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Bladder Cancer Risk Increases for Residents Near Pollution Sites

By Ed Susman

SAN ANTONIO, TX -- May 31, 2005 -- People who live near polluted areas such as incineration sites or leaking underground storage tanks are at increased risk for developing bladder cancer, researchers reported here at the American Urological Association (AUA) Annual Meeting.

Rabii Madi, MD, staff urologist, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, and colleagues studied cancer records of 178,000 Michigan residents. He presented the findings on May 22^nd.

In an attempt to spot patterns of exposure, the investigators collected data on cancer incidence in Michigan in the years 1987, 1990, 1993, 1995, and 2000. Patients were grouped by age, and the records were aggregated into zip codes. The researchers then merged the data with information from databases on natural resources and environmental lawsuits.

Two pollution sources - leaking underground storage tanks for gasoline, diesel, or oil fuel and incineration sites were positively correlated with increased risk of bladder cancer. The authors did not find a relationship between proximity to landfills and cancer risk, however.

Results show that subjects who lived near polluted sites were at greater risk for having bladder cancer than those who did not live in polluted sites. For all patients except children under 15 years, the risk for cancer of the bladder and urinary tract increased proportionally with the density of the pollution in their area.

Living close to an incineration site carried an increased risk of 50% for having bladder cancer. That increase was statistically significant at the P = .01 level. There was a 20% increased risk of bladder cancer in subjects who lived near leaking storage tanks. That risk also reached statistical significance at the P = .05 level.

The researchers that subjects belonging to ethnic or racial minorities and those living in low-income households were also at greater risk of bladder cancer.

The results suggest that people living near ground water contamination or environmental pollution from other sources are at significant risk for developing urinary tract cancers and perhaps other malignancies, according to the study authors.

"Specific pollution sources and aggregate pollution density can increase the risk of bladder cancer incidence, particularly in older individuals," Dr. Madi said.

Regions with large numbers of leaking underground storage tanks and incineration sites, as well as high pollution density, should be studied to determine whether disproportionate minority or low income populations reside in these communities and whether more aggressive tumors develop under prolonged pollutant exposure, he explained.


[Presentation title: Pollution Source Predictors of Bladder Cancer Incidence. Abstract 182]

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