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.

Beauty product-related exposures and childhood brain tumors in seven countries: results from the SEARCH International Brain Tumor Study

Abstract: Data from 1218 cases of childhood brain tumors (CBT) diagnosed between 1976 and 1994 and 2223 matched controls from the general population were included in an analysis of maternal beauty product exposure and beauty-related employment in 9 centers in 7 countries. A 50% increased odds ratio (OR) [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.0–2.1] for CBT was observed among children of mothers who were exposed via personal use of and/or possible ambient contact with beauty products during the 5 years preceding the index child’s birth compared with children of mothers never exposed to beauty products during this time period. Overall maternal personal use of hair-coloring agents in the month before or during the pregnancy of the index child’s birth was not associated with CBT (OR = 1.0, CI = 0.83–1.3) or with astroglial (OR = 1.1, CI = 0.85–1.4), PNET (OR = 1.0, CI = 0.71–1.5) and other glial subtypes (OR = 1.0, CI = 0.62–1.0). Similarly, no statistically increased ORs or discernable pattern of risk estimates were observed for period of use or for number of applications per year for maternal personal use of hair-coloring agents overall or by histologic type. Among children born on or after 1980, increased ORs for CBT were associated with maternal non-work-related exposure to any beauty products (OR = 2.6, CI = 1.2–5.9), hair-dyes (OR = 11, CI = 1.2–90), and hair sprays (OR = 3.4, CI = 1.0–11). No overall increased OR for CBT was observed among children of mothers employed in beauty-related jobs during the 5 years preceding the index child’s birth compared with those who reported no beauty-related employment. In general, other specific beauty product-related exposures were not associated with increased ORs for CBT. Data from our study provide little evidence of an increased risk for CBT with mothers’ exposures to beauty products.

Cognitive and social activities and long-term dementia risk: the prospective UK Million Women Study.

Abstract: Summary Background Although dementia is associated with non-participation in cognitive and social activities, this association might merely reflect the consequences of dementia, rather than any direct effect of non-participation on the subsequent incidence of dementia. Because of the slowness with which dementia can develop, unbiased assessment of any such direct effects must relate non-participation in such activities to dementia detection rates many years later. Prospective studies with long-term follow-up can help achieve this by analysing separately the first and second decade of follow-up. We report such analyses of a large, 20-year study. Methods The UK Million Women Study is a population-based prospective study of 1·3 million women invited for National Health Service (NHS) breast cancer screening in median year 1998 (IQR 1997–1999). In median year 2001 (IQR 2001–2003), women were asked about participation in adult education, groups for art, craft, or music, and voluntary work, and in median year 2006 (IQR 2006–2006), they were asked about reading. All participants were followed up through electronic linkage to NHS records of hospital admission with mention of dementia, the first mention of which was the main outcome. Comparing non-participation with participation in a particular activity, we used Cox regression to assess fully adjusted dementia risk ratios (RRs) during 0–4, 5–9, and 10 or more years, after information on that activity was obtained. Findings In 2001, 851 307 women with a mean age of 60 years (SD 5) provided information on participation in adult education, groups for art, craft, or music, and voluntary work. After 10 years, only 9591 (1%) had been lost to follow-up and 789 339 (93%) remained alive with no recorded dementia. Follow-up was for a mean of 16 years (SD 3), during which 31 187 (4%) had at least one hospital admission with mention of dementia, including 25 636 (3%) with a hospital admission with dementia mentioned for the first time 10 years or more after follow-up began. Non-participation in cognitive or social activities was associated with higher relative risks of dementia detection only during the first decade after participation was recorded. During the second decade, there was little association. This was true for non-participation in adult education (RR 1·04, 99% CI 0·98–1·09), in groups for art, craft, or music (RR 1·04, 0·99–1·09), in voluntary work (RR 0·96, 0·92–1·00), or in any of these three (RR 0·99, 0·95–1·03). In 2006, 655 118 women provided information on reading. For non-reading versus any reading, there were similar associations with dementia, again with strong attenuation over time since reading was recorded, but longer follow-up is needed to assess this reliably. Interpretation Life has to be lived forwards, but can be understood only backwards. Long before dementia is diagnosed, there is a progressive reduction in various mental and physical activities, but this is chiefly because its gradual onset causes inactivity and not because inactivity causes dementia. Funding UK Medical Research Council, Cancer Research UK.

The control of melanoma in New Zealand.

Abstract: AIMS This study estimated the impact of prevention, screening, early diagnosis, and treatment on the burden of melanoma in New Zealand METHODS Cancer control plans and management guidelines were reviewed to identify activities that could reduce the burden of melanoma in New Zealand and an estimation was made of their effects on incidence and mortality The base year for estimating changes in incidence and mortality was the published melanoma data for 2002 RESULTS The registration of melanoma increased from 1037 new registrations in 1993 to 1487 in 1994 and peaked at 1759 in 1995 In 2002 a further increase occurred, to 1842 new registrations and 235 deaths from melanoma It is likely that 328 of the 1842 new cases of melanoma in 2002 were directly attributable to severe sunburn A reduction of 10% in the number of people getting severely sunburnt could prevent 28 melanoma cases per year If 2% of melanoma deaths occur in high-risk individuals, approximately 4 deaths per year could be prevented by surveillance of high-risk groups Thin melanoma has a very good prognosis: a 10% shift in the depth distribution into the thinnest depth category would result in about 29 deaths from melanoma prevented each year CONCLUSIONS The best avenues for reducing the burden of melanoma in New Zealand are prevention of excessive sun exposure and early diagnosis Reducing severe sunburn and diagnosing a greater proportion of melanomas when they are thin would have the greatest impact on the incidence of and mortality from melanoma

Using directed acyclic graphs to consider adjustment for socioeconomic status in occupational cancer studies

Abstract: There is an ongoing debate on whether analyses of occupational studies should be adjusted for socioeconomic status (SES). In this paper directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) were used to evaluate common scenarios in occupational cancer studies with the aim of clarifying this issue. It was assumed that the occupational exposure of interest is associated with SES and different scenarios were evaluated in which (a) SES is not a cause of the cancer under study, (b) SES is not a cause of the cancer under study, but is associated with other occupational factors that are causes of the cancer, (c) SES causes the cancer under study and is associated with other causal occupational factors. These examples illustrate that a unique answer to the issue of adjustment for SES in occupational cancer studies is not possible, as in some circumstances the adjustment introduces bias, in some it is appropriate and in others both the adjusted and the crude estimates are biased. These examples also illustrate the benefits of using DAGs in discussions of whether or not to adjust for SES and other potential confounders.