Increased risk of incident nasopharyngeal carcinoma with exposure to air pollution

BACKGROUND: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a race-specific malignancy. The nasal cavity is the main entry point for air pollutants or poisonous gases into the human body. However, the risk of NPC in populations exposed to air pollution remains unknown. METHODS: We combined data from the Taiwan Air Quality Monitoring Database (TAQMD) and the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database (LHID) to assess the risk of NPC in a population exposed to air pollution. RESULTS: Multivariate analysis revealed positive trends for the association between the risk of NPC and exposure to air pollution. After adjusting for potential covariates, the risk of developing NPC increased with the increase in nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)) and fine particulate matter (PM(2.5)) exposure concentrations from 1.39 to 2.28 and 2.01 to 1.97, respectively, compared to the risks at the lowest concentration levels. CONCLUSIONS: We identified a significant risk of NPC in a population exposed to air pollution. However, this study had several limitations. Moreover, additional experimental and clinical studies on the associations between environmental factors and NPC risk are warranted.