Exposure to particulate air pollution linked to increased risk of death in liver cancer patients

In a recent study, exposure to particulate air pollution after being diagnosed with liver cancer was significantly associated with an increased risk of premature death. Patients exposed to elevated levels of particulate air pollution were at increased risk of dying from liver cancer or from any cause, and their risk rose with higher exposure levels.

The International Journal of Cancer study, which included 20,221 patients with newly diagnosed liver cancer during 2000-2009 in California, is the first registry-based study to link individual-level estimates of air pollution exposures after liver cancer diagnosis to survival.