Cancer Epidemiology Unit

About: Cancer Epidemiology Unit is a based out in . It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Cancer. The organization has 669 authors who have published 1725 publications receiving 93979 citations.

Lung cancer in never smokers in the UK Million Women Study.

Abstract: To assess directly the effects of various risk factors on lung cancer incidence among never smokers, large prospective studies are needed. In a cohort of 1.2 million UK women without prior cancer, half (634,039) reported that they had never smoked. Mean age at recruitment was 55 (SD5) years, and during 14 (SD3) years of follow-up, 0.2% (1,469) of these never smokers developed lung cancer. Cox regression was used to estimate relative risks (RRs) of lung cancer for 34 potential risk factors, of which 31 were nonsignificant (p > 0.05). The remaining three risk factors were associated with a significantly increased incidence of lung cancer in never smokers: non-white vs. white ethnicity (RR = 2.34, 95% CI 1.55-3.52, p < 0.001), asthma requiring treatment vs. not (RR = 1.32, 1.10-1.58, p = 0.003) and taller stature (height ≥ 165 cm vs. <160 cm: RR = 1.16, 1.03-1.32, p = 0.02). There was little association with other sociodemographic, anthropometric or hormonal factors, or with dietary intakes of meat, fish, fruit, vegetables and fiber. The findings were not materially affected by restricting the analyses to adenocarcinomas, the most common histological type among never smokers.

Candidate regions for a testicular cancer susceptibility gene

Abstract: Epidemiological data suggest the presence of a susceptibility gene for testicular cancer in some families. Families with multiple cases of testicular cancer are rare and almost all those reported have only two affected members. We have performed a sib-pair analysis on 35 families in which there are either two or three affected brothers. These families have been typed for 220 autosomal microsatellite markers spaced 10-20 cM throughout the genome. Six regions which gave a LOD score of more than 1.0 on formal linkage analysis or a P value of 0.05 or less using a non-parametric approach are considered as candidate regions for a susceptibility gene. Of particular interest is one region on chromosome 4. Two neighbouring probes in this region both scored positively with LOD score of 2.60 on multipoint analysis. An International Testis Cancer Linkage Consortium has been formed to pool resources and will investigate these findings further with the world-wide collection of families.

Tubal ligation and ovarian cancer risk in a large cohort: Substantial variation by histological type

Abstract: Histopathological and molecular studies suggest that different histological subtypes (histotypes) of ovarian cancer have different aetiologies. Few studies have been large enough to explore reliably the effect of tubal ligation (sterilization), which has been associated with a reduced overall risk of ovarian cancer, on different tumour histotypes. In a prospective study of 1.1 million UK women without prior cancer or bilateral oophorectomy, 8,035 ovarian cancers occurred during mean follow-up of 13.8 years. Using a Cox proportional hazards model, we estimated adjusted relative risks of ovarian cancer associated with tubal ligation. Overall, there was substantial heterogeneity in tumour risk associated with tubal ligation for the four main histotypes, serous, endometrioid, mucinous and clear cell (heterogeneity: p < 0.0001). For serous tumours, the most common histotype (n = 3,515), risks differed significantly between high-grade (RR: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.67–0.89) and low-grade tumours (RR: 1.13, 95% CI: 0.89–1.42); heterogeneity: p = 0.007. Relative risks were almost halved for endometrioid (n = 690, RR: 0.54, 95% CI: 0.43–0.69) and clear cell tumours (n = 401, RR: 0.55, 95% CI: 0.39–0.77), but there was no association between tubal ligation and mucinous tumours (n = 836, RR: 0.99, 95% CI: 0.84–1.18). For the main tumour histotypes we found little variation of risk by timing of tubal ligation. The significant differences by tumour histotype are unlikely to be due to confounding and are consistent with hypotheses that high-grade and low-grade serous tumours have different origins, and that some endometrioid and clear cell tumours might arise from cells and/or carcinogens travelling through the fallopian tubes.

Comparison of standardised dietary folate intake across ten countries participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition

Abstract: Folate plays an important role in the synthesis and methylation of DNA as a cofactor in one-carbon metabolism. Inadequate folate intake has been linked to adverse health events. However, comparable information on dietary folate intake across European countries has never been reported. The objective of the present study was to describe the dietary folate intake and its food sources in ten countries in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted in 36 034 participants (aged 35-74 years) who completed a single 24 h dietary recall using a computerised interview software program, EPIC-Soft (R) (International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon). Dietary folate intake was estimated using the standardised EPIC Nutrient DataBase, adjusted for age, energy intake, weight and height and weighted by season and day of recall. Adjusted mean dietary folate intake in most centres ranged from 250 to 350 mu g/d in men and 200 to 300 mu g/d in women. Folate intake tended to be lower among current smokers and heavier alcohol drinkers and to increase with educational level, especially in women. Supplement users (any types) were likely to report higher dietary folate intake in most centres. Vegetables, cereals and fruits, nuts and seeds were the main contributors to folate intake. Nonetheless, the type and pattern of consumption of these main food items varied across the centres. These first comparisons of standardised dietary folate intakes across different European populations show moderate regional differences (except the UK health conscious group), and variation by sex, educational level, smoking and alcohol-drinking status, and supplement use.