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.

Breast Cancer In Men: Risk Factors with Hormonal Implications

Abstract: Cases included in a population-based case-control study of breast cancer in men were recruited from 10 geographic areas of the United States from 1983 to 1986. Controls, matched to cases on age and geographic area, were selected by random digit dialing for men under age 65 years and from Health Care Financing Administration files for older men. Results are based on responses from 227 cases and 300 controls to questions asked in a standardized personal interview. An increased risk of breast cancer was most strongly associated with undescended testes and was also related to orchiectomy, orchitis, testicular injury, late puberty, and infertility; and a decreasing trend in risk was observed with an increasing number of children. Relative risk estimates were also elevated in relation to a history of high blood cholesterol, rapid weight gain, benign breast conditions, and possibly obesity. These findings suggest that breast cancer in men develops in response to androgen deficiency associated with testicular dysfunction and under conditions associated with excess estrogen. Risk was also found to be elevated in men with a history of amphetamine use, diabetes, and cigar smoking and reduced in men with prior head trauma.

Radiation-induced meningioma: a descriptive study of 253 cases.

Abstract: Object. Ionizing radiation is the only established risk factor recognized today in the causation of meningioma. The aim of the present report is to describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of a large series of 253 patients with radiation-induced meningiomas (RIMs). These parameters were compared with those of 41 patients with meningiomas in whom there was no previous history of irradiation (non-RIM group) and with other series of patients presented in the literature. Methods. The cases of RIM were recruited from a cohort of appproximately 11,000 individuals who had been treated with ionizing radiation during childhood for tinea capitis and from a group of individuals who, as adults, applied for compensation because of that treatment. The non-RIM group was identified through the Israeli Cancer Registry. Exposure to radiation was carefully validated among all cases of RIM and absence of previous irradiation was verified for all patients in the non-RIM group. Significantly, a lower patient age a...

Endogenous sex hormones and prostate cancer: a quantitative review of prospective studies.

Abstract: This paper presents a quantitative review of the data from eight prospective epidemiological studies, comparing mean serum concentrations of sex hormones in men who subsequently developed prostate cancer with those in men who remained cancer free. The hormones reviewed have been postulated to be involved in the aetiology of prostate cancer: androgens and their metabolites testosterone (T), non-SHBG-bound testosterone (non-SHBG-bound T), di-hydrotestosterone (DHT), androstanediol glucuronide (A-diol-g), androstenedione (A-dione), dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS), sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), the oestrogens, oestrone and oestradiol, luteinizing hormone (LH) and prolactin. The ratio of the mean hormone concentration in prostate cancer cases to that of controls (and its 95% confidence interval (CI)) was calculated for each study, and the results summarized by calculating the weighted average of the log ratios. No differences in the average concentrations of the hormones were found between prostate cancer cases and controls, with the possible exception of A-diol-g which exhibited a 5% higher mean serum concentration among cases relative to controls (ratio 1.05, 95% CI 1.00-1.11), based on 644 cases and 1048 controls. These data suggest that there are no large differences in circulating hormones between men who subsequently go on to develop prostate cancer and those who remain free of the disease. Further research is needed to substantiate the small difference found in A-diol-g concentrations between prostate cancer cases and controls.

Second Cancers Among Long-term Survivors of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Abstract: BACKGROUND Patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) are at increased risk for second cancers. Few studies, however, include long-term survivors, and none report risk for second cancer among NHL patients surviving 15 or more years. PURPOSE Our aim was to examine the pattern of second cancers among long-term survivors of NHL. METHODS A cohort of 6171 patients diagnosed with NHL as a first primary cancer and who survived 2 or more years was identified within population-based tumor registries in Sweden, Ontario, and Iowa and within the affiliated tumor registry of The Netherlands Cancer Institute. Nearly 1000 NHL patients lived 15 or more years after diagnosis. Tumor registry files were searched for new invasive primary malignancies. RESULTS Second cancers were reported in 541 subjects (observed-to-expected ratio [O/E] = 1.37; 95% confidence interval = 1.26-1.49), with significant excesses seen for all solid tumors (O/E = 1.28), acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (O/E = 4.83), melanoma (O/E = 2.38), Hodgkin's disease (O/E = 12.0), and cancers of the lung (O/E = 1.36), brain (O/E = 2.33), kidney (O/E = 2.07), and bladder (O/E = 1.77). Among 15-year survivors, significantly increased risks persisted for all second cancers (O/E = 1.45), solid tumors (O/E = 1.37), bladder cancer (O/E = 3.24), and Hodgkin's disease (O/E = 25.0). The actuarial risk of developing a second cancer 3-20 years after diagnosis of NHL was 21%, compared with a population expected cumulative risk of 15%. CONCLUSIONS Patients with NHL continue to be at significantly elevated risk of second primary cancer for up to two decades following diagnosis. The pattern of risk suggests the influence of treatment as well as factors associated with the underlying disease. IMPLICATIONS Quantitative studies of second cancer following NHL are needed to clarify the role of antecedent therapy, shared risk factors, host susceptibility, and other etiologic and diagnostic influences. Despite the generally advanced age of patients with NHL, the persistently elevated risk of second cancers should alert clinicians to the importance of continued medical surveillance.