The INTERPHONE study: design, epidemiological methods, and description of the study population.

The very rapid worldwide increase in mobile phone use in the last decade has generated considerable interest in the possible health effects of exposure to radio frequency (RF) fields. A multinational case-control study, INTERPHONE, was set-up to investigate whether mobile phone use increases the risk of cancer and, more specifically, whether the RF fields emitted by mobile phones are carcinogenic. The study focused on tumours arising in the tissues most exposed to RF fields from mobile phones: glioma, meningioma, acoustic neurinoma and parotid gland tumours.

Dietary intake changes and their association with ovarian cancer risk.

There are reasons to suspect that dietary changes through adult life may modify risk for some cancers. We examined the association of recent and past dietary habits and changes in dietary intake over time with ovarian cancer risk. Long-term nutritional assessment was performed retrospectively in 631 incident cases of invasive epithelial ovarian cancer and in 1174 matched controls (matched by age +/- 2 y, country of origin, and period of immigration) as part of a nationwide case-control study of ovarian cancer conducted between the years of 1994 and 1996 in Israel.

Primary peritoneal carcinoma--Uterine involvement and hysterectomy.

Objective: To assess the frequency of uterine involvement in primary peritoneal carcinoma (PPC) and to describe selected clinical characteristics in patients with and without hysterectomy.

Methods: All incident cases of histologically confirmed cancer of the ovary or peritoneum, diagnosed in Israeli Jewish women between March 1 1994 and June 30, 1999, were identified within the framework of a nationwide epidemiological study of these neoplasms. The study population was accrued through an active search of all newly diagnosed patients in all the departments of gynecology in Israel.

Demographic and genetic characteristics of patients with borderline ovarian tumors as compared to early stage invasive ovarian cancer.

Objective: Evaluation whether Jewish founder mutations in BRCA predispose to borderline tumors as they do to early invasive ovarian cancers.

Methods: All Jewish women with borderline or invasive ovarian tumors, diagnosed over a 5-year period (1994-1999), were identified in the frame of a nationwide epidemiological study on ovarian cancer in Israel. Out of a total of 1489 patients, 1269 were interviewed; of them 256 (20.

Long-term follow-up for brain tumor development after childhood exposure to ionizing radiation for tinea capitis.

Ionizing radiation is an established risk factor for brain tumors, yet quantitative information on the long-term risk of different types of brain tumors is sparse. Our aims were to assess the risk of radiation-induced malignant brain tumors and benign meningiomas after childhood exposure and to investigate the role of potential modifiers of that risk. The study population included 10,834 individuals who were treated for tinea capitis with X rays in the 1950s and two matched nonirradiated groups, comprising population and sibling comparison groups.

Ret/PTC activation in benign and malignant thyroid tumors arising in a population exposed to low-dose external-beam irradiation in childhood.

Ionizing radiation is the strongest risk factor known for the development of thyroid neoplasia. Although ret/PTC rearrangements have been identified in both spontaneous and radiation-induced papillary thyroid cancer, they seem more frequent among radiation-associated tumors. We studied the frequency of ret/PTC activation in a group of sporadic and radiation-induced thyroid carcinomas (n = 49) and adenomas (n = 13) among 44 individuals treated for Tinea Capitis with low-dose external irradiation as well as in 18 nonirradiated subjects.

Comparison between primary peritoneal and epithelial ovarian carcinoma: a population-based study.

Objective: This study was undertaken to characterize primary peritoneal carcinoma (PPC) compared with ovarian carcinoma (OvC).

Study Design: Within the framework of a nationwide epidemiologic Israeli study, 95 PPC patients were identified and compared with 117 FIGO stage III-IV epithelial OvC patients matched by age and continent of birth. Data were abstracted from medical records and personal interviews.

The effect of a communal lifestyle on depressive symptoms in late life.

Objectives: This study compares depression levels among lifetime kibbutz members (n = 525) and old-age kibbutz residents (n = 366) with a comparable national sample (n = 412) and assesses the relationship between depression and individual differences related to lifetime in a kibbutz (e.g., health) and those related to current living conditions (e.

The limitations of using hospital controls in cancer etiology--one more example for Berkson's bias.

The aim of this report was to present an example in which Berkson's bias, most probably, affected the results of a study by overriding the influence of a well-established risk factor (smoking) in the etiology of bladder cancer. The results of a study of 140 male patients with bladder cancer and 280 matched hospital controls confirmed the etiological role of industrial occupation in bladder cancer but failed to confirm the role of smoking. We reanalyzed the proportion of chronic related morbidity as well as the rate of smoking in patients with lung disease in cases and controls.

Beyond keeping active: concomitants of being a volunteer in old-old age.

This study examines concomitants of volunteering in the context of other lifestyle activities. Investigating formal volunteering in old-old age, the authors analyzed data of 148 volunteers versus 1,195 nonvolunteers in a national sample of the Israeli Jewish population aged 75-94. As hypothesized, being a volunteer related (whether as a cause or effect) to more positive functioning on psychosocial markers and prospectively resulted in reduced mortality risk even when other activity outlets (physical activity, everyday activities, having a hobby) were controlled.

The sequence of vessel interruption during lobectomy for non-small cell lung cancer: is it indeed important?

Objective: During pulmonary resections for non-small cell lung cancer, the pulmonary vein is traditionally interrupted first to prevent seeding of malignant cells and consequently decrease metastatic implantation. This hypothesis was never confirmed scientifically. The aim of the present study was to determine whether the sequence of vessel interruption during lobectomy (lobar vein or lobar artery first) affects disease recurrence.

Patterns of drug use among the community-dwelling old-old population in Israel.

Background: Due to multiple chronic illness and disability, the elderly consume a disproportionately large share of medications.

Objectives: To assess the patterns and determinants of drug use among the community dwelling old-old population.

Methods: The study population included 1,369 old-old persons from the baseline data of the Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Aging Study (CALAS), which is based on a national random stratified sample of the Israeli Jewish population aged 75-94 years.

Gender differences in the self-rated health-mortality association: is it poor self-rated health that predicts mortality or excellent self-rated health that predicts survival?

Purpose: This study investigates gender differences in the association between self-rated health (SRH) and mortality. This association has been well-documented, but findings regarding gender differences are inconsistent. The specific objectives were (a) to examine these differences in a short and a long time frame, (b) to examine these differences among old and old-old people, and (c) to address the question of whether this association is based on the accuracy of poor SRH as a predictor of future decline, and/or of better SRH as a predictor of longevity.

Tracing long-term effects of early trauma: a broad-scope view of Holocaust survivors in late life.

This study addressed long-term effects of extreme trauma among Holocaust survivors (N = 126) in an older (75-94 years) sample of the Israeli Jewish population. Survivors were compared with European-descent groups that had immigrated either before World War II (n = 206) or after (n = 145). Participants in the latter group had had Holocaust-related life histories but did not consider themselves survivors.

Relation of childhood brain tumors to exposure of parents and children to tobacco smoke: the SEARCH international case-control study. Surveillance of Environmental Aspects Related to Cancer in Humans.

The etiology of childhood brain tumors (CBTs) remains unknown. Tobacco smoke contains several known carcinogens and can induce DNA adducts in human placenta and hemoglobin adducts in fetuses. We present the results of an international case-control study to evaluate the association between CBTs and exposure of parents and children to cigarette smoke.

Cancer incidence in a cohort of infertile women who underwent in vitro fertilization.

Objective: To assess whether ovarian hyperstimulation and IVF increase the risk for cancer.

Design: Historical cohort analysis. SETTING; IVF units of two medical centers in Israel.

Depressive Symptoms Among Community-Dwelling Oldest-Old Residents in Israel.

The authors examined the rate and correlates of depressive symptoms among community-dwelling oldest-old citizens in Israel with a sample of about 1,200 Jewish Israelis age 75-94. The estimated national rate of depressive symptoms was 43.5%.