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.

Risk of lung cancer associated with residential radon exposure in south-west England: a case-control study.

Abstract: Studies of underground miners occupationally exposed to radon have consistently demonstrated an increased risk of lung cancer in both smokers and non-smokers. Radon exposure also occurs elsewhere, especially in houses, and estimates based on the findings for miners suggest that residential radon is responsible for about one in 20 lung cancers in the UK, most being caused in combination with smoking. These calculations depend, however, on several assumptions and more direct evidence on the magnitude of the risk is needed. To obtain such evidence, a case-control study was carried out in south-west England in which 982 subjects with lung cancer and 3185 control subjects were interviewed. In addition, radon concentrations were measured at the addresses at which subjects had lived during the 30-year period ending 5 years before the interview. Lung cancer risk was examined in relation to residential radon concentration after taking into account the length of time that subjects had lived at each address and adjusting for age, sex, smoking status, county of residence and social class. The relative risk of lung cancer increased by 0.08 (95% CI -0.03, 0.20) per 100 Bq m(-3) increase in the observed time-weighted residential radon concentration. When the analysis was restricted to the 484 subjects with lung cancer and the 1637 control subjects with radon measurements available for the entire 30-year period of interest, the corresponding increase was somewhat higher at 0.14 per 100 Bq m(-3) (95% CI 0.01, 0.29), although the difference between this group and the remaining subjects was not statistically significant. When the analysis was repeated taking into account uncertainties in the assessment of radon exposure, the estimated increases in relative risk per 100 Bq m(-3) were larger, at 0.12 (95% CI -0.05, 0.33) when all subjects were included and 0.24 (95% CI -0.01, 0.56) when limited to subjects with radon measurements available for all 30 years. These results are consistent with those from studies of residential radon carried out in other countries in which data on individual subjects have been collected. The combined evidence suggests that the risk of lung cancer associated with residential radon exposure is about the size that has been postulated on the basis of the studies of miners exposed to radon.

Dietary determinants of ischaemic heart disease in health conscious individuals

Abstract: Objective To investigate dietary determinants of ischaemic heart disease (IHD) in health conscious individuals to explain the reduced risk in vegetarians, and to examine the relation between IHD and body mass index (BMI) within the normal range. Design Prospective observation of vegetarians, semi-vegetarians, and meat eaters for whom baseline dietary data, reported weight and height information, social class, and smoking habits were recorded. Subjects 10 802 men and women in the UK aged between 16 and 79, mean duration of follow up 13.3 years. Main outcome measures Death rate ratios for IHD and total mortality in relation to dietary and other characteristics recorded at recruitment (reference category death rate = 100). Results IHD mortality was less than half that expected from the experience reported for all of England and Wales. An increase in mortality for IHD was observed with increasing intakes of total and saturated animal fat and dietary cholesterol—death rate ratios in the third tertile compared with the first tertile: 329, 95% confidence interval (CI) 150 to 721; 277, 95% CI 125 to 613; 353, 95% CI 157 to 796, respectively. No protective effects were observed for dietary fibre, fish or alcohol. Within the study, death rate ratios were increased among those in the upper half of the normal BMI range (22.5 to Conclusions In these relatively health conscious individuals the deleterious effects of saturated animal fat and dietary cholesterol appear to be more important in the aetiology of IHD than the protective effect of dietary fibre. Reduced intakes of saturated animal fat and cholesterol may explain the lower rates of IHD among vegetarians compared with meat eaters. Increasing BMI within the normal range is associated with increased risk of IHD. The results have important public health implications.

Development and evaluation of the Oxford WebQ, a low-cost, web-based method for assessment of previous 24 h dietary intakes in large-scale prospective studies.

Abstract: Objectives: To describe the development of the Oxford WebQ, a web-based 24h dietary assessment tool developed for repeated administration in large prospective studies; and to report the preliminary assessment of its performance for estimating nutrient intakes. Design: We developed the Oxford WebQ by repeated testing until it was sufficiently comprehensive and easy to use. For the latest version, we compared nutrient intakes from volunteers who completed both the Oxford WebQ and an interviewer-administered 24h dietary recall on the same day. Setting: Oxford, UK. Subjects: A total of 116 men and women. Results: The WebQ took a median of 12? 5( interquartile range: 10?8‐16?3) min to self-complete and nutrient intakes were estimated automatically. By contrast, the interviewer-administered 24h dietary recall took 30min to complete and 30min to code. Compared with the 24h dietary recall, the mean Spearman’s correlation for the 21 nutrients obtained from the WebQ was 0?6, with the majority between 0? 5a nd 0?9. The mean differences in intake were less than 610% for all nutrients except for carotene and vitamins B12 and D. On rare occasions a food item was reported in only one assessment method, but this was not more frequent or systematically different between the methods. Conclusions: Compared with an interviewer-based 24h dietary recall, the WebQ captures similar food items and estimates similar nutrient intakes for a single day’s dietary intake. The WebQ is self-administered and nutrients are estimated automatically, providing a low-cost method for measuring dietary intake in large-scale studies.