Neighborhood archetypes and breast cancer survival in California.

Purpose: Previous studies on neighborhoods and breast cancer survival examined neighborhood variables as unidimensional measures (e.g. walkability or deprivation) individually and thus cannot inform how the multitude of highly correlated neighborhood domains interact to impact breast cancer survival.

A breast cancer case-control study of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) serum levels among California women.

Purpose: Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are among the most persistent and pervasive global environmental contaminants. Their toxic and endocrine-disrupting properties have made them a focus of concern for breast cancer. Our objective was to evaluate the risk of breast cancer associated with serum PBDE levels in a case-control study nested within the California Teachers Study.

Breast cancer risk and serum levels of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances: a case-control study nested in the California Teachers Study.

Background: Per- and poly- fluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a large family of synthetic chemicals, some of which are mammary toxicants and endocrine disruptors. Their potential as breast carcinogens is unclear. Our objective was to evaluate the risk of breast cancer associated with serum PFAS concentrations in a nested case-control study within the California Teachers Study.

Impact of individual and neighborhood factors on socioeconomic disparities in localized and advanced prostate cancer risk.

Purpose: The reasons behind socio-economic disparities in prostate cancer incidence remain unclear. We tested the hypothesis that individual-level factors act jointly with neighborhood-level social and built environment factors to influence prostate cancer risk and that specific social and built environment factors contribute to socio-econmic differences in risk.

Methods: We used multi-level data, combining individual-level data (including education and known prostate cancer risk factors) for prostate cancer cases (n = 775) and controls (n = 542) from the San Francisco Bay Area Prostate Cancer Study, a population-based case-control study, with contextual-level data on neighborhood socio-economic status (nSES) and specific social and built environment factors from the California Neighborhoods Data System.

Evaluating an owner-to-worker training intervention in California nail salons using personal air monitoring.

Background: Chemicals in nail products have been linked to numerous health concerns.

Methods: We recruited Vietnamese-American nail salon owners and workers in California and randomized salons into an intervention or control group. Owners in the intervention group received training and then provided education to workers in their salons on best practices to reduce workplace chemical exposures.

Impact of individual and neighborhood factors on disparities in prostate cancer survival.

Background: We addressed the hypothesis that individual-level factors act jointly with social and built environment factors to influence overall survival for men with prostate cancer and contribute to racial/ethnic and socioeconomic (SES) survival disparities.

Methods: We analyzed multi-level data, combining (1) individual-level data from the California Collaborative Prostate Cancer Study, a population-based study of non-Hispanic White (NHW), Hispanic, and African American prostate cancer cases (N = 1800) diagnosed from 1997 to 2003, with (2) data on neighborhood SES (nSES) and social and built environment factors from the California Neighborhoods Data System, and (3) data on tumor characteristics, treatment and follow-up through 2009 from the California Cancer Registry. Multivariable, stage-stratified Cox proportional hazards regression models with cluster adjustments were used to assess education and nSES main and joint effects on overall survival, before and after adjustment for social and built environment factors.

Time Trends in Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in California Women: Declining Serum Levels, 2011-2015.

After several decades of widespread use, some per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) were phased-out of use due to concerns raised by their persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic properties. Our objective was to evaluate temporal trends in serum PFAS levels among 1257 middle-aged and older California women (ages 40-94) during a four year period, beginning approximately 5-10 years after these phase-outs began. An online SPE-HPLC-MS/MS was used to measure 10 long-chain PFASs in serum from blood collected cross-sectionally during 2011-2015 from a subset of participants in the California Teachers Study.

Genome-Wide Testing of Exonic Variants and Breast Cancer Risk in the California Teachers Study.

Few studies have focused on the relationship of exonic variation with breast cancer and subtypes defined by tumor markers: estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and HER2. We genotyped 1,764 breast cancer patients and 1,400 controls from the California Teachers Study cohort using the Infinium HumanExome Beadchip. Individual variant and gene-based analyses were conducted for overall breast cancer and by individual tumor marker subtype.

Temporal Evaluation of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ether (PBDE) Serum Levels in Middle-Aged and Older California Women, 2011-2015.

In response to health concerns and widespread human exposures, two widely used commercial formulations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were banned in the United States in 2005. Initial biomonitoring data have provided early indications of reduced human exposures since these bans took effect. Our objective was to evaluate temporal trends in PBDE serum levels among a population of older California women during a four-year period, beginning approximately five years after these formulations were banned.

Racial/Ethnic Differences in the Impact of Neighborhood Social and Built Environment on Breast Cancer Risk: The Neighborhoods and Breast Cancer Study.

Neighborhood socioeconomic status (nSES) has been found to be associated with breast cancer risk. It remains unclear whether this association applies across racial/ethnic groups independent of individual-level factors and is attributable to other neighborhood characteristics. We examined the independent and joint associations of education and nSES with odds of breast cancer.

Recent declines in cancer incidence: related to the Great Recession?

Purpose: In recent years, cancer case counts in the U.S. underwent a large, rapid decline-an unexpected change given population growth for older persons at highest cancer risk.

Tracing a Path to the Past: Exploring the Use of Commercial Credit Reporting Data to Construct Residential Histories for Epidemiologic Studies of Environmental Exposures.

Large-scale environmental epidemiologic studies often rely on exposure estimates based on linkage to residential addresses. This approach, however, is limited by the lack of residential histories typically available for study participants. Our objective was to evaluate the feasibility of using address data from LexisNexis (a division of RELX, Inc.

Lifetime body size and estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer risk in the California Teachers Study cohort.

Background: Obesity is a public health epidemic and an important breast cancer risk factor. The relationship between interrelated body measurements is complex and most studies fail to account for this complexity. We identified key aspects of body size which jointly, over the life-course (since adolescence), are associated with estrogen-receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer risk.

Body size over the life-course and the risk of endometrial cancer: the California Teachers Study.

Purpose: Obesity is a public health epidemic and a major risk factor for endometrial cancer. Here, we identify key aspects of body size which jointly, over the life-course (since adolescence), are associated with endometrial cancer risk.

Methods: Among 88,142 participants in the California Teachers Study, 887 were diagnosed with invasive type 1 endometrial cancer between 1997-1998 and 2012.

Association between Serum Polybrominated Diphenyl Ether Levels and Residential Proximity to Solid-Waste Facilities.

As consumer products treated with polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) reach the end of their life cycle, they often are discarded into solid-waste facilities, offering a potential reservoir for exposure. The likelihood of exposures to PBDEs by residents living near those sites rarely has been explored. This study collected blood samples from 923 female participants in the California Teachers Study in 2011-2013 and examined the association between participants' residential proximity to solid-waste facilities with potential release of PBDEs and serum levels of three congeners (BDE-47, BDE-100, and BDE-153).

Residential exposure to estrogen disrupting hazardous air pollutants and breast cancer risk: the California Teachers Study.

Background: Some studies show increased breast cancer risk from exposure to xenoestrogens, but few have explored exposures via ambient air, which could impact large populations.

Objectives: This study explored the association between breast cancer risk and residential exposures to ambient estrogen disruptors among participants in a large cohort study, the California Teachers Study.

Methods: Participants consisted of 112,379 women free of breast cancer and living at a California address in 1995/1996.

Hazardous air pollutants and breast cancer risk in California teachers: a cohort study.

Background: Studies suggest that higher breast cancer rates in urban areas persist after accounting for the prevalence of known risk factors, leading to speculation that urban environmental exposures, such as air pollution, may play a role in the etiology of breast cancer. Combining modeled ambient air concentrations with data from a large prospective cohort of California women with over 15 years of follow-up, we examined the relationship between breast cancer incidence and modeled concentrations of air pollutants shown to be mammary gland carcinogens (MGCs).

Methods: The study population of 112,378 California Teachers Study participants included 5,676 women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer.

Disaggregating data on Asian American and Pacific Islander women to provide new insights on potential exposures to hazardous air pollutants in California.

Background: The Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) population is heterogeneous and rapidly growing in the United States, with a high proportion concentrated in California. Although traditionally assumed to have lower rates of breast cancer than non-Hispanic white women, recent studies have suggested considerable variation in incidence by AAPI ethnic group, with rates in some exceeding those in non-Hispanic whites. The potential role of environmental toxicants has not been well explored and may provide insights into these patterns.

Use of and mortality after bilateral mastectomy compared with other surgical treatments for breast cancer in California, 1998-2011.

Importance: Bilateral mastectomy is increasingly used to treat unilateral breast cancer. Because it may have medical and psychosocial complications, a better understanding of its use and outcomes is essential to optimizing cancer care.

Objective: To compare use of and mortality after bilateral mastectomy, breast-conserving therapy with radiation, and unilateral mastectomy.

Continued rapid increase in thyroid cancer incidence in california: trends by patient, tumor, and neighborhood characteristics.

Background: Thyroid cancer incidence is increasing worldwide. Incorporating 22 years of incidence data through 2009, we extend examination of these trends among a wide array of subgroups defined by patient (age, sex, race/ethnicity, and nativity), tumor (tumor size and stage), and neighborhood (socioeconomic status and residence in ethnic enclaves) characteristics, to identify possible reasons for this increase.

Methods: Thyroid cancer incidence data on 10,940 men and 35,147 women were obtained from the California Cancer Registry for 1988-2009.

Impact of neighborhood and individual socioeconomic status on survival after breast cancer varies by race/ethnicity: the Neighborhood and Breast Cancer Study.

Background: Research is limited on the independent and joint effects of individual- and neighborhood-level socioeconomic status (SES) on breast cancer survival across different racial/ethnic groups.

Methods: We studied individual-level SES, measured by self-reported education, and a composite neighborhood SES (nSES) measure in females (1,068 non-Hispanic whites, 1,670 Hispanics, 993 African-Americans, and 674 Asian-Americans), ages 18 to 79 years and diagnosed 1995 to 2008, in the San Francisco Bay Area. We evaluated all-cause and breast cancer-specific survival using stage-stratified Cox proportional hazards models with cluster adjustment for census block groups.

Genetic variants and non-genetic factors predict circulating vitamin D levels in Hispanic and non-Hispanic White women: the Breast Cancer Health Disparities Study.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified common polymorphisms in or near GC, CYP2R1, CYP24A1, and NADSYN1/DHCR7 genes to be associated with circulating levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] in European populations. To replicate these GWAS findings, we examined six selected polymorphisms from these regions and their relation with circulating 25(OH)D levels in 1,605 Hispanic women (629 U.S.

A cross-sectional analysis of light at night, neighborhood sociodemographics and urinary 6-sulfatoxymelatonin concentrations: implications for the conduct of health studies.

Background: There is accumulating evidence that circadian disruption, mediated by alterations in melatonin levels, may play an etiologic role in a wide variety of diseases. The degree to which light-at-night (LAN) and other factors can alter melatonin levels is not well-documented. Our primary objective was to evaluate the degree to which estimates of outdoor environmental LAN predict 6-sulftoxymelatonin (aMT6s), the primary urinary metabolite of melatonin.

Evaluation of the agreement between modeled and monitored ambient hazardous air pollutants in California.

Elevated breast cancer incidence rates in urban areas have led to speculation regarding the potential role of air pollution. In order to inform the exposure assessment for a subsequent breast cancer study, we evaluated agreement between modeled and monitored hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). Modeled annual ambient concentrations of HAPs in California came from the US Environmental Protection Agency's National Air Toxics Assessment database for 1996, 1999, 2002, and 2005 and corresponding monitored data from the California Air Resources Board's air quality monitoring program.