Associations between urinary parabens and lung cancer

Parabens are a family of endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Environmental estrogens may play a vital role in the development of lung cancer. To date, the association between parabens and lung cancer is unknown. Based on the 189 cases and 198 controls recruited between 2018 and 2021 in Quzhou, China, we measured 5 urinary parabens concentrations and examined the association between urinary concentrations of parabens and lung cancer risk. Cases showed significantly higher median concentrations of methyl-paraben (MeP) (2.1 versus 1.8 ng/mL), ethyl-paraben (0.98 versus 0.66 ng/mL), propyl-paraben (PrP) (2.2 versus 1.4 ng/mL), and butyl-paraben (0.33 versus 0.16 ng/mL) than controls. The detection rates of benzyl-paraben were only 8 and 6% in the control and case groups, respectively. Therefore, the compound was not considered in the further analysis. The significant correlation between urinary concentrations of PrP and the risk of lung cancer (odds ratio (OR) adjusted = 2.22, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.76, 2.75; P trend < 0.001) was identified in the adjusted model. In the stratification analysis, we found that urinary concentrations of MeP were significantly associated with lung cancer risk (OR = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.27 for the highest quartile group). Besides, comparing the second, third, and fourth quartile groups with the lowest group of PrP, we also observed urinary PrP concentrations associated with lung cancer risk, with the adjusted OR of 1.52 (95% CI: 1.29, 1.65, P trend = 0.007), 1.39 (95% CI: 1.15, 1.60, P trend = 0.010), and 1.85 (95% CI: 1.53, 2.30, P trend = 0.001), respectively. MeP and PrP exposure, reflected in urinary concentrations of parabens, may be positively associated with the risk of lung cancer in adults.