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Review
. 2020 Winter;11(1):1-11.
doi: 10.22088/cjim.11.1.1.

A systematic review and meta-analysis on the association of serum and tumor tissue iron and risk of breast cancer

Akram Sanagoo  1 , Faezeh Kiani  2 , Marzieh Saei Gharenaz  3 , Fatemeh Sayehmiri  4 , Fatemeh Koohi  5 , Leila Jouybari  1 , Majjid Dousti  6
Affiliations
Review

A systematic review and meta-analysis on the association of serum and tumor tissue iron and risk of breast cancer

Akram Sanagoo et al. Caspian J Intern Med. 2020 Winter.

Abstract

Background: Some studies have investigated the effects of iron on breast carcinogenesis and reported different findings about the association between Fe and breast cancer risk. This study was conducted to estimate this effect using meta-analysis method.

Methods: A total of 20 articles published between 1984 and 2017 worldwide were selected through searching PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library. Keywords such Breast Cancer, Neoplasm, Trace elements, Iron, Breast tissue concentration, Plasma concentration, Scalp hair concentration, toenail concentration and their combination were used in the search.

Results: The total number of participants was 4,110 individuals comprising 1,624 patients with breast cancer and 2,486 healthy subjects. Fe concentration was measured in the various subgroups in both case and control groups. There were significant correlations between Fe concentration and breast cancer in breast tissue subgroup (SMD: 0.67 [95% CI: 0.17 to 1.17; P=0.009]). Whereas, there was no meaningful difference in Fe status between women with and without breast cancer related to scalp hair and plasma subgroups; (SMD: -3.74 [95% CI: -7.58 to 0.10; P=0.056] and (SMD:-1.14[95% CI: -2.30 to 0.03; P=0.055], respectively.

Conclusion: The present meta-analysis indicated a positive and straight association between iron concentrations and risk of breast cancer but because of high heterogeneity we recommend more accurate future studies.

Keywords: Breast Cancer; Iron; Meta-analysis; Neoplasm; trace elements.

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Figures

Figure 2
Figure 2
Forest plot of the association of iron with breast cancer risk. Square represents effect estimate of individual studies with their 95 % confidence intervals. And the diamond shows the overall estimate of SMD in this study. In this chart, studies are stored in order of the year of publication and author’s names, based on a random effects model
Figure 3
Figure 3
Forest plot of the association of iron with breast cancer risk based on sample type (serum and plasma, breast tissues, scalp hair)
Figure 4
Figure 4
Forest Plot of the association of iron with breast cancer risk based on continent
Figure 5
Figure 5
Begg’s funnel plot for publication bias
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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