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.

Diet and Breast Cancer Risk Results From a Population-Based, Case-Control Study in Sweden

Abstract: Background: We describe an epidemiologic analytical study of the relationship between current diet and breast cancer risk. Method: The study design is a case-control analysis. Cases were recruited from a mammography screening program used within the national health care system; the control subjects were selected from subjects free of breast cancer in the same population. A total of 380 cases and 525 control subjects, frequency-matched for age, month of mammography, and county of residence, were identified. Of these, 265 cases and 432 control subjects were included in this analysis. Odds ratios for breast cancer in relation to food and nutrient intake were the main outcome measures. Results: Exposure in the highest quartile of β-carotene intake gave an odds ratio of 0.6 (95% confidence interval, 0.4 to 1.0). No increased risk was noted with high fat intake. Breast cancer risk was associated with alcohol intake only when alcohol was analyzed in quartiles: odds ratio, 1.6 (95% confidence interval, 1.0 to 2.4) for the highest quartile of intake vs the lowest. Stratified analyses showed that a high fat intake might decrease the protective effect of β-carotene intake. Risks did not change appreciably with adjustment for total energy intake or known breast cancer risk factors. Conclusions: As in most other studies, no strong risk factors for breast cancer have been identified in the current diet. The negative association between breast cancer risk and β-carotene intake may be supported by a plausible mechanism, but our finding concerning alcohol should be interpreted cautiously since there was no dose-response relationship and the biological mechanism for a threshold effect at very low levels of consumption is unclear. (Arch Intern Med. 1994;154:1805-1811)

Respiratory symptoms in children living near busy roads and their relationship to vehicular traffic: results of an Italian multicenter study (SIDRIA 2)

Abstract: Epidemiological studies have provided evidence that exposure to vehicular traffic increases the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and may exacerbate pre-existing asthma in children. Self-reported exposure to road traffic has been questioned as a reliable measurement of exposure to air pollutants. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there were specific effects of cars and trucks traffic on current asthma symptoms (i.e. wheezing) and cough or phlegm, and to examine the validity of self-reported traffic exposure. The survey was conducted in 2002 in 12 centers in Northern, Center and Southern Italy, different in size, climate, latitude and level of urbanization. Standardized questionnaires filled in by parents were used to collect information on health outcomes and exposure to traffic among 33,632 6–7 and 13–14 years old children and adolescents. Three questions on traffic exposure were asked: the traffic in the zone of residence, the frequency of truck and of car traffic in the street of residence. The presence of a possible response bias for the self-reported traffic was evaluated using external validation (comparison with measurements of traffic flow in the city of Turin) and internal validations (matching by census block, in the cities of Turin, Milan and Rome). Overall traffic density was weakly associated with asthma symptoms but there was a stronger association with cough or phlegm (high traffic density OR = 1.24; 95% CI: 1.04, 1.49). Car and truck traffic were independently associated with cough or phlegm. The results of the external validation did not support the existence of a reporting bias for the observed associations, for all the self-reported traffic indicators examined. The internal validations showed that the observed association between traffic density in the zone of residence and respiratory symptoms did not appear to be explained by an over reporting of traffic by parents of symptomatic subjects. Children living in zones with intense traffic are at higher risk for respiratory effects. Since population characteristics are specific, the results of validation of studies on self-reported traffic exposure can not be generalized.