Objective: To investigate the relationship between lead and bladder cancer.
Material and methods: The levels of lead concentration in blood and bladder cancer tissue from a sample set of 36 bladder cancer patients were measured and then compared with those of a normal group. The levels of lead obtained in the bladder cancer tissue were evaluated depending on the stage of the tumour. The level of lead concentration in each tissue sample was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry.
Results: The lead concentration reached statistically higher values in both the bladder cancer tissue and the blood of patients with this carcinoma compared with those of the control group. No relationship between lead concentration levels in the bladder cancer tissue and blood of patients with this neoplasm on stage of tumour was demonstrated.
Conclusion: The results suggest that there is a relationship between exposure to lead and the initialization and development of bladder cancer.