Mesothelioma in the United States: a Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare investigation of treatment patterns and overall survival.

Introduction: Mesothelioma is a rare malignancy typically associated with exposure to asbestos and poor survival. The purpose of this investigation was to describe mesothelioma patient characteristics, treatment patterns, and overall survival (OS) utilizing the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare database.

Materials And Methods: Patients in this study were diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma of the pleura or peritoneum between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2009 with follow-up for survival through December 31, 2010.

Risk of second primary tumors in men diagnosed with prostate cancer: a population-based cohort study.

Background: The survival of men diagnosed with prostate cancer has improved over time, and the current 10-year relative survival rate is 99.7%. The long survival of patients with this common cancer raises questions about the risk of a second primary cancer and the need for continued surveillance.

Patterns of cancer in first generation immigrants from the Arab League and other countries.

Arabic immigrants are a relatively new group of immigrants and one of the fastest growing populations in the United States. Yet, information about their disease patterns is limited because Arabic is not a recognized minority group in population statistics. We tested whether population-based cancer registry data were useful to describe cancer patterns of the first generation of Arabic immigrants, compared with non-immigrants as well as the first generation of other immigrants.

African American-preponderant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and risk of breast cancer.

Background: African American women more often present with more aggressive types of breast cancer than Caucasian women, but little is known whether genetic polymorphisms specific to or disproportionate in African Americans are associated with their risk of breast cancer.

Methods: A population-based case-control study was conducted including 194 cases identified through the Metropolitan Detroit Cancer Surveillance System and 189 controls recruited through random digit dialing to examine polymorphisms in genes involved in estrogen metabolism and action.

Results: The African American-specific CYP1A1 5639C allele was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer (odds ratio (OR)=2.

Racial differences in cervical cancer survival in the Detroit metropolitan area.

Background: African-American (AA) women have lower survival rates from cervical cancer compared with white women. The objective of this study was to examine the influence of socioeconomic status (SES) and other variables on racial disparities in overall survival among women with invasive cervical cancer.

Methods: One thousand thirty-six women (705 white women and 331 AA women) who were diagnosed with primary invasive cancer of the cervix between 1988 and 1992 were identified through the Metropolitan Detroit Cancer Surveillance System (MDCSS), a registry in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database.

Breast cancer risk estimates for relatives of white and African American women with breast cancer in the Women's Contraceptive and Reproductive Experiences Study.

Purpose: Family history is a well-recognized risk factor for breast cancer. Familial aggregation and segregation analyses have estimated breast cancer risk based on family history primarily for white women; such information is limited for African American (AA) women. The purpose of this report is to update breast cancer risk estimates associated with a family history of breast cancer for white and AA women.

Racial differences in the familial aggregation of breast cancer and other female cancers.

Although breast cancer familial aggregation has been studied in Caucasians, information for African-Americans is scant. We used family cancer history from the Women's Contraceptive and Reproductive Experiences study to assess the aggregation of breast and gynecological cancers in African-American and Caucasian families. Information was available on 41,825 first and second-degree relatives of Caucasian and 28,956 relatives of African-American participants.