Lung cancer and other pulmonary diseases

While exposure to arsenic can occur through a number of routes, including ingestion in water, foods, and soil, early work focused on the ability of arsenic to increase the risk of lung cancer through inhalation, especially in occupational settings. This chapter focuses on the role of arsenic in airway remodeling and how that relationship might lead to both carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic lung diseases. It outlines lung cancer and noncancer adverse health outcomes following arsenic exposures that have been reported in human populations and/or animal studies. Those adverse outcomes suggest that the extracellular matrix (ECM) and aberrant cell motility and wound repair are targets of arsenic, leading to the chronic lung disease phenotypes seen in populations exposed to high levels of arsenic. Aberrant wound repair and signaling mechanisms involved in cellular migration, as well as changes in airway epithelial barrier structure and function, have been demonstrated following arsenic exposure as well.