Evaluating the Association between Artificial Light-at-Night Exposure and Breast and Prostate Cancer Risk in Spain (MCC-Spain Study)
Year: 2018
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Night shift work, exposure to light at night (ALAN) and circadian disruption may increase the risk of hormone-dependent cancers. OBJECTIVES: We evaluated the association of exposure to ALAN during sleeping time with breast and prostate cancer in a population based multicase-control study (MCC-Spain), among subjects who had never worked at night. We evaluated chronotype, a characteristic that may relate to adaptation to light at night. METHODS: We enrolled 1,219 breast cancer cases, 1,385 female controls, 623 prostate cancer cases, and 879 male controls from 11 Spanish regions in 2008-2013. Indoor ALAN information was obtained through questionnaires. Outdoor ALAN was analyzed using images from the International Space Station (ISS) available for Barcelona and Madrid for 2012-2013, including data of remotely sensed upward light intensity and blue light spectrum information for each geocoded longest residence of each MCC-Spain subject. RESULTS: Among Barcelona and Madrid participants with information on both indoor and outdoor ALAN, exposure to outdoor ALAN in the blue light spectrum was associated with breast cancer [adjusted odds ratio (OR) for highest vs. lowest tertile, OR=1.47; 95% CI: 1.00, 2.17] and prostate cancer (OR=2.05; 95% CI: 1.38, 3.03). In contrast, those exposed to the highest versus lowest intensity of outdoor ALAN were more likely to be controls than cases, particularly for prostate cancer. Compared with those who reported sleeping in total darkness, men who slept in "quite illuminated" bedrooms had a higher risk of prostate cancer (OR=2.79; 95% CI: 1.55, 5.04), whereas women had a slightly lower risk of breast cancer (OR=0.77; 95% CI: 0.39, 1.51). CONCLUSION: Both prostate and breast cancer were associated with high estimated exposure to outdoor ALAN in the blue-enriched light spectrum. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP1837.
DOI: 10.1289/ehp1837
Authors: Ariadna Garcia-Saenz, Alejandro Sánchez de Miguel, Ana Espinosa, Antonia Valentin, Núria Aragonés, Javier Llorca, Pilar Amiano, Vicente Martín Sánchez, Marcela Guevara, Rocío Capelo, Adonina Tardón, Rosana Peiró-Perez, José Juan Jiménez-Moleón, Aina Roca-Barceló, Beatriz Pérez-Gómez, Trinidad Dierssen-Sotos, Tania Fernández-Villa, Conchi Moreno-Iribas, Victor Moreno, Javier García-Pérez, Gemma Castaño-Vinyals, Marina Pollán, Martin Aubé, Manolis Kogevinas
Institutions: Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red, Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Cégep de Sherbrooke, University of Exeter, Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Municipal Institute for Medical Research, Hospital del Mar Research Institute, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro Nacional de Epidemiología, Universidad de Cantabria, Instituto de Investigación Marqués de Valdecilla, Basque Government, Universidad de León, Instituto de Salud Pública de Navarra, Navarre Institute of Health Research, Universidad de Huelva, Universidad de Oviedo, Generalitat Valenciana, Fundación para el Fomento de la Investigación Sanitaria y Biomédica de la Comunitat Valenciana, Universidad de Granada, Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria de Granada, Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Granada, Generalitat de Catalunya, Departament de Salut, Institut Català d'Oncologia, Red de Investigación en Servicios de Salud en Enfermedades Crónicas, Institut d'Investigació Biomédica de Bellvitge, Universitat de Barcelona
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $4,500
Funder: European Commission
OpenAlex ID: W2799426468