Extraterrestrial Gynecology: Could Spaceflight Increase the Risk of Developing Cancer in Female Astronauts? An Updated Review

Rosa Drago-Ferrante¹, Riccardo Di Fiore^{2

3}, Fathi Karouia^{4

5

6}, Yashwanth Subbannayya⁷, Saswati Das⁸, Begum Aydogan Mathyk⁹, Shehbeel Arif^{10

11}, Ana Paula Guevara-Cerdán¹², Allen Seylani¹³, Aman Singh Galsinh¹⁴, Weronika Kukulska¹⁴, Joseph Borg¹⁵, Sherif Suleiman², David Marshall Porterfield¹⁶, Andrea Camera¹⁷, Lane K Christenson¹⁸, April Elizabeth Ronca^{19

20}, Jonathan G Steller^{21

22}, Afshin Beheshti^{23

24}, Jean Calleja-Agius²

Affiliations

¹ BioDNA Laboratories, Malta Life Sciences Park, SGN 3000 San Gwann, Malta.
² Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta, MSD 2080 Msida, Malta.
³ Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, Center for Biotechnology, College of Science and Technology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA.
⁴ Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Exobiology Branch, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.
⁵ Space Research Within Reach, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA.
⁶ Center for Space Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
⁷ Centre of Molecular Inflammation Research (CEMIR), Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine (IKOM), Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway.
⁸ Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi 110001, India.
⁹ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, HCA Healthcare/University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine GME, Brandon Regional Hospital, Brandon, FL 33511, USA.
¹⁰ The Cooper Neurological Institute, Cooper University Health Care, Cherry Hill, NJ 08002, USA.
¹¹ The G.W.C. Whiting School of Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
¹² Molecular and Cellular Biology, School of Biosciences, The University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK.
¹³ School of Medicine, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
¹⁴ School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3FX, UK.
¹⁵ Department of Applied Biomedical Science, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Malta, MSD 2080 Msida, Malta.
¹⁶ Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
¹⁷ Ordine dei Medici Chirurghi e degli Odontoiatri della Provincia di Brescia, 25124 Brescia, Italy.
¹⁸ Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Kansas Medical Center, 3075 HLSIC, 3901 Rainbow Blvd, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA.
¹⁹ NASA Ames Research Center, Space Biosciences Division, Moffett Field, CA 94568, USA.
²⁰ Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27101, USA.
²¹ Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of California Irvine, Orange, CA 92868, USA.
²² Exploration Medical Capability Element, NASA Johnson Space Center, 2400 E NASA Parkway, Houston, TX 77058, USA.
²³ KBR, Space Biosciences Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.
²⁴ Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.

PMID: 35806469
PMCID: PMC9267413
DOI: 10.3390/ijms23137465

Review

Extraterrestrial Gynecology: Could Spaceflight Increase the Risk of Developing Cancer in Female Astronauts? An Updated Review

Rosa Drago-Ferrante et al. Int J Mol Sci. 2022.

. 2022 Jul 5;23(13):7465.

doi: 10.3390/ijms23137465.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ BioDNA Laboratories, Malta Life Sciences Park, SGN 3000 San Gwann, Malta.
² Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta, MSD 2080 Msida, Malta.
³ Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, Center for Biotechnology, College of Science and Technology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA.
⁴ Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Exobiology Branch, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.
⁵ Space Research Within Reach, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA.
⁶ Center for Space Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
⁷ Centre of Molecular Inflammation Research (CEMIR), Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine (IKOM), Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway.
⁸ Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi 110001, India.
⁹ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, HCA Healthcare/University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine GME, Brandon Regional Hospital, Brandon, FL 33511, USA.
¹⁰ The Cooper Neurological Institute, Cooper University Health Care, Cherry Hill, NJ 08002, USA.
¹¹ The G.W.C. Whiting School of Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
¹² Molecular and Cellular Biology, School of Biosciences, The University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK.
¹³ School of Medicine, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
¹⁴ School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3FX, UK.
¹⁵ Department of Applied Biomedical Science, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Malta, MSD 2080 Msida, Malta.
¹⁶ Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
¹⁷ Ordine dei Medici Chirurghi e degli Odontoiatri della Provincia di Brescia, 25124 Brescia, Italy.
¹⁸ Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Kansas Medical Center, 3075 HLSIC, 3901 Rainbow Blvd, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA.
¹⁹ NASA Ames Research Center, Space Biosciences Division, Moffett Field, CA 94568, USA.
²⁰ Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27101, USA.
²¹ Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of California Irvine, Orange, CA 92868, USA.
²² Exploration Medical Capability Element, NASA Johnson Space Center, 2400 E NASA Parkway, Houston, TX 77058, USA.
²³ KBR, Space Biosciences Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.
²⁴ Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.

PMID: 35806469
PMCID: PMC9267413
DOI: 10.3390/ijms23137465

Abstract

Outer space is an extremely hostile environment for human life, with ionizing radiation from galactic cosmic rays and microgravity posing the most significant hazards to the health of astronauts. Spaceflight has also been shown to have an impact on established cancer hallmarks, possibly increasing carcinogenic risk. Terrestrially, women have a higher incidence of radiation-induced cancers, largely driven by lung, thyroid, breast, and ovarian cancers, and therefore, historically, they have been permitted to spend significantly less time in space than men. In the present review, we focus on the effects of microgravity and radiation on the female reproductive system, particularly gynecological cancer. The aim is to provide a summary of the research that has been carried out related to the risk of gynecological cancer, highlighting what further studies are needed to pave the way for safer exploration class missions, as well as postflight screening and management of women astronauts following long-duration spaceflight.

Keywords: astronaut health; female reproductive system; gynecological cancers; microgravity; space exploration; space radiation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

**Figure 1**
A summary of the effects of microgravity, space radiation, and space flight on the female reproductive system.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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Extraterrestrial Gynecology: Could Spaceflight Increase the Risk of Developing Cancer in Female Astronauts? An Updated Review

Affiliations

Extraterrestrial Gynecology: Could Spaceflight Increase the Risk of Developing Cancer in Female Astronauts? An Updated Review

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources