The Association Between Cadmium Exposure and Prostate Cancer: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Giorgio Firmani, Manuela Chiavarini (), Jacopo Dolcini (), Stefano Quarta, Marcello Mario D’Errico and Pamela Barbadoro
Additional contact information
Giorgio Firmani: Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Section of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Polytechnic University of the Marche Region, 60131 Ancona, Italy
Manuela Chiavarini: Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Section of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Polytechnic University of the Marche Region, 60131 Ancona, Italy
Jacopo Dolcini: Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Section of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Polytechnic University of the Marche Region, 60131 Ancona, Italy
Stefano Quarta: Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Section of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Polytechnic University of the Marche Region, 60131 Ancona, Italy
Marcello Mario D’Errico: Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Section of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Polytechnic University of the Marche Region, 60131 Ancona, Italy
Pamela Barbadoro: Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Section of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Polytechnic University of the Marche Region, 60131 Ancona, Italy

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 11, 1-23

Abstract: Prostate cancer (PCa) is a common cancer among men, and it has a multifactorial etiology. Cadmium (Cd), a toxic heavy metal classified as a carcinogen by the IARC, can cause various acute and chronic effects. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to update previous findings on the association between Cd exposure and PCa. We carried out a literature search in PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus up to May 2024, identifying eight new articles. The effect size from the highest and lowest exposure categories were extracted and analyzed using a random-effects model. Heterogeneity was assessed with the I 2 test, and publication bias was evaluated using funnel plot asymmetry. Overall, the effect size for PCa associated with Cd exposure, combining previous and new articles, was 1.11 (95% CI 0.85–1.45). Heterogeneity was high, but no significant publication bias was detected. For studies from Europe, the effect size was 1.47 (95% CI 1.00–2.17). Notably, 11 articles from the previous systematic review and meta-analysis highlighted that higher Cd exposure is significantly associated with more aggressive histopathological types of PCa (OR 1.50, 95% CI 1.08–2.07). These findings suggest a potential public health concern, indicating the need for further research to clarify the risk associated with Cd exposure.

Keywords: prostate cancer; cadmium; exposure assessment; meta-analysis; systematic review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/11/1532/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/11/1532/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:11:p:1532-:d:1524098

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().