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.

Selenium and Prostate Cancer: Analysis of Individual Participant Data From Fifteen Prospective Studies

Abstract: Background: Some observational studies suggest that a higher selenium status is associated with a lower risk of prostate cancer but have been generally too small to provide precise estimates of associations, particularly by disease stage and grade. Methods: Collaborating investigators from 15 prospective studies provided individual-participant records (from predominantly men of white European ancestry) on blood or toenail selenium concentrations and prostate cancer risk. Odds ratios of prostate cancer by selenium concentration were estimated using multivariable-adjusted conditional logistic regression. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results: Blood selenium was not associated with the risk of total prostate cancer (multivariable-adjusted odds ratio [OR] per 80 percentile increase = 1.01, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.83 to 1.23, based on 4527 case patients and 6021 control subjects). However, there was heterogeneity by disease aggressiveness (ie, advanced stage and/or prostate cancer death, Pheterogeneity = .01), with high blood selenium associated with a lower risk of aggressive disease (OR = 0.43, 95% CI = 0.21 to 0.87) but not with nonaggressive disease. Nail selenium was inversely associated with total prostate cancer (OR = 0.29, 95% CI = 0.22 to 0.40, Ptrend < .001, based on 1970 case patients and 2086 control subjects), including both nonaggressive (OR = 0.33, 95% CI = 0.22 to 0.50) and aggressive disease (OR = 0.18, 95% CI = 0.11 to 0.31, Pheterogeneity = .08). Conclusions: Nail, but not blood, selenium concentration is inversely associated with risk of total prostate cancer, possibly because nails are a more reliable marker of long-term selenium exposure. Both blood and nail selenium concentrations are associated with a reduced risk of aggressive disease, which warrants further investigation.

Is There Clustering of Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Birth

Abstract: Evidence points to possible cohort effects in inflammatory bowel disease, the possible role of perinatal infection as a risk factor for inflammatory bowel disease, and the occurrence of clusters of Crohn's disease. This evidence suggests the value of searching for birth date clustering among cases of inflammatory bowel disease. The authors looked for clustering by birth date and maternal residence at birth in a population-based series of 845 Crohn's disease patients and 1,330 ulcerative colitis patients born from 1924 through 1957 and diagnosed in the Uppsala Health Care Region, Sweden, until the end of 1983. Over this period, 43% of persons with Crohn's disease had been born within 6 days of another case, compared with 36% of controls simulated to account for monthly variation in births (p = 0.0002). The number of pairs of inflammatory bowel disease cases whose births occurred in the same county (close in space) and whose birth dates were also close in time was statistically significantly greater than expected for most birth dates 23-57 days apart. Results after 1944, when ascertainment was more complete, generally corroborate these findings and suggest some seasonality in the birth dates of ulcerative colitis cases. Results from the entire study period and after 1944 thus provide evidence for clustering by birth (including seasonality) among Crohn's disease cases and also, to a lesser extent, among ulcerative colitis cases.

Interventions to Promote Cancer Awareness and Early Presentation: Systematic Review

Abstract: Low cancer awareness contributes to delay in presentation for cancer symptoms and may lead to delay in cancer diagnosis. The aim of this study was to review the evidence for the effectiveness of interventions to raise cancer awareness and promote early presentation in cancer to inform policy and future research. We searched bibliographic databases and reference lists for randomised controlled trials of interventions delivered to individuals, and controlled or uncontrolled studies of interventions delivered to communities. We found some evidence that interventions delivered to individuals modestly increase cancer awareness in the short term and insufficient evidence that they promote early presentation. We found limited evidence that public education campaigns reduce stage at presentation of breast cancer, malignant melanoma and retinoblastoma.