Fire-Smoke Induced Protein Alterations in Firefighters' Body Fluids Identify Prognostic Pan-cancer Biomarkers
TL;DR
Findings suggest urine is a sensitive matrix for detecting acute exposure effects, while serum provides complementary systemic information in firefighters, and integrating both biofluids into NFPA 1582-guided surveillance may enhance occupational health monitoring and support early cancer detection and prevention in firefighters.
Abstract
Firefighters are routinely exposed to complex mixtures of toxicants during fire suppression, and growing evidence links these exposures to elevated cancer risk. Proteomic profiling provides a sensitive means to detect early molecular alterations associated with such occupational hazards. In this study, we performed a comparative label-free proteomic analysis of paired serum (n = 42) and urine (n = 50) samples collected from firefighters at baseline and within 24 h postfire suppression. We identified and quantified 330 protein groups in serum and 1085 in urine. PLS-DA of total protein abundance showed clear separation between pre- and postexposure samples in both biofluids, indicating exposure-related proteomic changes. Volcano plot analysis further revealed multiple significantly altered proteins in both biofluids, wherein the urine-proteome showed a broader range of differential expressions. Proteins altered in at least 70% of samples were subjected to pathway enrichment analysis, identifying associations with several diseases, including small-cell lung cancer. Protein–protein interaction analysis revealed highly interconnected cancer-related networks involving LAMA4, LAMC1, VWF, and B2M. These findings suggest urine is a sensitive matrix for detecting acute exposure effects, while serum provides complementary systemic information. Integrating both biofluids into NFPA 1582-guided surveillance may enhance occupational health monitoring and support early cancer detection and prevention in firefighters.