Cox models survival analysis based on breast cancer treatments.

Background: The aim of this study is to evaluate the association between different treatments and survival time of breast cancer patients using either standard Cox model or stratified Cox model.

Methods: The study was conducted on 15830 women diagnosed with breast cancer in British Columbia, Canada. They were divided into eight groups according to patients' ages and stage of disease Either Cox's PH model or stratified Cox model was fitted to each group according to the PH assumption and tested using Schoenfeld residuals.

Stage, treatment and outcomes for patients with breast cancer in British Columbia in 2002: a population-based cohort study.

Background: There are very few long-term Canadian data on breast cancer outcomes by stage. We described the stage, treatment and outcomes of breast cancer at a population level for patients in British Columbia.

Methods: This population-based cohort study included almost all patients with incident breast cancer registered in 2002 (about 97.

Limited adequacy of thyroid cancer patient follow-up at a Canadian tertiary care centre.

Background: We sought to evaluate the adequacy of follow-up of thyroid cancer patients at a Canadian centre.

Methods: We mailed a survey to the family physicians of thyroid cancer patients and analyzed the findings relative to follow-up guidelines published by the American Thyroid Association (ATA). Statistical significance between early and late follow-up patterns was analyzed using the χ(2) test.

Synoptic pathology reporting for thyroid cancer: a review and institutional experience.

Thyroid cancer surgical pathology reports contain information that is critical for diagnosis, determining completeness of resection, staging and guiding postoperative management. Traditional narrative pathology reporting is prone to errors and omissions with variability in content and completeness. The objective of this review was to evaluate the impact of synoptic reporting on thyroid cancer pathology reporting.

Influence of fluorescence on screening decisions for oral mucosal lesions in community dental practices.

Background: Quality of oral screening examinations is dependent upon the experience of the clinician and can vary widely. Deciding when a patient needs to be referred is a critical and difficult decision for general practice clinicians. A device to aid in this decision would be beneficial.

Genetic polymorphisms at TIMP3 are associated with survival of adenocarcinoma of the gastroesophageal junction.

The poor survival of adenocarcinomas of the gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) makes them clinically important. Discovery of host genetic factors that affect outcome may guide more individualized treatment. This study tests whether constitutional genetic variants in matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMP) genes are associated with outcome of GEJ adenocarcinoma.

Gender- and ethnicity-specific survival trends of oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancers in British Columbia.

Introduction: A shift in etiology of oral cancers has been associated with a rise in incidence for oropharyngeal cancers (OPC) and decrease for oral cavity cancers (OCC); however, there is limited information about population-based survival trends. We report epidemiological transitions in survival for both OPC and OCC from a population-based cancer registry, focusing upon gender and ethnic differences.

Methods: All primary oral cancers diagnosed between 1980 and 2005 were identified from the British Columbia Cancer Registry and regrouped into OPC and OCC by topographical subsites, time periods (1980-1993 and 1994-2005), stage at diagnosis, and ethnicity.

Breast Cancer Survival Analysis: Applying the Generalized Gamma Distribution under Different Conditions of the Proportional Hazards and Accelerated Failure Time Assumptions.

Background: The goal of this study is to extend the applications of parametric survival models so that they include cases in which accelerated failure time (AFT) assumption is not satisfied, and examine parametric and semiparametric models under different proportional hazards (PH) and AFT assumptions.

Methods: The data for 12,531 women diagnosed with breast cancer in British Columbia, Canada, during 1990-1999 were divided into eight groups according to patients' ages and stage of disease, and each group was assumed to have different AFT and PH assumptions. For parametric models, we fitted the saturated generalized gamma (GG) distribution, and compared this with the conventional AFT model.

Applying conventional and saturated generalized gamma distributions in parametric survival analysis of breast cancer.

Background: The generalized gamma distribution statistics constitute an extensive family that contains nearly all of the most commonly used distributions including the exponential, Weibull and log normal. A saturated version of the model allows covariates having effects through all the parameters of survival time distribution. Accelerated failure-time models assume that only one parameter of the distribution depends on the covariates.

Cancer risk in multiple sclerosis: findings from British Columbia, Canada.

Findings regarding cancer risk in people with multiple sclerosis have been inconsistent and few studies have explored the possibility of diagnostic neglect. The influence of a relapsing-onset versus primary progressive course on cancer risk is unknown. We examined cancer risk and tumour size at diagnosis in a cohort of patients with multiple sclerosis compared to the general population and we explored the influence of disease course.

Demographic and tumor characteristics of patients diagnosed with nonmelanoma skin cancer: 13-year retrospective study.

Background: The incidence of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is increasing worldwide; however, this varies by region. To date, there are limited data about trends of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) in Canada.

Objective: To determine the demographic and tumor characteristic changes in patients diagnosed with BCC and SCC from 1993 to 2005 in a dermatology practice in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Effect of community population size on breast cancer screening, stage distribution, treatment use and outcomes.

Objective: Residents of rural communities have decreased access to cancer screening and treatments compared to urban residents, though use of resources and patient outcomes have not been assessed with a comprehensive population-based analysis. The objectives of this study were to investigate whether breast cancer screening and treatments were utilized less frequently in rural BC and whether this translated into differences in outcomes.

Methods: All patients diagnosed with breast cancer in British Columbia (BC) during 2002 were identified from the Cancer Registry and linked to the Screening Mammography database.

Adherence to dietary recommendations and risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: a case-control study in Iran.

Background/aim: The Dietary Guidelines for Americans Adherence Index (DGAI) 2005 was developed to assess the contribution of dietary patterns to chronic disease risk. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of dietary patterns as measured by the DGAI 2005 with the esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) risk in Iran.

Methods: This case-control study was conducted on 50 ESCC cases and 100 hospital controls aged 40-75 years.

A case-match study comparing unilateral with synchronous bilateral breast cancer outcomes.

Purpose: There is controversy about whether patients with synchronous bilateral breast cancer (SBBC) have similar or worse outcomes compared with patients with unilateral breast cancer. The purpose of this study was to determine whether survival outcomes for patients with SBBC can be estimated from the characteristics of their individual cancers.

Patients And Methods: Patients had invasive breast cancer, without metastases or inflammatory disease, diagnosed in British Columbia between 1989 and 2000.

The prognostic effect of ethnicity for gastric and esophageal cancer: the population-based experience in British Columbia, Canada.

Background: Gastric and esophageal cancers are among the most lethal human malignancies. Their epidemiology is geographically diverse. This study compares the survival of gastric and esophageal cancer patients among several ethnic groups including Chinese, South Asians, Iranians and Others in British Columbia (BC), Canada.

Ultraviolet radiation.

The major source of ultraviolet radiation is solar radiation or sunlight. However, exposure to artificial sources particularly through tanning salons is becoming more important in terms of human health effects, as use of these facilities by young people, has increased. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has noted that there is sufficient evidence from studies in animals and in man to establish ultraviolet radiation as a human carcinogen.

Comparison of Aalen's additive and Cox proportional hazards models for breast cancer survival: analysis of population- based data from British Columbia, Canada.

Background: Regression models for survival data have traditionally been based on the Cox regression model. However, its validity relies heavily on assumption of proportional hazards. Another restriction of the Cox model is insufficiency in dealing with time-varying covariate effects, since the regression coefficients are assumed constant.

Comparison of two diverse populations, British Columbia, Canada, and Ardabil, Iran, indicates several variables associated with gastric and esophageal cancer survival.

Background: Geographic variation and temporal trends in the epidemiology of esophageal and gastric cancers vary according to both tumor morphology and organ subsite. This study compares 1-year survival of gastric and esophageal cancers between two distinct populations: British Columbia (BC), Canada, and Ardabil, Iran.

Methods: Data for invasive primary esophageal and gastric cancer patients were obtained from the population-based cancer registries for BC and Ardabil.

Breast cancer treatment and ethnicity in British Columbia, Canada.

Background: Racial and ethnic disparities in breast cancer incidence, stage at diagnosis, survival and mortality are well documented; but few studies have reported on disparities in breast cancer treatment. This paper compares the treatment received by breast cancer patients in British Columbia (BC) for three ethnic groups and three time periods. Values for breast cancer treatments received in the BC general population are provided for reference.

Trends in oropharyngeal and oral cavity cancer incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV)-related and HPV-unrelated sites in a multicultural population: the British Columbia experience.

Background: There is a growing recognition of the involvement of human papilloma virus infection in the etiology of head and neck cancers at some sites, mainly the base of the tongue, tonsils, and other oropharynx (hereafter termed oropharyngeal cancer). Other oral sites (hereafter termed oral cavity cancer [OCC]) show a stronger association with tobacco and alcohol. Little is known about the ethnic variation in incidence for these cancers.

The identification of Lynch syndrome in British Columbia.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of Lynch syndrome mutations in a Canadian hereditary cancer clinic population, and to determine the effectiveness of the program's referral criteria and testing algorithm.

Methods: A retrospective chart review of all patients who were referred for and received genetic counselling at the BC Cancer Agency's Hereditary Cancer Program for a family history of colon cancer from August 1, 2004, to September 1, 2006, was performed. Charts were reviewed for referral criteria met, cancer history, whether testing was offered and the outcome of testing.

Comparison of breast cancer survival in two populations: Ardabil, Iran and British Columbia, Canada.

Background: Patterns in survival can provide information about the burden and severity of cancer, help uncover gaps in systemic policy and program delivery, and support the planning of enhanced cancer control systems. The aim of this paper is to describe the one-year survival rates for breast cancer in two populations using population-based cancer registries: Ardabil, Iran, and British Columbia (BC), Canada.

Methods: All newly diagnosed cases of female breast cancer were identified in the Ardabil cancer registry from 2003 to 2005 and the BC cancer registry for 2003.

A phase II trial of a neoadjuvant platinum regimen for locally advanced breast cancer: pathologic response, long-term follow-up, and correlation with biomarkers.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine the response, tolerability, and long-term outcome of a neoadjuvant platinum-containing regimen for locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) and to search for a correlation between pathologic complete response (pCR) and predefined biomarkers in this cohort.

Patients And Methods: Patients with LABC received 8 cycles of either sequence A or B. Sequence A was doxorubicin 60 mg/m(2) and paclitaxel 175 mg/m(2) (AT) every 3 weeks x 4 followed by cisplatin (C) 60 mg/m(2) and paclitaxel 90 mg/m(2) (CT) every 2 weeks x 4.

Validation of predictive models for germline mutations in DNA mismatch repair genes in colorectal cancer.

Lynch syndrome is defined by the presence of germline mutations in mismatch repair (MMR) genes. Several models have been recently devised that predict mutation carrier status (Myriad Genetics, Wijnen, Barnetson, PREMM and MMRpro models). Families at moderate-high risk for harboring a Lynch-associated mutation, referred to the BC Cancer Agency (BCCA) Hereditary Cancer Program (HCP), underwent mutation analysis, immunohistochemistry and/or microsatellite testing.

Hepatitis B testing and vaccination in immigrants attending English as a second language classes in British Columbia, Canada.

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a growing health issue in Canada, especially given that population growth is now largely the result of immigration. Immigrants from countries with high HBV prevalence and low levels of HBV vaccination have an excess risk of liver disease and there is a need for increased diligence in HBV blood testing and possibly vaccination among these populations.

Objective: This study describes the sociodemographic characteristics associated with a history of HBV testing and HBV vaccination in immigrants from several countries with high HBV prevalence who are attending English classes.