UT Scientists Investigate Microplastics’ Role in Rising Cancer Rates

UT launched a new cancer initiative in an effort to foster transformative increases in prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and survival by paring researchers from different disciplines to research new ideas. As one of the five teams that were funded, Dr. Zhanfei Liu, Professor at The University of Texas Marine Science Institute, will be working with colleagues from UT Austin and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to understand the role of microplastics in cancer development and progression.

This study represents the first comprehensive approach to address microplastic pollution as a potential contributor to rising cancer rates, with an emphasis on early-onset cancers. The goal is to leverage a multidisciplinary approach to develop new tools to detect microplastics, identify biomarkers of plastic exposure to help assess cancer risk, and to inform public health strategies to reduce exposure to microplastics in food and water, helping to prevent cancer.

The incidence of many chronic diseases, including cancer, is rising worldwide. Solid tumors that used to mostly affect older adults are now increasingly seen in younger people, suggesting that environmental factors may play a role. Rates of early-onset cancers, like colorectal and pancreatic cancers, are rising each year at an alarming rate.

Microplastics are tiny plastic fragments found everywhere – in animals, plants, food and water. Recent evidence shows that these microplastics can build up in the human body and are linked to inflammatory and degenerative diseases.

This project will investigate the role of microplastics in cancer development and progression. Researchers will characterize microplastic contamination in the environment and our diet, improve ways to detect microplastics in animal tissues, and determine how they affect organs and tumor growth. By analyzing microplastics in human normal tissues and early cancer conditions, researchers will explore how microplastics might cause cancer. The researchers will also study whether microplastics can affect how well cancer treatments work.

Zhanfei Liu is joined by Principal Investigator Andrea Viale, Associate Professor of Genomic Medicine and Anirban Maitra, Professor of Pathology, and Jimin Min, Instructor of Translational Molecular Pathology, all from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, along with Erin H. Seeley, Director of the Mass Spectrometry Imaging Facility in the Department of Chemistry at The University of Texas at Austin.