International Agency for Research on Cancer

About: International Agency for Research on Cancer is a government organization based out in Lyon, France. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Cancer & Population. The organization has 2989 authors who have published 9010 publications receiving 929752 citations. The organization is also known as: IARC.

Screening for Germ-Line Rearrangements and Regulatory Mutations in BRCA1 Led to the Identification of Four New Deletions

Abstract: Most previous BRCA1 mutation screening studies conducted on breast cancer families were aimed at identifying mutations in the coding sequence and splice sites. Mutations in the promoter and untranslated regions, and large rearrangements are missed by standard mutation detection strategies. To look specifically for such germ-line mutations in the BRCA1 gene, we have analyzed a series of 27 American and 51 French breast cancer families in which no BRCA1 mutation was identified by classical techniques. No mutations were detected in either the promoter or untranslated regions, and we did not find any deletion of the whole gene. Four families were found to carry distinct deletions. Two of them, probably generated by Alu-mediated homologous recombination, were internal deletions of 3 and 23.8 kb, encompassing exon 15 and exons 8-13, respectively. These alterations both lead to a frameshift in the mutant mRNA and to premature stop codon-mediated mRNA decay. The other two deletions encompass exons 1 and 2. On the basis of previous and present analyses, rearrangements represent 8% (3/37) of all mutations in our set of BRCA1 American families. Consequently, the search for rearrangements appears mandatory in BRCA1 mutation screening studies.

Mobile Phone Use and Brain Tumors in Children and Adolescents: A Multicenter Case–Control Study

Abstract: Background It has been hypothesized that children and adolescents might be more vulnerable to possible health effects from mobile phone exposure than adults We investigated whether mobile phone use is associated with brain tumor risk among children and adolescents Methods CEFALO is a multicenter case–control study conducted in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Switzerland that includes all children and adolescents aged 7–19 years who were diagnosed with a brain tumor between 2004 and 2008 We conducted interviews, in person, with 352 case patients (participation rate: 83%) and 646 control subjects (participation rate: 71%) and their parents Control subjects were randomly selected from population registries and matched by age, sex, and geographical region We asked about mobile phone use and included mobile phone operator records when available Odds ratios (ORs) for brain tumor risk and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using conditional logistic regression models Results Regular users of mobile phones were not statistically significantly more likely to have been diagnosed with brain tumors compared with nonusers (OR = 136; 95% CI = 092 to 202) Children who started to use mobile phones at least 5 years ago were not at increased risk compared with those who had never regularly used mobile phones (OR = 126, 95% CI = 070 to 228) In a subset of study participants for whom operator recorded data were available, brain tumor risk was related to the time elapsed since the mobile phone subscription was started but not to amount of use No increased risk of brain tumors was observed for brain areas receiving the highest amount of exposure Conclusion The absence of an exposure–response relationship either in terms of the amount of mobile phone use or by localization of the brain tumor argues against a causal association

Influence of the Mediterranean Diet on the Risk of Cancers of the Upper Aerodigestive Tract

Abstract: The hypothesis that the Mediterranean diet has a beneficial role on the risk of cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract has been evaluated using data from three case-control studies conducted in Italy between 1992 and 2000. The first study included 598 cases with incident, histologically confirmed cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx and 1491 hospital controls admitted to the same network of hospitals as cases for acute, nonneoplastic diseases. The second one included 304 subjects with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus and 743 controls. The third one included 460 laryngeal cancer cases and 1088 controls. A score summarizing eight of the major characteristics of the Mediterranean diet was used. Odds ratios and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for increasing levels of this score were estimated using unconditional regression models, adjusted for age, sex, study center, years of education, tobacco consumption, body mass index, and total energy intake. For all cancers considered, a reduced risk was found for increasing levels of the Mediterranean score: the odds ratios for subjects with six or more Mediterranean characteristics, compared with those with less than three characteristics, were 0.40 (95% CI, 0.26-0.62) for oral and pharyngeal, 0.26 (95% CI, 0.13-0.51) for esophageal, and 0.23 (95% CI, 0.13-0.40) for laryngeal cancer. All of the estimates were consistent in strata of the major identified risk factors for these neoplasms. This study provides evidence that an a priori defined nutritional pattern, which includes several aspects of the Mediterranean diet, favorably affects the risk of cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract.