Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche ‘Mario Negri’, via Eritrea 62, 20157 Milano, Italy and Istituto di Statistica Medica e Biometria, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Venezian 1, 20133 Milano, Italy Correspondence to: Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche ‘Mario Negri’, via Eritrea 62, 20157 Milano, Italy. Fax: 00 39 02 3320 0231 E-mail: [email protected] Received 30 June 2003 Accepted 14 July 2003

To the Editors: In the Iowa Women's Health Study, Limburg et al. ([1][1]) found that diabetes increased the risk of cancer of the proximal colon (relative risk = 1.4), but not that of the distal colon (relative risk = 1.1) or the rectum (relative risk = 0.8). Epidemiologic evidence on the subsite-

Letters| December 17 2008 Antiphospholipid Syndrome and Plasma Exchange Subject Area: Nephrology Jean-Marc Durand; Jean-Marc Durand aDepartment of Internal Medicine, CHU Sante-Marguerite, and Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Patrice Lefèvre; Patrice Lefèvre bDepartment of Hemobiology, CHU La Conception, Marseille, France Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Gilles Kaplanski; Gilles Kaplanski aDepartment of Internal Medicine, CHU Sante-Marguerite, and Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Bernard Lassale; Bernard Lassale bDepartment of Hemobiology, CHU La Conception, Marseille, France Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Jacques Soubeyrand Jacques Soubeyrand aDepartment of Internal Medicine, CHU Sante-Marguerite, and Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Nephron (1994) 68 (1): 142. https://doi.org/10.1159/000188236 Article history Published Online: December 17 2008 Content Tools Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Jean-Marc Durand, Patrice Lefèvre, Gilles Kaplanski, Bernard Lassale, Jacques Soubeyrand; Antiphospholipid Syndrome and Plasma Exchange. Nephron 1 January 1994; 68 (1): 142. https://doi.org/10.1159/000188236 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAll JournalsNephron Search Advanced Search This content is only available via PDF. 1994Copyright / Drug Dosage / DisclaimerCopyright: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated into other languages, reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, microcopying, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.Drug Dosage: The authors and the publisher have exerted every effort to ensure that drug selection and dosage set forth in this text are in accord with current recommendations and practice at the time of publication. However, in view of ongoing research, changes in government regulations, and the constant flow of information relating to drug therapy and drug reactions, the reader is urged to check the package insert for each drug for any changes in indications and dosage and for added warnings and precautions. This is particularly important when the recommended agent is a new and/or infrequently employed drug.Disclaimer: The statements, opinions and data contained in this publication are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of the publishers and the editor(s). The appearance of advertisements or/and product references in the publication is not a warranty, endorsement, or approval of the products or services advertised or of their effectiveness, quality or safety. The publisher and the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content or advertisements. Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Trends in mortality from breast cancer over the period 1970-2000 were analysed for 38 European countries and the European Union (EU). Age-standardized mortality rates were computed by the direct method, and joinpoint analysis was used to identify significant changes in rates. A favourable pattern in breast cancer mortality in the 25 countries of the EU (as defined in May 2004) was observed after 1989, leading to a fall in overall rates from 21.3/100,000 in 1990 to 18.9 in 2000. The annual percentage change in the EU was -2.1% between 1995 and 2000. Most northern European countries, including several Scandinavian countries and the UK, but also some central and southern European countries like Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Spain showed appreciable falls in rates (i.e. between 8 and 19% in the last 5 calendar years). The declines were larger below age 50, approaching 20% in several countries. The falls were smaller in France, Greece, Portugal and most eastern European countries. In the Russian Federation, all-age breast cancer mortality increased from 16.1 to 17.3/100,000 (+7.5% over the last 5 calendar years). These patterns reflect converging trends in breast cancer rates across Europe, which can be related to the more uniform reproductive and lifestyle habits. The fall in breast cancer mortality observed in most European countries over the last decade has to be attributed to earlier detection and improved treatment, although the definite reasons for the different trends in various countries remain at least in part unclear.

Substantial rises in anal cancer incidence have been registered over the last few decades in the USA and a few Nordic countries. Incidence trends in the Swiss population of Vaud (about 602,000 inhabitants) over the period 1979-2001 were considered. Rates were around 0.3-0.5 per 100,000 men (age-standardized, world population) and 1.1-1.4 per 100,000 women, in the absence of any consistent trend over time. The epidemiology of anal cancer appears therefore different in this Swiss population as compared with North America and northern Europe.

1Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche “Mario Negri”, 20157, Milan, Italy 2Istituto di Statistica Medica e Biometria, Università degli Studi di Milano,20133 Milan, Italy Fax: (+39) 02 3320 0231 E-mail: [email protected]

The possible relationship between coffee and cancer risk was extensively reviewed in 1990 by a Working Group of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) (1), which concluded that: ”In humans there is limited evidence that coffee drinking is carcinogenic to the urinary bladder, lack of evidence for the breast and large bowel and inadequate evidence for the pancreas, ovary and other sites,” and gave the overall evaluation that: “Coffee is possibly carcinogenic to the human urinary bladder.” Coffee was thus evaluated as a “group B2” substance, which is defined as “the exposure circumstance entails exposure that are possibly carcinogenic to humans.” It also added that: “There is some evidence of an inverse relationship between coffee drinking and cancer of the large bowel.”

Trends in cancer mortality in Switzerland were analysed over the period 1980-2001, on the basis of the World Health Organization database. Appropriately developed correction factors were utilized for the period before 1995, to allow for spurious trends introduced by the change between the 8th and the 10th revisions of the ICD. Steady declines in cancer mortality were observed, particularly from the mid-1980s onwards. Over the last decade, the fall in overall age-standardized (world standard) cancer mortality was 11.1% in men (from 158.1 in 1990-1991 to 140.6/100,000 in 2000-2001) and 7.6% in women (from 91.6 to 84.7/100,000), and the decline was larger in truncated rates from 35 to 64 years (-18.0 and -9.7%). In men, all major tobacco and alcohol neoplasms have declined until the late 1990s but have levelled off over the last few years, reflecting recent trends in alcohol and tobacco consumption. The fall in male lung cancer mortality was 20% over the last decade (from 42.9 to 34.3/100,000). In contrast, lung cancer mortality in women has steadily increased by 38% between 1981 and 1991 and by 47% between 1991 and 2001, to reach 10.7/100,000 at all ages and 18.3 at age 35 to 64, due to increased prevalence of smoking in subsequent generations of Swiss women. Other sites showing substantial declines include stomach and colorectum in both sexes, (cervix) uteri and breast in women. Likewise, prostate cancer showed modest favourable trends after 1995. Steady declines were observed for leukaemias, Hodgkin's disease and testicular cancer, namely, the neoplasms most influenced by therapeutic improvements, while trends in lymphomas and myeloma showed no clear pattern.