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.

Mechanisms of disease: The epidemiology of bladder cancer.

Abstract: Mortality from bladder cancer has shown downward trends over the last 2 decades in several western European countries (albeit 10-15 years later than similar trends in the US), but is still increasing in some eastern European countries. Tobacco smoking and occupational exposure to aromatic amines are the two major established environmental risk factors for bladder cancer. Controlling exposure to these factors has been an important contributor to the reduction in bladder cancer mortality, particularly among men. Diet could influence bladder carcinogenesis, as many compounds contained in foods--and their metabolites--are excreted through the urinary tract. Fruit and vegetable consumption was inversely related with bladder cancer in many studies, but no consistent association has emerged between intake of related micronutrients and reduced risk of bladder cancer. Other widely investigated lifestyle habits are probably not associated with risk of developing bladder cancer (e.g. coffee consumption, artificial sweetener use, hair dyes) or are difficult to assess (e.g. fluid intake). Infections and stones in the urinary tract might cause chronic irritation of the bladder epithelium, and thus increase bladder cancer risk. First-degree relatives of bladder cancer patients have a 50-100% increased relative risk of developing the disease, a risk that could be even higher when the proband is diagnosed at an early age.

Endogenous estrogen and postmenopausal breast cancer: a quantitative review

Abstract: This paper systematically reviews the results from epidemiologic studies investigating the hypothesis that breast cancer risk inpostmenopausal women increases with increasing concentrations of estradiol in blood and with increasing urinary estrogen excretion rates. Data from 29epidemiologic studies of endogenous hormones and postmenopausal breast cancer were used. The ratio of the average estrogen concentration in the women with breast cancer to that in the women without breast cancer (and its 95 percent confidence interval [CI]) was calculated for each study, and the results were summarized by calculating weighted averages of the log ratios. In six prospective studies of serum estradiol concentration, 329 women who subsequently developed breast cancer had, overall, a 15 percent (CI = 6-24percent, P = 0.0003) higher mean concentration of estradiol in their blood than the 1,105 women who remained free of cancer. The results of these prospective studies did not differ significantly from each other(chi-squared for heterogeneity = 8.7; degrees of freedom = 5; P > 0.1).Similar differences in mean estrogen levels were seen in the case-control studies which reported either estradiol concentrations in the blood or urinary estrogen excretion. However, the case-control studies showed significant heterogeneity among their results. The data from the prospective studies strongly suggest that breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women is associated with relatively high concentrations of endogenous estradiol.

Plasma concentrations and intakes of amino acids in male meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians and vegans: a cross-sectional analysis in the EPIC-Oxford cohort

Abstract: We aimed to investigate the differences in plasma concentrations and in intakes of amino acids between male meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians and vegans in the Oxford arm of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. This cross-sectional analysis included 392 men, aged 30–49 years. Plasma amino acid concentrations were measured with a targeted metabolomic approach using mass spectrometry, and dietary intake was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire. Differences between diet groups in mean plasma concentrations and intakes of amino acids were examined using analysis of variance, controlling for potential confounding factors and multiple testing. In plasma, concentrations of 6 out of 21 amino acids varied significantly by diet group, with differences of −13% to +16% between meat-eaters and vegans. Concentrations of methionine, tryptophan and tyrosine were highest in fish-eaters and vegetarians, followed by meat-eaters, and lowest in vegans. A broadly similar pattern was seen for lysine, whereas alanine concentration was highest in fish-eaters and lowest in meat-eaters. For glycine, vegans had the highest concentration and meat-eaters the lowest. Intakes of all 18 dietary amino acids differed by diet group; for the majority of these, intake was highest in meat-eaters followed by fish-eaters, then vegetarians and lowest in vegans (up to 47% lower than in meat-eaters). Men belonging to different habitual diet groups have significantly different plasma concentrations of lysine, methionine, tryptophan, alanine, glycine and tyrosine. However, the differences in plasma concentrations were less marked than and did not necessarily mirror those seen for amino acid intakes.