ANA CRISTINA CASTILLO GONZALEZ¹, SANDRA MILENA COLORADO YOHAR², Marcela Guevara³, Elena Salamanca⁴, Ana Jimenez⁵, Fernando Navarro Mateu², MARIA DOLORES CHIRLAQUE²

(1) INMUNOLOGÍA E INMUNOTOLERANCIA EN TRASPLANTES Y ENFERMEDADES DE BASE INMUNOLÓGICA, IMIB, España
(2) INVESTIGACIÓN EN EPIDEMIOLOGÍA Y SALUD PÚBLICA, IMIB, España
(3) Navarra Institute for Health Research (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Spain, España (Comunidad Foral de Navarra)
(4) Escuela Andaluza de Salud Pública, Granada, España, España (Andalucía)
(5) Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Biodonostia. San Sebastián, España, España (País Vasco)

Humans are widely exposed to BPA, an estrogenically active endocrine disruptor which is present in many everyday products. The population concern about the possible effects of BPA on hormone-dependent tissues and their possible carcinogenic effects. The main objective of this review is to summarize the most recent epidemiological studies on BPA exposure and their relationship with cancer in human populations.

A search of articles published in PubMed between February 2000 and February 2019 were reviewed by two investigators and was performed using the key words "Bisphenol A, BPA, Cancer, Epidemiology, Humans, Health". The selected articles were classified in a database with the following variables: reference, country, study objective, sample size, study design, population, BPA concentrations and results.

Five epidemiological studies analyzing relationship between BPA and cancer in humans. Two of them, showed a statistically significant association. One of them analyzed the serum BPA levels and the percentage of mammary density in 264 postmenopausal women between 55 and 70 years of age. The serum BPA was positively associated with mammographic breast density (a risk factor for breast cancer). A second study, recruited 431 patients newly diagnosed prostate cancer and 402 age-matched controls. The authors found a positive association between the cumulative exposure index of BPA and prostate cancer. This study provides the first epidemiological evidence on carcinogenicity of BPA on the human prostate. The other three studies do not found any association.

According to the articles reviewed we found two epidemiological studies to support a possible relationship between BPA exposure and breast or prostate cancer in humans. However, the number of studies is limited and with inconclusive results. More studies are needed at the human populations to further clarify the role of this endocrine disruptor and cancer.