Association between microplastic exposure and risk of never-smoking lung cancer in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial

Principal Investigator

Name
Qing Lan

Degrees
M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H.

Institution
National Cancer Institute

Position Title
Senior Investigator

Email
qingl@mail.nih.gov

About this CDAS Project

Study
PLCO (Learn more about this study)

Project ID
2025-0048

Initial CDAS Request Approval
Apr 21, 2026

Title
Association between microplastic exposure and risk of never-smoking lung cancer in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial

Summary
Plastic production has increased over the past decades, and exposure to fine plastic particles in the environment has become an increasing concern for human health. Microplastics (MPs) are small plastic particles with regular or irregular shape and with diameter ranging from 0.1 µm (nanoplastics) to 5 mm, and are byproducts formed during intentional plastic manufacture for use in personal-care and cleaning products, manufacturing of materials containing plastics, and degradation of plastics. Studies using human biomonitoring found evidence of inhaled MPs deposited in lung tissue, and experimental studies have shown that MPs can exert effects across the respiratory system by causing inflammation and oxidative stress. To date, no molecular epidemiological study has investigated the link between MP exposure and risk of lung cancer. Thus, we propose to assess the association between exposure to MP and future risk of lung adenocarcinoma, the most common histological subtype, in a nested case-control study in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial.

To addresss this gap in knowledge, we propose to collaborate with Dr. Douglas Walker’s laboratory at Emory University to measure MP concentration in human whole blood using their laboratory and quantitative method, Fast, Single Tissue Extraction for Multiplexed Plastics Analysis (FaSTE-MPA). The FaSTE-MPA method has been previously validated and has shown to reliably measure MP concentration in human tissues. We will measure MP concentrations in whole blood samples (1.8 ml) from all of PLCO’s 73 never-smoking lung adenocarcinoma cases and 73 matched controls, as well as 14 duplicate samples from controls to be used for quality control.

The main objective of the study is to evaluate the association between MP concentration and risk of lung adenocarcinoma. Further, we will measure metabolic features to identify additional potential chemical exposures including components of plastics and explore their related biologic effects through analyses of endogenous metabolite data. Specifically, we will:

Aims

Primary Aim 1. Measure MP concentrations in 73 never-smoking lung adenocarcinoma cases and 73 matched controls using FaSTE-MPA and describe the distribution of MP concentration overall and by all matching factors, including age, sex, smoking status, study center, and time of sample collection.

Primary Aim 2. Evaluate the relationship between MP concentration and future risk of lung adenocarcinoma.

Secondary Aim 1. Assess the association between MP concentration and metabolites selected a priori, as well as conduct an untargeted metabolomics analysis and direct link with risk of lung adenocarcinoma.

Findings from our study may help elucidate the link between MP and human health as it pertains to tumorigenesis and contribute to the body of work on the etiology of lung adenocarcinoma.

Collaborators

Qing Lan (National Cancer Institute)
Batel Blechter (National Cancer Institute)
Nathaniel Rothman (National Cancer Institute)
Mark P. Purdue (National Cancer Institute)
Rena R. Jones (National Cancer Institute)
Mohammad L. Rahman (National Cancer Institute)
Jianxin Shi (National Cancer Institute)
Douglas Walker (Emory University)