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.

General and abdominal obesity and risk of esophageal and gastric adenocarcinoma in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition

Abstract: General obesity, as reflected by BMI, is an established risk factor for esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), a suspected risk factor for gastric cardia adenocarcinoma (GCC) and appears unrelated to gastric non-cardia adenocarcinoma (GNCC). How abdominal obesity, as commonly measured by waist circumference (WC), relates to these cancers remains largely unexplored. Using measured anthropometric data from 391,456 individuals from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study and 11 years of follow-up, we comprehensively assessed the association of anthropometric measures with risk of EAC, GCC and GNCC using multivariable proportional hazards regression. One hundred twenty-four incident EAC, 193 GCC and 224 GNCC were accrued. After mutual adjustment, BMI was unrelated to EAC, while WC showed a strong positive association (highest vs. lowest quintile HR = 1.19; 95% CI, 0.63-2.22 and HR = 3.76; 1.72-8.22, respectively). Hip circumference (HC) was inversely related to EAC after controlling for WC, while WC remained positively associated (HR = 0.35; 0.18-0.68, and HR=4.10; 1.94-8.63, respectively). BMI was not associated with GCC or GNCC. WC was related to higher risks of GCC after adjustment for BMI and more strongly after adjustment for HC (highest vs. lowest quintile HR = 1.91; 1.09-3.37, and HR = 2.23; 1.28-3.90, respectively). Our study demonstrates that abdominal, rather than general, obesity is an indisputable risk factor for EAC and also provides evidence for a protective effect of gluteofemoral (subcutaneous) adipose tissue in EAC. Our study further shows that general obesity is not a risk factor for GCC and GNCC, while the role of abdominal obesity in GCC needs further investigation.

Infections and immune factors in cancer: the role of epidemiology

Abstract: An infective, mostly viral, basis has been found in an increasing number of different human cancers In all cases, the neoplasm is a rare response to the relevant infection, which is usually present in persistent form, and requiring specific cofactors for malignancy to develop In some cases, epidemiological evidence of infectivity preceded and promoted identification of the specific infection involved and even the discovery of the microbe itself, as in Burkitt's lymphoma and cervix cancer In other cases, the discovery of the agent came first as in stomach and nasopharynx cancers, and epidemiology has been concerned mainly with confirming the relationship, measuring the size of the risk and identifying cofactors Infection-linked cancers include some of the commonest malignancies in certain large world regions, amounting to over 20% of all cancer in the developing countries In addition to these cancers are others such as childhood leukaemia that show features indicative of an infective basis though no underlying agent has been identified Advances in this field invite speculation about possible future discoveries and how these might be promoted However, in that majority of cancers that are unrelated to sexual behaviour, there will be nothing even at the population level to suggest an infective basis because what is transmitted from one individual to another is not the neoplasm itself, but the underlying, often silent, infection to which the malignancy is an uncommon response The increasing prevalence of immune impairment in human populations, as a result of the use of immunosuppressive drugs with organ transplants and the spread of HIV infection, has produced marked effects on cancer incidence in the affected groups including increases, of skin cancers, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and Kaposi's sarcoma and to a lesser extent of many other cancers, in some cases at least due to the release from immunological control of incipient infection-based malignancies

Childhood cancer and paternal employment in agriculture: the role of pesticides.

Abstract: Previous studies have suggested that the offspring of men potentially exposed to pesticides at work may be at increased risk of kidney cancer (Wilms' tumour), brain tumours, Ewing's bone sarcoma and acute leukaemia. This paper examines the association between potential occupational exposure of fathers to pesticides and offspring's death from cancer in a large national database. Records for 167703 childhood deaths occurring during 1959-63, 1970-78 and 1979-90 in England and Wales have been analysed. Among the offspring of men with potential occupational exposure to pesticides there were 5270 deaths, of which 449 were due to cancer. Associations were assessed using proportional mortality ratios (PMRs), with adjustment for age, year of death and paternal social class. Of the childhood cancers previously linked with potential paternal occupational exposure to pesticides, the only statistically significant excess was for kidney cancer (PMR=1.59, 95% CI=1.18-2.15, based on 42 deaths). Although these results offer some support for the suggestion that paternal occupational exposure to pesticides may be related to the subsequent development of kidney cancer in offspring, other explanations cannot be excluded. In the light of the findings presented here and elsewhere, further, more detailed, research into the nature of this relationship is warranted.

Diet and risk of kidney stones in the Oxford cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC).

Abstract: The lifetime prevalence of kidney stones is around 10 % and incidence rates are increasing. Diet may be an important determinant of kidney stone development. Our objective was to investigate the association between diet and kidney stone risk in a population with a wide range of diets. This association was examined among 51,336 participants in the Oxford arm of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition using data from Hospital Episode Statistics in England and Scottish Morbidity Records. In the cohort, 303 participants attended hospital with a new kidney stone episode. Cox proportional hazards regression was performed to calculate hazard ratios (HR) and their 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CI). Compared to those with high intake of meat ((100 g/day), the HR estimates for moderate meat-eaters (50-99 g/day), low meat-eaters (\50 g/day), fish-eaters and vegetarians were 0.80 (95 % CI 0.57-1.11), 0.52 (95 % CI 0.35-0.8), 0.73 (95 % CI 0.48-1.11) and 0.69 (95 % CI 0.48-0.98), respectively. High intakes of fresh fruit, fibre from wholegrain cereals and magnesium were also associated with a lower risk of kidney stone formation. A high intake of zinc was associated with a higher risk. In conclusion, vegetarians have a lower risk of developing kidney stones compared with those who eat a high meat diet. This information may be important to advise the public about prevention of kidney stone formation.