Reportedly, 300 million people worldwide are affected by the consumption of arsenic contaminated groundwater. India prominently figures amongst them and the state of Bihar has shown an upsurge in cases affected by arsenic poisoning. Escalated arsenic content in blood, leaves 1 in every 100 human being highly vulnerable to being affected by the disease. Uncontrolled intake may lead to skin, kidney, liver, bladder, or lung related cancer but even indirect forms of cancer are showing up on a regular basis with abnormal arsenic levels as the probable cause. But despite the apparent relation, the etiology has not been understood clearly. Blood samples of 2000 confirmed cancer patients were collected from pathology department of our institute. For cross-sectional design, 200 blood samples of subjects free from cancer from arsenic free pockets of Patna urban agglomeration, were collected. Blood arsenic levels in carcinoma patients as compared to sarcomas, lymphomas and leukemia were found to be higher. The geospatial map correlates the blood arsenic with cancer types and the demographic area of Gangetic plains. Most of the cancer patients with high blood arsenic concentration were from the districts near the river Ganges. The raised blood arsenic concentration in the 2000 cancer patients strongly correlates the relationship of arsenic with cancer especially the carcinoma type which is more vulnerable. The average arsenic concentration in blood of the cancer patients in the Gangetic plains denotes the significant role of arsenic which is present in endemic proportions. Thus, the study significantly correlates and advocates a strong relation of the deleterious element with the disease. It also underlines the need to address the problem by deciphering the root cause of the elevated cancer incidences in the Gangetic basin of Bihar and its association with arsenic poisoning.

Breast cancer is among most common form of cancer worldwide. It is also the major cause of death in female cancer patient around the world. Despite various therapeutic measures, it remains associated with high mortality rate. Aegle marmelos (L.) Correa has been extensively used in Indian medicine system Ayurveda, due to its various medicinal properties. However, there are very limited reports regarding its anticancer activity. Thus, the present research work has been aimed to study the anticancer activity of Aegle marmelos fruit extract on 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) induced breast cancer in rats. Female Charles Foster rats, 55–60 days old weighing around (150 ± 10 g) were used for the study and were induced DMBA (20 mg/mL dissolved in Olive oil) orally. After the development of breast tumors (about 0.5 cm), the rats were treated with Aegle marmelos ethanolic fruit pulp extract (200 mg/kg b.w./day) orally for 5 weeks and then volume of tumor was measured. Aegle marmelos treatment showed significantly reduced mammary tumor volume (P < 0.05), along with significant reduction (P < 0.0001) in the different serum biomarkers such as TNF-α level, serum malondialdehyde (MDA) level and glucose levels. Significant (P < 0.0001) improvement in both, the kidney and liver serum biomarker parameters were also observed after the treatment with Aegle marmelos ethanolic fruit pulp extract. From the entire study, taking everything into account it can be interpreted that Aegle marmelos ethanolic fruit pulp extract possesses anti-proliferative activity by suppressing the progression of breast tumors in rat model. The plant extract also possesses hepato-renal protective effect. Hence, it can be targeted as novel and safe anti-cancer drug against breast cancer.

Chronic exposure to groundwater containing elevated concentrations of geogenic contaminants such as arsenic (As) and uranium (U) can lead to detrimental health impacts. In this study, we have undertaken a groundwater survey of representative sites across all districts of the State of Bihar, in the Middle Gangetic Plain of north-eastern India. The aim is to characterize the inorganic major and trace element aqueous geochemistry in groundwater sources widely used for drinking in Bihar, with a particular focus on the spatial distribution and associated geochemical controls on groundwater As and U. Concentrations of As and U are highly heterogeneous across Bihar, exceeding (provisional) guideline values in ~16% and 7% of samples (n = 273), respectively. The strongly inverse correlation between As and U is consistent with the contrasting redox controls on As and U mobility. High As is associated with Fe, Mn, lower Eh and is depth-dependent; in contrast, high U is associated with HCO₃⁻, NO₃⁻ and higher Eh. The improved understanding of the distribution and geochemical controls on As and U in Bihar has important implications on remediation priorities and selection, and may contribute to informing further monitoring and/or representative characterization efforts in Bihar and elsewhere in India.

In recent times Gallbladder cancer (GBC) incidences increased many folds in India and are being reported from arsenic hotspots identified in Bihar. The study aims to establish association between arsenic exposure and gallbladder carcinogenesis. In the present study, n = 200 were control volunteers and n = 152 confirmed gallbladder cancer cases. The studied GBC patient’s biological samples-gallbladder tissue, gallbladder stone, bile, blood and hair samples were collected for arsenic estimation. Moreover, n = 512 gallbladder cancer patients blood samples were also evaluated for the presence of arsenic to understand exposure level in the population. A significantly high arsenic concentration (p < 0.05) was detected in the blood samples with maximum concentration 389 µg/L in GBC cases in comparison to control. Similarly, in the gallbladder cancer patients, there was significantly high arsenic concentration observed in gallbladder tissue with highest concentration of 2166 µg/kg, in gallbladder stones 635 µg/kg, in bile samples 483 µg/L and in hair samples 6980 µg/kg respectively. Moreover, the n = 512 gallbladder cancer patient’s blood samples study revealed very significant arsenic concentration in the population of Bihar with maximum arsenic concentration as 746 µg/L. The raised arsenic concentration in the gallbladder cancer patients’ biological samples—gallbladder tissue, gallbladder stone, bile, blood, and hair samples was significantly very high in the arsenic exposed area. The study denotes that the gallbladder disease burden is very high in the arsenic exposed area of Bihar. The findings do provide a strong link between arsenic contamination and increased gallbladder carcinogenesis.

Background: In the present times, arsenic poisoning contamination in the ground water has caused lots of health-related problems in the village population residing in middle Gangetic plain. In Bihar, about 16 districts have been reported to be affected with arsenic poisoning. For the ground water and health assessment, Simri village of Buxar district was undertaken which is a flood plain region of river Ganga. Methods: In this study, 322 water samples were collected for arsenic estimation, and their results were analyzed. Furthermore, the correlation between arsenic contamination in ground water with depth and its distance from river Ganga were analyzed. Results are presented as mean ± standard deviation and total variation present in a set of data was analyzed through one-way analysis of variance. The difference among mean values has been analyzed by applying Dunnett's test. The criterion for statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. Results: This study shows novel findings ever done in this area. Halwa Patti and Doodhi Patti strips were the most affected strips with high-arsenic concentration in hand pumps. Furthermore, a correlation between the arsenic concentration with the depth of the hand pumps and the distance from the river Ganga was also a significant study. Conclusions: The present study concludes that in Simri village there is high contamination of arsenic in ground water in all the strips. Such a huge population is at very high risk leading the village on the verge of causing health hazards among them. Therefore, an immediate strategy is required to combat the present problem.