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Li Rita Zhang

Other affiliations: Mount Sinai Hospital
Bio: Li Rita Zhang is an academic researcher from Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute. The author has contributed to research in topics: Cancer & Medical history. The author has an hindex of 4, co-authored 4 publications receiving 171 citations. Previous affiliations of Li Rita Zhang include Mount Sinai Hospital.

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Results from the pooled analyses provide little evidence for an increased risk of lung cancer among habitual or long‐term cannabis smokers, although the possibility of potential adverse effect for heavy consumption cannot be excluded.
Abstract: To investigate the association between cannabis smoking and lung cancer risk, data on 2,159 lung cancer cases and 2,985 controls were pooled from 6 case-control studies in the US, Canada, UK, and New Zealand within the International Lung Cancer Consortium. Study-specific associations between cannabis smoking and lung cancer were estimated using unconditional logistic regression adjusting for sociodemographic factors, tobacco smoking status and pack-years; odds-ratio estimates were pooled using random effects models. Subgroup analyses were done for sex, histology and tobacco smoking status. The shapes of dose-response associations were examined using restricted cubic spline regression. The overall pooled OR for habitual versus nonhabitual or never users was 0.96 (95% CI: 0.66-1.38). Compared to nonhabitual or never users, the summary OR was 0.88 (95%CI: 0.63-1.24) for individuals who smoked 1 or more joint-equivalents of cannabis per day and 0.94 (95%CI: 0.67-1.32) for those consumed at least 10 joint-years. For adenocarcinoma cases the ORs were 1.73 (95%CI: 0.75-4.00) and 1.74 (95%CI: 0.85-3.55), respectively. However, no association was found for the squamous cell carcinoma based on small numbers. Weak associations between cannabis smoking and lung cancer were observed in never tobacco smokers. Spline modeling indicated a weak positive monotonic association between cumulative cannabis use and lung cancer, but precision was low at high exposure levels. Results from our pooled analyses provide little evidence for an increased risk of lung cancer among habitual or long-term cannabis smokers, although the possibility of potential adverse effect for heavy consumption cannot be excluded.

138 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is suggested that the current evidence to support any protective or hazardous effect of vitamin or mineral supplements on thyroid cancer development is inconclusive and additional studies addressing previous limitations are necessary to elucidate this possible association.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to consolidate epidemiological evidence for the association between dietary supplements of vitamins and minerals and thyroid cancer development, as well as to contribute to evidence-based dietary recommendations for thyroid cancer primary prevention. We carried out a sy

27 citations

Proceedings ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The finding that the association with family history of prostate cancer was present only in never smokers suggests a common etiology between the two tumor types and further investigation is warranted.
Abstract: Background: Pancreatic cancer is one of the most fatal cancers. Given the high mortality burden of this disease, there is a pressing need to determine causes so effective prevention strategies can be implemented. Family history of pancreatic cancer, and medical history of diabetes or chronic pancreatitis have been previously identified as risk factors for pancreatic cancer. However, it is not clear whether other medical conditions or family history of other cancers have a role in pancreatic cancer etiology. Therefore we aim to conduct an in-depth analysis to investigate the association between family history of cancer and medical history with pancreatic cancer risk, in the Ontario Pancreatic Cancer Case-Control Study. Methods: We used data from 743 cases and 656 controls from the Ontario Pancreatic Case-Control Study. Self-administered questionnaires provided information regarding family history of cancer, medical history and other risk factors such as smoking status and BMI. Family history was defined as any biological first-degree relative (parent, sibling or child) with a cancer diagnosis. We analyzed the association by cancer site, and within each site by type and numbers of affected relatives. Medical history of a disease or condition was defined as having the disease or condition two years prior to diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. We also conducted stratified analysis by smoking status and age of onset of pancreatic cancer. Unconditional logistic regression was used to produce odds ratios with 95% confidence limits for all factors of interest.Results: A family history of pancreatic cancer was associated with increased pancreatic cancer risk (OR=1.87 95% CI 1.11-3.16). We also observed an increased risk of pancreatic cancer for individuals with a family history of prostate cancer, with an OR of 1.59 (95% CI = 1.05-2.40). This association was modified by smoking behavior, and was only present among never smokers (OR=2.19, 95% CI 1.25-3.83), not ever smokers (OR=0.98, 95% CI= 0.53-1.82). Diabetes mellitus more than 2 years prior to pancreatic cancer was associated with increased pancreatic cancer risk (OR=3.48, 95% CI 2.13-5.71). Risk was also elevated for long-term diabetes of 10 years or more (OR=4.73, 95% CI 2.20-10.17). Other medical conditions were not associated with risk. Conclusions: Our results suggest that individuals with long-term diabetes or family history of pancreatic or prostate cancer are at increased risk of pancreatic cancer. Our finding that the association with family history of prostate cancer was present only in never smokers suggests a common etiology between the two tumor types and further investigation is warranted. Citation Format: Gordon Fehringer, Steven Gallinger, Ayelet Borgida, Li Rita Zhang, Geoffrey Liu, Rayjean J. Hung. Family history of cancers, medical history, and pancreatic cancer risk in the Ontario Pancreatic Cancer Case-Control Study. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4810. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-4810

23 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jul 2014-Pancreas
TL;DR: Using the data from the Ontario Pancreatic Cancer Case-Control Study, an in-depth analysis is performed to investigate pancreatic cancer risk in relation to family history of cancer by cancer site, including stratification by affected relative type and smoking status.
Abstract: To the Editor: Having a family history of pancreatic cancer is known to increase pancreatic cancer risk. However, studies examining associations between pancreatic cancer risk and a family history of other cancers, including prostate, colorectal, lung, and breast, have produced inconsistent results. In addition, associations stratified by affected relative type and smoking status are less well studied. Several medical conditions are also known to be associated with pancreatic cancer risk. There is considerable evidence indicating that pancreatic cancer causes diabetes, whereas epidemiological data also suggest that diabetes is an etiologic factor of pancreatic cancer. Pancreatitis has been shown to be associated with pancreatic cancer risk, although risk estimates vary substantially. The evidence that history of gallstones or gastric ulcer is associated with pancreatic cancer is more limited, particularly with respect to longer periods between onset of these conditions and cancer diagnosis. Using the data from the Ontario Pancreatic Cancer Case-Control Study, we performed an in-depth analysis to investigate pancreatic cancer risk in relation to family history of cancer by cancer site, including stratification by affected relative type and smoking status. In addition, we investigate the association of medical conditions with pancreatic cancer riskVspecifically diabetes mellitus, pancreatitis, gallstones, and stomach ulcer or chronic gastritisVcategorized by age of onset.

10 citations


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01 Apr 2012
TL;DR: International experts in cancer prevention analyse global research on diet nutrition physical activity cancer and make public health policy recommendations, the fractions of cancer attributable to potentially modifiable factors are analyzed.
Abstract: physical activity and cancer fact sheet national cancer on this page what is physical activity what is known about the relationship between physical activity and cancer risk how might physical activity be, diet and cancer report american institute for cancer the american institute for cancer research aicr is the cancer charity that fosters research on diet and cancer prevention and educates the public about the results, download resources and toolkits world cancer research downloads for scientists from the wcrf aicr third expert report diet nutrition physical activity and cancer a global perspective, nutritional science university of washington school of public health school of public health nutritional science detailed course offerings time schedule are available for spring quarter 2019, 2019 aicr research conference american institute for about aicr we fund cutting edge research and give people practical tools and information to help them prevent and survive cancer more about aicr, agence fruits et l gumes frais aprifel the global fruit and veg newsletter is a monthly newsletter distributing to 29 countries involved in the promotion of the consumption of fruit and vegetable worldwide, world cancer research fund international we are experts in cancer prevention we analyse global research on diet nutrition physical activity cancer and make public health policy recommendations, the fractions of cancer attributable sciencedirect com a proportion of cancers at many body sites are attributable to potentially modifiable factors no global summaries of the preventable cancer burden have been, who controlling the global obesity epidemic more information obesity and overweight fact sheet who global strategy on diet physical activity and health who global database on body mass index, espen guidelines on nutrition in cancer patients gl nutrition in cancer patients outline o methods o1 basic information o2 methods o3 post publication impact a background a1 catabolic alterations in, un news global perspective human stories un news produces daily news content in arabic chinese english french kiswahili portuguese russian and spanish and weekly programmes in hindi urdu and bangla, recommended community strategies and measurements to table continued summary of recommended community strategies and measurements to prevent obesity in the united states strategies to encourage physical, food as medicine preventing treating the most dreaded food as medicine preventing treating the most dreaded diseases with diet, video resources bc cancer these videos help patients learn about their cancer and its treatment, prostate cancer nutrition and dietary supplements pdq nutrition methods and dietary supplements have been studied for prostate cancer prevention or treatment read about the history of research laboratory, who europe food safety food safety ingestion and handling of contaminated food causes significant illness and death worldwide across the who european region foodborne diseases, creating healthy food and eating environments policy and food and eating environments likely contribute to the increasing epidemic of obesity and chronic diseases over and above individual factors such as knowledge skills, health risks obesity prevention source harvard t h obesity and reproduction obesity can influence various aspects of reproduction from sexual activity to conception among women the association between, top nutrition schools undergraduate degree programs ncr want to know the top nutrition schools and best undergraduate degree programs here we review analyze rank rate them figure out which is best for you , overeating caloric restriction and breast cancer risk by this study analyzes the association of excessive energy intake and caloric restriction with breast cancer bc risk taking into account the individual, calcium what s best for your bones and health the possible increased risk of ovarian cancer high levels of galactose a sugar released by the digestion of lactose in milk have been studied as being, cancer protocol nutrition supplements cancer protocol nutrition supplements herbs enzymes note do not email me unless you would like a personalized protocol free with a suggested donation of 250

2,202 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Dec 2018
TL;DR: Despite increased cannabis use and a changing state-level policy landscape, conclusive evidence regarding the shortand long-term health effects—both harms and benefits—of cannabis use remains elusive.
Abstract: Recent years have seen a rapid rise in the medical and recreational use of cannabis: a broad term that can be used to describe the various products and chemical compounds (e.g., marijuana, cannabinoids) derived from different species of the cannabis plant. Despite increased cannabis use and a changing state-level policy landscape, conclusive evidence regarding the shortand long-term health effects—both harms and benefits—of cannabis use remains elusive.

921 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In the United States, lung cancer is the second most common diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related death and the major risk factor is tobacco smoking.
Abstract: In the United States, lung cancer is the second most common diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related death. Although tobacco smoking is the major risk factor accounting for 80% to 90% of all lung cancer diagnoses, there are numerous other risk factors that have been identified as

308 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Evidence indicates that a substantial extent of the risk of adverse health outcomes from cannabis use may be reduced by informed behavioral choices among users, and evidence-based Lower-Risk Cannabis Use Guidelines serve as a population-level education and intervention tool to inform such user choices toward improved public health outcomes.
Abstract: Background. Cannabis use is common in North America, especially among young people, and is associated with a risk of various acute and chronic adverse health outcomes. Cannabis control regimes are evolving, for example toward a national legalization policy in Canada, with the aim to improve public health, and thus require evidence-based interventions. As cannabis-related health outcomes may be influenced by behaviors that are modifiable by the user, evidence-based Lower-Risk Cannabis Use Guidelines (LRCUG)—akin to similar guidelines in other health fields—offer a valuable, targeted prevention tool to improve public health outcomes.Objectives. To systematically review, update, and quality-grade evidence on behavioral factors determining adverse health outcomes from cannabis that may be modifiable by the user, and translate this evidence into revised LRCUG as a public health intervention tool based on an expert consensus process.Search methods. We used pertinent medical search terms and structured search st...

258 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The objectives of this systematic review were to assess the efficacy of cannabis for treating chronic pain and to provide a broad overview of the short- and long-term physical and mental health effects of cannabis use in Chronic pain and general patient populations.
Abstract: Background Cannabis is increasingly available for the treatment of chronic pain, yet its efficacy remains uncertain. Purpose To review the benefits of plant-based cannabis preparations for treating chronic pain in adults and the harms of cannabis use in chronic pain and general adult populations. Data sources MEDLINE, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and several other sources from database inception to March 2017. Study selection Intervention trials and observational studies, published in English, involving adults using plant-based cannabis preparations that reported pain, quality of life, or adverse effect outcomes. Data extraction Two investigators independently abstracted study characteristics and assessed study quality, and the investigator group graded the overall strength of evidence using standard criteria. Data synthesis From 27 chronic pain trials, there is low-strength evidence that cannabis alleviates neuropathic pain but insufficient evidence in other pain populations. According to 11 systematic reviews and 32 primary studies, harms in general population studies include increased risk for motor vehicle accidents, psychotic symptoms, and short-term cognitive impairment. Although adverse pulmonary effects were not seen in younger populations, evidence on most other long-term physical harms, in heavy or long-term cannabis users, or in older populations is insufficient. Limitation Few methodologically rigorous trials; the cannabis formulations studied may not reflect commercially available products; and limited applicability to older, chronically ill populations and patients who use cannabis heavily. Conclusion Limited evidence suggests that cannabis may alleviate neuropathic pain in some patients, but insufficient evidence exists for other types of chronic pain. Among general populations, limited evidence suggests that cannabis is associated with an increased risk for adverse mental health effects. Primary funding source U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. (PROSPERO: CRD42016033623).

220 citations