Urinary glyphosate concentration and breast cancer risk: a case-control study in Santa Fe, Argentina

DONÁ, FLORENCIA; LORENZ, VIRGINIA; RICARDO, TAMARA; REPETTI, MARÍA R.; DEMONTE, LUISINA D.; MILESI, MARÍA M.; VARAYOUD, JORGELINA

Mar del Plata

Congreso; Reunión de Sociedades de Biociencias - LXVII Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Clínica (SAIC); 2022

Sociedades SAIC, SAI, FAIC & SAFIS

Pesticide exposure has been associated with higher breast cancer(BC) risk. Glyphosate (GLY) is the most widely used pesticide worldwideand has been classified as a 2A “probable human carcinogen”by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Since humanexposures to GLY are rising rapidly and may also increase BC risk,we determined the urinary concentration of GLY and its degradationproduct, aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) and we designed acase-control study to determine if residence or other lifestyle/medicalfactors could be associated with the BC risk. We analyzed 130women (35 BC cases and 95 controls) who attended the gynecologyservice of J.M. Cullen Hospital in Santa Fe. Demographic data, lifestylefactors and residence were obtained by questionnaire. Medicaloutcomes and reproductive history were abstracted from medicalrecords. We collected urine from 74 women (17 BC cases and 57controls). Urine concentrations of GLY and AMPA were assessedby Ultra high performance liquid chromatography–Mass spectrometry.GLY was detected in 92.8% of urine samples (mean 0.48 μg/L,range 0.10-3.50 μg/L), and no differences were observed betweencases and controls groups. AMPA was not detected in any of theanalyzed samples. We found an association between increased riskof BC with older women (OR: 1.12, 95% CI: 1.06-1.18), older ageat first delivery (OR: 1.18, 95% CI: 1.04-1.34) and residence nearagricultural fields (OR: 9.36, 95% CI: 2.8-30.4). To our knowledge,this is the first study examining the urinary concentration of GLY inArgentina, indicating the ubiquitous presence of the pesticide in humansamples. The novelty of the detection of GLY in urine, providesbaseline information that is relevant for designing future decisions.In addition, our preliminary findings suggest an increased BC riskassociated with the place of residence; however, these results requireconfirmation in a larger population to increase the power ofthe study.