Environmental Exposures and Cancer Risk: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract

Environmental exposure is increasingly recognized as a significant cancer risk factor. This comprehensive review aims to provide an overview of current knowledge regarding the relationship between several environmental factors and the development of cancer. The complicated interactions between genetic predispositions and environmental factors in the etiology of cancer are highlighted in this study by looking at both known and newly discovered environmental carcinogens. The review covers a broad spectrum of environmental exposures, including occupational risks, dietary and physical activity habits, and toxins in the air and water. It also explores the molecular processes by which these exposures cause cancer, with particular attention to pathways including DNA damage, oxidative stress, and epigenetic changes. This review also discusses the differences in cancer risk associated with environmental exposures among various populations, highlighting the necessity of focused preventative and therapeutic measures. The results highlight how crucial it is to implement public health programs and regulatory regulations targeted at lowering environmental carcinogen levels and lessening their influence on the incidence of cancer. Considering an emphasis on developing precision medicine techniques and enhancing environmental health equality, future research directions are suggested further to clarify the complex links between the environment and cancer.

Received: 12 June 2024 | Revised: 22 August 2024 | Accepted: 26 September 2024

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to this work.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support this work are available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author.

Author Contribution Statement

Rufus Oluwagbemileke Ajayi: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Investigation, Data curation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing, Visualization. Taiwo Temitope Ogunjobi: Methodology, Formal analysis, Resources, Data curation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing, Supervision.