ORIGINAL ABSTRACT

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among women worldwide. Increasing evidence suggests that chronic exposure to pesticides, many of which act as endocrine-disrupting chemicals, represents a significant and underappreciated determinant for both cancer origin and progression. In this review, we reported the most recent epidemiological data, exposure pathways, and mechanistic insights linking major pesticide classes, including persistent organochlorines, organophosphates, triazines, carbamates, pyrethroids, neonicotinoids, and glyphosate-based herbicides, to breast carcinogenesis. These compounds are ubiquitous, detectable in food, water, household dust, and occupational environments, and display high lipophilicity that enables long-term bioaccumulation in adipose-rich breast tissue. Therefore, recognition of pesticides as modifiable environmental determinants of breast cancer should prompt strengthened regulation, improved biomonitoring, and public-health strategies aimed at reducing chronic exposure.