The global burden of cancer continues to increase largely because of the aging and growth of the world population alongside an increasing adoption of cancer-causing behaviors, particularly smoking, in economically developing countries. Based on the GLOBOCAN 2008 estimates, about 12.7 million cancer cases and 7.6 million cancer deaths are estimated to have occurred in 2008; of these, 56% of the cases and 64% of the deaths occurred in the economically developing world. Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death among females, accounting for 23% of the total cancer cases and 14% of the cancer deaths. Lung cancer is the leading cancer site in males, comprising 17% of the total new cancer cases and 23% of the total cancer deaths. Breast cancer is now also the leading cause of cancer death among females in economically developing countries, a shift from the previous decade during which the most common cause of cancer death was cervical cancer. Further, the mortality burden for lung cancer among females in developing countries is as high as the burden for cervical cancer, with each accounting for 11% of the total female cancer deaths. Although overall cancer incidence rates in the developing world are half those seen in the developed world in both sexes, the overall cancer mortality rates are generally similar. Cancer survival tends to be poorer in developing countries, most likely because of a combination of a late stage at diagnosis and limited access to timely and standard treatment. A substantial proportion of the worldwide burden of cancer could be prevented through the application of existing cancer control knowledge and by implementing programs for tobacco control, vaccination (for liver and cervical cancers), and early detection and treatment, as well as public health campaigns promoting physical activity and a healthier dietary intake. Clinicians, public health professionals, and policy makers can play an active role in accelerating the application of such interventions globally.

/pdf/global-cancer-statistics-49zjx478re.pdf

Global cancer statistics

Cancer cells possess a broad spectrum of migration and invasion mechanisms. These include both individual and collective cell-migration strategies. Cancer therapeutics that are designed to target adhesion receptors or proteases have not proven to be effective in slowing tumour progression in clinical trials — this might be due to the fact that cancer cells can modify their migration mechanisms in response to different conditions. Learning more about the cellular and molecular basis of these different migration/invasion programmes will help us to understand how cancer cells disseminate and lead to new treatment strategies.

Tumour-cell invasion and migration: diversity and escape mechanisms

While incidence and mortality rates for most cancers (including lung, colorectum, female breast, and prostate) are decreasing in the United States and many other western countries, they are increasing in several less developed and economically transitioning countries because of adoption of unhealthy western lifestyles such as smoking and physical inactivity and consumption of calorie-dense food. Indeed, the rates for lung and colon cancers in a few of these countries have already surpassed those in the United States and other western countries. Most developing countries also continue to be disproportionately affected by cancers related to infectious agents, such as cervix, liver, and stomach cancers. The proportion of new cancer cases diagnosed in less developed countries is projected to increase from about 56% of the world total in 2008 to more than 60% in 2030 because of the increasing trends in cancer rates and expected increases in life expectancy and growth of the population. In this review, we describe these changing global incidence and mortality patterns for select common cancers and the opportunities for cancer prevention in developing countries.

https://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/cebp/19/8/1893.full.pdf

Global Patterns of Cancer Incidence and Mortality Rates and Trends

NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines

https://jeffreydachmd.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Molecular-targets-of-dietary-agents-prevention-cancer-aggarwal-2006.pdf

Molecular targets of dietary agents for prevention and therapy of cancer

Oral, pharyngeal and esophageal cancers are 3 of the 5 most common cancer sites in Indian men. To assess the effect of different patterns of smoking, chewing and alcohol drinking in the development of the above 3 neoplasms and to determine the interaction among these habits, we conducted a case-control study in Chennai and Trivandrum, South India. The cases included 1,563 oral, 636 pharyngeal and 566 esophageal male cancer patients who were compared with 1,711 male disease controls from the 2 centers as well as 1,927 male healthy hospital visitors from Chennai. We observed a significant dose-response relationship for duration and amount of consumption of the 3 habits with the development of the 3 neoplasms. Tobacco chewing emerged as the strongest risk factor for oral cancer, with the highest odds ratio (OR) for chewing products containing tobacco of 5.05 [95% confidence internal (CI) 4.26-5.97]. The strongest risk factor for pharyngeal and esophageal cancers was tobacco smoking, with ORs of 4.00 (95% CI 3.07-5.22) and 2.83 (95% CI 2.18-3.66) in current smokers, respectively. An independent increase in risk was observed for each habit in the absence of the other 2. For example, the OR of oral cancers for alcohol drinking in never smokers and never chewers was 2.56 (95% CI 1.42-4.64) and that of esophageal cancers was 3.41 (95% CI 1.46-7.99). Furthermore, significant decreases in risks for all 3 cancer sites were observed in subjects who quit smoking even among those who had quit smoking 2-4 years before the interview.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ijc.11114

Independent and combined effects of tobacco smoking, chewing and alcohol drinking on the risk of oral, pharyngeal and esophageal cancers in Indian men

Methods Incidence rates for all cancers combined and 19 specific cancers were obtained for India from Globocan 2002, for Indians in Singapore from Cancer Incidence in Five Continents (VIII), and from national data sources for South Asians (SA) in the United Kingdom (UK) and for Asian Indians/Pakistanis (AIP) and whites in the United States (US).

/pdf/cancer-incidence-rates-among-south-asians-in-four-geographic-5tfflphrna.pdf

Cancer incidence rates among South Asians in four geographic regions: India, Singapore, UK and US

The objective of the present paper is to summarize and quantify the trends in incidence and mortality rates of cervical squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and adenocarcinoma (AC) worldwide. All indexed publications, which provided information on time trends in incidence or mortality rates of cervix cancer, published during the past 12 years were included. The details of studies have been identified through searches on the MEDLINE database. Cytology screening as well as changes in socio-economic profile have led to declines in cervical SCC incidence and mortality rates worldwide. Higher percentage decline in SCC is observed in countries where organized screening programmes are available. The results suggested that Pap smear screening has played a significant role in the reduction in SCC in the US, Canada, New South Wales, and in almost all European countries (except in Ireland) as well as in some of the Asian countries. Increasing incidence and mortality rates of cervical AC has reported in many countries such as the US, Canada, UK, Iceland, Sweden, England, Spain, Finland, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Netherlands particularly among young women. However the increase was mainly in earlier periods till 1995 and stable or declining trends in cervical AC have been observed in later periods in many of the above countries such as the US, UK, Canada, Sweden. The increasing risk of AC suggested a major role for an increasing prevalence of persistent oncogenic HPV infection and its cofactors, whereas the down-turn in period effects in several countries during the 1990 s provided evidence that cytology screening is detecting more preinvasive ACs than in previous decades and suggested that screening might be starting to have a protective impact on AC. The decline in AC incidence might be due to improved specimen collection as well as due to increased awareness of AC precursors among cytopathologists and clinicians, improvements in laboratory training and quality assurance. In conclusion, cytology screening in combination with HPV screening for high-risk HPV types may maximize the possibilities of having early cervical lesions detected and treated.

Trends in Incidence and Mortality Rates of Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Adenocarcinoma of Cervix - Worldwide

Primary intraosseous carcinoma of the jaw: pooled analysis of world literature and report of two new cases.

The study aims to evaluate the survival and prognosis of patients with malignant phyllodes tumor. Between 1982 and 1998, 37 women with malignant phyllodes tumor were treated at the Regional Cancer Center, Trivandrum. Twelve patients were recurrent. Survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Patient, disease, and treatment factors were compared using log-rank test. The Cox-proportional hazard model was employed to identify the prognostic factors. Thirty-six patients had surgery. Twenty-five patients received postoperative radiotherapy, and 2 received chemotherapy in addition. The median follow-up was 43 months (range 1–170 months). Eight patients failed locally, and 7 of these were successfully salvaged by surgery. The 5-year overall survival was 74.2% (95% CI, 0.44 to 0.89), whereas 5-year disease-free survival was 59.6% (95% CI, 0.39 to 0.7). The margin of surgical excision was found to be the only independent prognostic factor (p = 0.003). However, patients with tumor size more than 5 cm (hazard ratio 2.9) were found to have increased hazard, whereas those receiving adjuvant radiotherapy (hazard ratio 0.6), married women (hazard ratio 0.4), and those women over the age of 35 years (hazard ratio 0.7) showed a decreased hazards. Cystosarcoma phyllodes is a rare malignancy of the female breast. Surgery with adequate margins is the primary treatment. Adjuvant radiotherapy appears to improve the disease-free survival.

Aleyamma Mathew

Papers

Independent and combined effects of tobacco smoking, chewing and alcohol drinking on the risk of oral, pharyngeal and esophageal cancers in Indian men

Cancer incidence rates among South Asians in four geographic regions: India, Singapore, UK and US

Trends in Incidence and Mortality Rates of Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Adenocarcinoma of Cervix - Worldwide

Primary intraosseous carcinoma of the jaw: pooled analysis of world literature and report of two new cases.

Malignant phyllodes tumor.