support for an association between organochlorine exposure and the occurrence of these cancers. In our summary analysis of occupational exposure, the rate ratio of breast cancer for exposed cf unexposed women was 0.84 (95 percent confidence interval [CI] = 0.50-1.33) for PCBs and 1.08 (CI = 0.68-1.58) for TCDD. Similarly, effect estimates close to unity were found in summary analysis of breast cancer case-control studies regarding levels of DDE and PCB in adipose tissue or serum. In two recent nested case-control studies using stored specimens, the odds ratio per standard deviation increase in serum p,p'-DDE was 1.27 (CI = 0.95-1.69). Although estrogenic effects of certain organochlorine compounds should be easier to detect on the endometrium, we know of no analytic epidemiologic studies of endometrial cancer published to data. We conclude that available data do not indicate that organochlorines will affect the risk of these two cancers in any but the most unusual situation.
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PMID:Organochlorine compounds and estrogen-related cancers in women. 858 Mar 5

Organochlorine industrial compounds, combustion products and pesticides have been widely identified in the environment and residues have been detected in extracts prepared from fish, wildlife, human tissues as well as human milk and serum. Many of these compounds possess sex steroid activities and therefore have the potential to disrupt endocrine-regulated homeostasis. Organochlorines which exhibit hormonal activity include: (i) polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), hydroxylated PCBs, o,p'-DDT, and other organochlorine insecticides which exhibit estrogen receptor (ER) agonist activities; (ii) p,p'-DDE, a ligand for the androgen receptor which exhibits antiandrogen activity; (iii) PCBs, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), and related aromatic hydrocarbons which bind the aryl hydrocarbon (Ah) receptor and exhibit tissue-specific antiestrogenic activity; and (iv) hydroxylated aromatics which bind transthyretin, a thyroid hormone binding protein. Although, it has been suggested that the estrogenic activity of PCBs and DDE may be a contributing factor for development of breast cancer in women, levels of these compounds are not consistently elevated in breast cancer patients and there is no evidence that women occupationally-exposed to relatively high levels of PCBs or DDE exhibit an increased incidence of breast cancer. In contrast, epidemiology studies suggest that women exposed to high levels of TCDD during an industrial accident in Seveso, Italy, have a decreased incidence of both breast and endometrial cancer. Based on the dietary intake of hormone or antihormone mimics derived from natural compounds in food, the estrogenic contribution of organochlorine compounds is small and their role in development of breast cancer is questionable.
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PMID:Organochlorine exposure and risk for breast cancer. 910 95