Long-term Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution and Incidence of Brain Tumor: the European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects (ESCAPE)

Zorana J. Andersen, Marie Pedersen, Gudrun Weinmayr, Massimo Stafoggia, Claudia Galassi, Jeanette T Jørgensen, Johan N. Sommar, Bertil Forsberg, David Olsson, Bente Oftedal, Gunn Marit Aasvang, Per E. Schwarze, Andrei Pyko, Göran Pershagen, Michal Korek, Ulf de Faire, Claes Göran Östenson, Laura Fratiglioni, Kirsten T. Eriksen, Aslak Harbo PoulsenAnne Tjønneland, Elvira Vaclavik Bräuner, Petra H. Peeters, H. Bas Bueno-de-Mesquita, Andrea Jaensch, Gabriele Nagel, Alois Lang, Meng Wang, Ming-Yi Tsai, Sara Grioni, Alessandro Marcon, Vittorio Krogh, Fulvio Ricceri, Carlotta Sacerdote, Enrica Migliore, Roel Vermeulen, Ranjeet S. Sokhi, Menno Keuken, Kees de Hoogh, Rob Beelen, Paolo Vineis, Giulia Cesaroni, Bert Brunekreef, Gerard Hoek, Ole Raaschou-Nielsen

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

    Abstract

    Background: Epidemiological evidence on the association between ambient air pollution and brain tumor risk is sparse and inconsistent.

    Methods: In 12 cohorts from six European countries, individual estimates of annual mean air pollution levels at the baseline residence were estimated by standardized land-use regression models developed within the ESCAPE and TRANSPHORM projects: particulate matter (PM) ≤ 2.5, ≤ 10, and 2.5-10 μm in diameter (PM2.5, PM10, and PMcoarse), PM2.5 absorbance, nitrogen oxides (NO2 and NOx) and elemental composition of PM. We estimated cohort-specific associations of air pollutant concentrations and traffic intensity with total, malignant and nonmalignant brain tumor, in separate Cox regression models, adjusting for risk factors, and pooled cohort-specific estimates using random-effects meta-analyses.

    Results: Of 282,194 subjects from 12 cohorts, 466 developed malignant brain tumors during 12 years of follow-up. Six of the cohorts had also data on nonmalignant brain tumor, where among 106,786 subjects, 366 developed brain tumor: 176 nonmalignant and 190 malignant. We found a positive, statistically non-significant association between malignant brain tumor and PM2.5 absorbance (Hazard Ratio and 95% Confidence Interval: 1.67; 0.89-3.14 per 10 -5/m 3), and weak positive or null associations with the other pollutants. Hazard ratio for PM2.5 absorbance (1.01; 0.38-2.71 per 10 -5/m 3) and all other pollutants were lower for nonmalignant than for malignant brain tumors.

    Conclusion: We found suggestive evidence of an association between long-term exposure to PM2.5 absorbance indicating traffic-related air pollution and malignant brain tumors, and no association with overall or nonmalignant brain tumors.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)420-432
    Number of pages13
    JournalNeuro-Oncology
    Volume20
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 19 Feb 2018

    Keywords

    • air pollution
    • brain cancer
    • brain tumor
    • traffic

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Long-term Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution and Incidence of Brain Tumor: the European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects (ESCAPE)'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this