Zinc concentration in esophageal biopsy specimens measured by x-ray fluorescence and esophageal cancer risk

Abstract

Background: In rodents, zinc deficiency potentiates the effects of certain nitrosamines that act as esophageal carcinogens. Studies of the association between zinc and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in humans have been hampered by plasma zinc homeostasis, which obscures individual differences in total zinc stores, and by the uncertainty regarding zinc bioavailability when estimating dietary zinc intake because phytate from whole grains effectively prohibits zinc absorption. By using baseline tissue biopsy specimens collected in a prospective observational study, we determined the association between incident esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and baseline element concentrations in tissue sections from residents of Linzhou, China, participating in a nutrition intervention trial.

Methods: We used x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy to measure zinc, copper, iron, nickel, and sulfur concentrations in single 5-microm-thick sections from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded esophageal biopsy specimens collected in 1985 from 60 eventual case and 72 control subjects. Subjects were matched on baseline histology and followed for 16 years. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between each element and risk of incident esophageal cancer. All statistical tests were two-sided.

Results: The risk of developing esophageal cancer was much lower for subjects in the highest quartile of esophageal tissue zinc concentration compared with those in the lowest quartile (HR = 0.21, 95% CI = 0.065 to 0.68). The association was statistically significant across quartiles (P(trend) = .015). Individuals in the highest quartile of sulfur concentration had a lower risk of esophageal cancer than individuals in the lowest quartile (HR = 0.29, 95% CI = 0.095 to 0.85), but the association across quartiles was not statistically significant (P(trend) = .081). There was no association between copper, iron, or nickel concentrations and risk of esophageal cancer.

Conclusion: High tissue zinc concentration was strongly associated with a reduced risk of developing esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy can be used to assess relationships among concentrations of both nutritional and toxic elements and disease risk in banked tissue specimens.