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.

CA19-9 and apolipoprotein-A2 isoforms as detection markers for pancreatic cancer: a prospective evaluation.

Abstract: Recently, we identified unique processing patterns of apolipoprotein A2 (ApoA2) in patients with pancreatic cancer. Our study provides a first prospective evaluation of an ApoA2 isoform (“ApoA2-ATQ/AT”), alone and in combination with carbohydrate antigen 19–9 (CA19-9), as an early detection biomarker for pancreatic cancer. We performed ELISA measurements of CA19-9 and ApoA2-ATQ/AT in 156 patients with pancreatic cancer and 217 matched controls within the European EPIC cohort, using plasma samples collected up to 60 months prior to diagnosis. The detection discrimination statistics were calculated for risk scores by strata of lag-time. For CA19-9, in univariate marker analyses, C-statistics to distinguish future pancreatic cancer patients from cancer-free individuals were 0.80 for plasma taken ≤6 months before diagnosis, and 0.71 for >6–18 months; for ApoA2-ATQ/AT, C-statistics were 0.62, and 0.65, respectively. Joint models based on ApoA2-ATQ/AT plus CA19-9 significantly improved discrimination within >6–18 months (C = 0.74 vs. 0.71 for CA19-9 alone, p = 0.022) and ≤ 18 months (C = 0.75 vs. 0.74, p = 0.022). At 98% specificity, and for lag times of ≤6, >6–18 or ≤ 18 months, sensitivities were 57%, 36% and 43% for CA19-9 combined with ApoA2-ATQ/AT, respectively, vs. 50%, 29% and 36% for CA19-9 alone. Compared to CA19-9 alone, the combination of CA19-9 and ApoA2-ATQ/AT may improve detection of pancreatic cancer up to 18 months prior to diagnosis under usual care, and may provide a useful first measure for pancreatic cancer detection prior to imaging.

Age at puberty and risk of testicular cancer: a meta-analysis.

Abstract: Summary Testicular cancer is one of the most rapidly increasing tumour types but its aetiology is still largely unexplained. Cryptorchidism and familial testicular cancer, established risk factors, explain less than 10% of all cases. Among investigated post-natal factors, early puberty was suggested as a potential risk factor but the topic has been poorly investigated. We undertook a meta-analysis of the effect of age at puberty on testicular cancer risk, attempting at enhancing the homogeneity in the definition of the exposure among studies to obtain valid pooled estimates. Search strategies were conducted in PubMed on December 2011. All markers of puberty onset (age at voice change, age when started shaving and reported age at onset) were considered. We re-categorized age at puberty from all studies into a common three-level variable: younger than peers, same age as peers, older than peers. A total of 391 references were retrieved, of which 12 met the inclusion criteria. Later puberty appeared to be protective. In particular late vs. same age at start shaving gave an OR of 0.84 (95% CI: 0.75–0.95, five studies); late vs. same age at voice change gave an OR of 0.87 (95% CI: 0.75–1.01, five studies); and later age than peers at reported onset of puberty gave an OR of 0.81 (95% CI: 0.73–0.89, eight studies). Early puberty showed no effect on testicular cancer risk. This meta-analysis has found consistent evidence of a decreased risk of testicular cancer in association with later puberty, suggesting that post-natal factors may contribute to testicular cancer risk.

A prospective evaluation of plasma polyphenol levels and colon cancer risk

Abstract: Polyphenols have been shown to exert biological activity in experimental models of colon cancer; however, human data linking specific polyphenols to colon cancer is limited. We assessed the relatio ...