Environmental Factor – August 2019: Can we prevent cancer by controlling our environment?

“We are very concerned with low doses and chronic exposure that may compromise biological function,” Woeschick said, explaining the shift away from the old understanding that it is the dose that makes the poison. (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw)

Research indicates that aspects of our environment — such as chemicals, pollution, steroids, tech, and even stress — likely contribute to the development of cancer.

The question explored during a June 24-26 conference was what, when, and how to prevent these exposures, as National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety Deputy Director Rick Woichick gave a keynote speech. Environmental carcinogenesis: a potential pathway for cancer prevention It was organized by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and held in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“As environmental health scientists, we are focused on reducing the number of cases of cancer through preventative strategies,” Woechek said. “Early detection of genetic damage from environmental genotoxic substances can contribute to a reduction in cancer and other diseases.”

The environment, genes and cancer

The program explored the environmental links to cancer development. Presentations addressed topics such as genotyping of disease susceptibility, key characteristics of the toxic effects of carcinogens, recent advances in cancer prevention and early detection, and whole genome tumor studies.

Gwen Coleman, PhD, director of the NIEHS Division of Research and Training Beyond the Walls, chaired a session on new ways to measure exposure to carcinogens. The ultimate goal, she said, is to develop precise health interventions adapted to each person’s unique biology.

NIEHS perspective

Woychik’s lecture, “Challenges and Opportunities in Environmental Carcinogenesis: A NIEHS Perspective” covered eight main topics.

• Windows of exposure – “Developmental stressors can lead to disease, especially when encountered early in the life cycle,” Woychik said. was martyred study Which showed that women who were exposed early in life to the chemical diethylstilbestrol could be more likely to develop later reproductive problems and cancer.
• Mixtures – “At any time, we are exposed to complex, real-world mixtures of potentially dangerous compounds,” Woychik said. These mixtures include chemicals and infectious agents, which can work together to produce more serious effects. For example, carriers of hepatitis B virus who are also exposed to aflatoxin There is a 60-fold increase in the incidence of liver cancer.
• Microbiome New genetic sequencing tools can mark the DNA of the microbes that live in and on our bodies. “We are interested in linking changes in the microbiome to the development of cancer and other disease conditions,” Woychik said.
  
  Growth stresses can lead to disease, especially when encountered early in the life cycle. Rick and Wishek
• Disclosure, or the totality of an individual’s environmental exposure, was a popular topic at the conference. “To better understand the impact of the environment on our health, we need to develop tools to assess all elements associated with the environment,” Woychik said.
• Rodent population studies – Rodent studies have undergone a paradigm shift in recent years. “For the given exposure experiments, genetically complex mouse populations represent human genetic diversity better than single mouse strains,” Woechek said. “Furthermore, by assessing differences in an individual’s susceptibility to environmental toxins, we hope to eventually be able to determine the molecular mechanisms of toxicity.”
• Epigenetics – “We used to think that the only way to change the way a gene was expressed was to change its genetic code,” Woychik said. “Now, we are better able to predict how environmental exposure affects genome structure, which can influence how genes are expressed later in life.”
• Tox 21 It is a long-term, interagency project to develop better methods for rapidly assessing the health effects of large numbers of chemicals using the same high-throughput robotic-based platforms that the pharmaceutical industry uses to develop drugs.
• all of us This ambitious program from the National Institutes of Health aims to collect detailed health information from at least 1 million people to improve understanding of variants within individuals’ genomes associated with various types of cancer and other conditions. This program is an attempt to bring the concept of personal health into prevention strategies within the environmental health community.

Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest scientific organization focused on cancer research, according to its website.

the quote: Hoover RN, Hyer M, Pfeiffer RM, Adam E, Bond B, Cheville AL, Colton T, Hartge P, Hatch EE, Herbst AL, Karlan BY, Kaufman R, Noller KL, Palmer JR, Robboy SJ, Saal RC, Strohsnitter W , Titus-Ernstoff L, Troisi R. 2011. Adverse health outcomes in women exposed in utero to diethylstilbestrol. Engel GM Med 365 (14): 1304-1314.

(John Yewell is a contract writer for the NIEHS Office of Communications and Public Liaison.)

from San Jose News Bulletin https://sjnewsbulletin.com/environmental-factor-august-2019-can-we-prevent-cancer-by-controlling-our-environment/