Serum cadmium levels in patients with pancreatic cancer in Egypt Amr S. Soliman, Alison Kriege, James L. Abbruzzese, Stanley R. Hamilton, Nabih El-Ghawalby, Melissa L. Bondy, Diane Blake. M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX; Tulane Medical School, New Orleans, LA; Gastrointestinal Surgery Center, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt. Little is known about the etiology of pancreatic cancer, the most lethal of the major malignancies. Although specific environmental and occupational risk factors for the disease have not been conclusively identified, cadmium has been hypothesized as a cause for pancreatic cancer. Cadmium is a contaminant of cigarettes and cigarette smoking is the most suspected risk factor for pancreatic cancer. Environmental pollution is extensive in Egypt which offers a natural experiment for studying the effects of environmental exposures, such as cadmium, and the risk for pancreatic cancer. We conducted a pilot study to test the hypothesis that Egyptians with pancreatic cancer have higher serum cadmium levels than controls. We measured serum cadmium levels in 34 newly-diagnosed pancreatic cancer patients from 2 cancer centers in Egypt and 52 hospital-based healthy controls. Using interviewer-administered questionnaires, we collected information on age, sex, smoking, occupational history, and residence of patients and controls. We also collected 7 ml blood samples from each study participant. We analyzed serum samples for cadmium levels using our competitive antigen-antibody immunoassay method (Darwish and Blake, Anal. Chem.; 2002, 74:52-58). Patients had significantly higher levels of serum cadmium (mean ± SD, 11.1 ± 6.1 ppb) than controls (5.9 ± 8.9 ppb) (p= 0.01). Serum cadmium levels were not related to smoking (6.5 ± 7.6 ppb and 8.2 ± 8.8 ppb, in smokers and non-smokers, respectively) (p= 0.37). Serum cadmium levels were also not related to participants' residence (7.5 ±8.7 ppb and 7.8 ±7.7 ppb, in urban and rural residents, respectively) (p=0.86). Participants with high serum cadmium levels were employed in occupations related to industrial (painting and welding) and agricultural (farming) exposures. The association between the higher serum cadmium levels in pancreatic cancer patients warrants further investigation in a larger population in Egypt. AACR Abstract Number: 6393, 2003 AACR Abstract #LB-116, 2003 Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.