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Review
. 2021 Apr 12;43(1):13.
doi: 10.1186/s41021-021-00183-5.

Formaldehyde exposure and leukemia risk: a comprehensive review and network-based toxicogenomic approach

Doo Seok Kang  1 , Hyun Soo Kim  1 , Jong-Hyeon Jung  2 , Cheol Min Lee  3 , Yeon-Soon Ahn  4 , Young Rok Seo  5
Affiliations
Review

Formaldehyde exposure and leukemia risk: a comprehensive review and network-based toxicogenomic approach

Doo Seok Kang et al. Genes Environ. .

Abstract

Formaldehyde is a widely used but highly reactive and toxic chemical. The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies formaldehyde as a Group 1 carcinogen, based on nasopharyngeal cancer and leukemia studies. However, the correlation between formaldehyde exposure and leukemia incidence is a controversial issue. To understand the association between formaldehyde exposure and leukemia, we explored biological networks based on formaldehyde-related genes retrieved from public and commercial databases. Through the literature-based network approach, we summarized qualitative associations between formaldehyde exposure and leukemia. Our results indicate that oxidative stress-mediated genetic changes induced by formaldehyde could disturb the hematopoietic system, possibly leading to leukemia. Furthermore, we suggested major genes that are thought to be affected by formaldehyde exposure and associated with leukemia development. Our suggestions can be used to complement experimental data for understanding and identifying the leukemogenic mechanism of formaldehyde.

Keywords: Biological network analysis; Carcinogenicity; Formaldehyde; Leukemia; Toxicogenomics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Biological interactions among the formaldehyde-related genes, a hematological malignancies, and b cell processes. The molecular network analysis was conducted using Pathway Studio software (version 12.3). The relations between genes/proteins and other entities (disease and cell process) were analyzed. The schematic legend is located to the left
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The summarized network of the potential leukemogenic mechanism via oxidative stress. The interactions between selected entities with many associations in previous network analyses and leukemia-related entities were analyzed
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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