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Comparative Study of Liver Cancer Patients in Arsenic Exposed and Non-exposed Areas of Pakistan

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Abstract

The investigated data shows that arsenic (As) in drinking water is associated with increased mortality from different types of cancers including liver cancer. In this study, blood and scalp hair samples of male liver cancer patients and healthy referents belonging to As exposed areas of Sindh Pakistan were analyzed for As contents. The As levels in drinking water of understudy area showed that sections of this population was exposed to 3–15-folds higher concentrations of As than permissible limit. For comparative purposes, blood and scalp hair samples of matched cancerous patient as referent patients belonging to big city (Hyderabad) who have used municipal treated water with low As levels <10 μg/L were also collected. The results of this study showed that the average As concentration was higher in the blood and scalp hair of exposed and non-exposed referent cancer patients as compared to referents (p < 001). The exposed cancerous patients have twofolds higher As level in both biological samples as related to non-exposed case matched cancerous male subjects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Center of Excellence in Analytical Chemistry, University of Sindh, Jamshoro, 76080, Pakistan

    Sham Kumar Wadhwa, Tasneem Gul Kazi, Hassan Imran Afridi, Nida Fatima Kolachi, Sumaira Khan, Ghulam Abbas Kandhro, Abdul Qadir Shah & Jameel Ahmed Baig

  2. Larkana Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Radiotherapy, (LINAR), Larkana, 77150, Pakistan

    Akhtar Ali Chandio

  3. Nuclear Institute of Medicine and Radiotherapy (NIMRA), Jamshoro, 76080, Pakistan

    Syeda Nasreen

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  1. Sham Kumar Wadhwa
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  2. Tasneem Gul Kazi
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  3. Akhtar Ali Chandio
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  4. Hassan Imran Afridi
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  7. Ghulam Abbas Kandhro
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  9. Abdul Qadir Shah
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  10. Jameel Ahmed Baig
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Correspondence to Tasneem Gul Kazi.

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Wadhwa, S.K., Kazi, T.G., Chandio, A.A. et al. Comparative Study of Liver Cancer Patients in Arsenic Exposed and Non-exposed Areas of Pakistan. Biol Trace Elem Res 144, 86–96 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-011-9036-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-011-9036-7

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