2,971 publications from this institution
Due to lower female incidence, estimates of exogenous and endogenous hormonal factors in head and neck cancers (HNCs, comprising cancers of the oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx, and larynx) among women have been inconsistent and unable to account for key HNC risk factors. We pooled data from 11 studies from Europe, North America, and Japan. Analysis included 1572 HNC female cases and 4343 controls. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) estimates and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using multivariate logistic regression models adjusting for tobacco smoking and alcohol drinking. Lower risk was observed in women who used hormone replacement therapy (HRT) (OR = 0.58; 95% CI: 0.34-0.77). Pregnancy (OR = 0.61; 95% CI: 0.42-0.90) and giving birth (OR = 0.59; 95% CI: 0.38-0.90) at <35 years of age were inversely associated with HNCs. An inverse association with HNC was observed with age at start of HRT use (OR = 0.59; 95% CI: 0.39-0.90) for each additional 10 years and with duration of use (OR = 0.87; 95% CI: 0.76-0.99 for every 3 years). Exogenous female hormone use is associated with a nearly twofold risk reduction in female HNCs. The lower female HNC incidence may, in part, be explained by endogenous and exogenous estrogen exposures.
B-cell lymphomas exploit diverse BCR expression levels, classes, and signaling modes that span BCR-addicted to BCR-silent states and shape their genetic programs and therapeutic dependencies. A unified BCR blueprint reframes these diseases along a continuum of BCR signaling and isotype-driven biology, particularly in germinal center-derived entities. Embedding this blueprint into routine clinical testing has the potential to improve prediction of response or resistance to BCR-targeted and other mechanism-based therapies.
In Brief Objective To analyze the relation between selected dietary indicators and the risk of uterine myomas. Methods We used data from a case-control study on risk factors for uterine myomas conducted in Italy between 1986 and 1997. Cases included 843 women with uterine myomas whose clinical diagnoses dated back no more than 2 years. Controls were 1557 women younger than age 55 who had not had hysterectomies and were admitted for acute nongynecologic, nonhormonal, nonneoplastic conditions. Results Women with uterine myomas reported more frequent consumption of beef, other red meat, and ham and less frequent consumption of green vegetables, fruit, and fish. The multivariate odds ratios in the upper tertile were 1.7 for beef and other red meat (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.4, 2.2), 13 for ham (95% CI 1.0, 1.6), 0.5 for green vegetables (95% CI 0.4, 0.6), and 0.8 for fruit consumption (95% CI 0.6, 1.0). Conclusion Myoma is associated with beef and ham consumption, whereas high intake of green vegetables seems to have a protective effect. Women with uterine myomas more frequently consume meat and ham and less frequently consume green vegetables, fruit, and fish than do controls.
To understand possible correlates of the systematically higher gastric-cancer rates in males than in females, we investigated the role of menstrual, reproductive and hormonal factors in females, using data from a case-control study conducted in Northern Italy. Cases were 229 post-menopausal women with incident, histologically confirmed gastric cancer, and controls were 614 post-menopausal women in hospital for acute, non-neoplastic, non-digestive-tract conditions. After allowance for age, education, family history, and selected dietary correlates of stomach cancer, a reduced gastric-cancer risk was observed in women with later menopause (odds ratio, OR = 0.6, p value for trend < 0.05), and longer duration of fertile life (OR = 0.7, but the trend in risk was not significant). The risk of gastric cancer was elevated in multiparous women (OR = 1.7 for 3 and 1.9 for > or = 4 births as compared to nulliparae). No association was observed with age at menarche, age at first birth, and with number of spontaneous or induced abortions. Ever-users of oral contraceptives had a non-significant increased risk (OR = 1.3), and users of oestrogen-replacement treatment a non-significant reduced risk (OR = 0.5). Although the association with each factor was moderate, and the interpretation of these findings is not straightforward, these results are compatible with the hypothesis that some role is played by (endogenous and exogenous) female hormones in the process of gastric carcinogenesis.
The relation between major indicators of sexual habits (age at first intercourse and total number of sexual partners), history of selected venereal diseases, and cervical neoplasia was investigated using data from a case-control study of 206 cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia compared with 206 age-matched outpatient controls, and of 327 cases of invasive cancer compared with 327 control subjects in hospital for acute conditions unrelated to any of the established or suspected risk factors for cervical cancer. The relative risks increased with decreasing age at first intercourse and increasing number of sexual partners both for intraepithelial and for invasive cancers. The effects of these two variables were independent, since they were only marginally affected by reciprocal adjustment, or by allowance for several other identified potential distorting factors. The negative association with age at first intercourse was particularly strong in the case of invasive cancers, with risk estimates over five-fold elevated for women reporting their first intercourse before age 18 compared with those aged over 22 years. This relation might be discussed in terms of multistage models of carcinogenesis, which predict that the incidence of epithelial carcinomas is a function of duration of exposure. In fact, when age was allowed for, the relative risks of cervical neoplasia were positively and strongly related with the total duration of the interval between age at diagnosis/interview and age at first intercourse. Clinical histories of several sexually transmitted diseases were positively associated with the risk of intraepithelial neoplasia. In particular, genital warts were reported by nine cases but no control subject. No such association, however, emerged for invasive carcinomas. Thus, the current findings confirm that, although intraepithelial neoplasia and invasive cervical cancer appear to share several important epidemiological features, the specific (infectious) agents implicated in dysplastic lesions probably differ to some extent from those causing invasive cancer.
