Alice von Seidel

  Faculty of Science and Engineering | University College Maastricht

Exploring the Relationship Between Environmental Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Exposure and Breast Cancer Risk: A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analysis

Alice's elevator pitch
Breast cancer (BC) is a complex disease influenced by multiple risk factors. The exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH), an environmental pollutant with toxic and carcinogenic characteristics, is one of them. In order to assess this yet unclear association, previous studies have used various PAH exposure measurement techniques, such as biological samples, questionnaires, and statistical methods; however, it is unclear which methodology is the most effective. My Systematic Literature Review aimed to analyze the relationship between exposure to PAH and the risk of BC development, while the accompanying Meta-Analysis focused on case-control and cohort studies conducted on the female population and aimed to determine the most effective methodology for measuring PAH exposure in this context.