Subfertility, use of fertility treatments and BRCA mutation status and the risk of ovarian cancer.

Purpose: The objective of the study is to evaluate the possible association between history of subfertility, fertility treatments, BRCA mutations and the risk of ovarian cancer.

Methods: This Israeli National Case-Control study included 1269 consecutive ovarian cancer cases and 2111 individually matched healthy controls. All participants were interviewed and molecular analysis of BRCA mutations were performed to 896 cases.

Sex and ethnic-origin specific BMI cut points improve prediction of 40-year mortality: the Israel GOH study.

Background: Although obesity has been associated with a higher risk for premature death, the sex and ethnic-origin specific body mass index (BMI) levels that are associated with increased mortality are controversial. We investigated the 40-year cumulative all-cause mortality, in relation to the BMI in adult life, among men and women originating from Yemen, Europe/America, Middle East and North Africa, using sex and ethnic-origin specific BMI cut points.

Methods: A random stratified cohort (n = 5710) was sampled from the central population registry and followed since 1969 for vital status.

Jews and Arabs in the same region in Israel exhibit major differences in dietary patterns.

The Jewish majority and Arab minority populations in Israel exhibit disparities in nutrition-related chronic diseases, but comparative, population-based dietary studies are lacking. We evaluated ethnic differences in dietary patterns in a population-based, cross-sectional study of Arab and Jewish urban adults (n = 1104; age 25-74 y). Dietary intake was assessed with an interviewer-administered, quantified FFQ.

Association between BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations and survival in women with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer.

Context: Approximately 10% of women with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) carry deleterious germline mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2. A recent article suggested that BRCA2-related EOC was associated with an improved prognosis, but the effect of BRCA1 remains unclear.

Objective: To characterize the survival of BRCA carriers with EOC compared with noncarriers and to determine whether BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers show similar survival patterns.

Lifestyle intervention in obese Arab women: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Few randomized controlled trials on lifestyle interventions have been reported in non-Western populations; none have been reported in Arab populations.

Methods: From 2 Muslim Arab communities in Israel, obese, nondiabetic women aged 35 to 54 years with 1 or more components of the metabolic syndrome were randomized to either an intensive (n = 100) or a moderate (control) (n = 101) 12-month lifestyle intervention. Women in the intensive intervention had 11 individual and 11 group counseling sessions per year with a dietitian and 22 physical activity group sessions per year.

An international case-control study of adult diet and brain tumor risk: a histology-specific analysis by food group.

Purpose: Existing studies of diet and adult brain tumors have been limited by small numbers in histology-specific subgroups. Dietary data from an international collaborative case-control study on adult brain tumors were used to evaluate associations between histology-specific risk and consumption of specific food groups.

Methods: The study included 1548 cases diagnosed between 1984 and 1991 and 2486 control subjects from 8 study centers in 6 countries.

An international case-control study of maternal diet during pregnancy and childhood brain tumor risk: a histology-specific analysis by food group.

Purpose: Maternal dietary data from an international collaborative case-control study on childhood brain tumors were used to evaluate associations between histology-specific risk and consumption of specific food groups during pregnancy.

Methods: Nine study centers from seven countries contributed 1218 cases and 2223 controls. Most cases were diagnosed between 1982 and 1992 and ranged in age from 0 to 19 years.

Family cancer history and risk of brain tumors in children: results of the SEARCH international brain tumor study.

Objective: To examine whether childhood brain tumors (CBTs) are associated with a family history of brain tumors or other cancers in an international case-control study.

Methods: Cancers in children's first- and second-degree relatives were ascertained by interview with parents of 620 children with astroglial tumors, 255 with primitive neuroectodermal tumors, 324 with other CBTs, and 2,218 controls from Australia, Canada, France, Israel, Italy, Spain, and the US. These were used with histories of neurofibromatosis or tuberous sclerosis to exclude in subanalyses children with Li-Fraumeni or other hereditary syndromes predisposing to brain tumors.

Effect of BRCA1/2 mutations on long-term survival of patients with invasive ovarian cancer: the national Israeli study of ovarian cancer.

Purpose: To evaluate the long-term survival of ovarian cancer (OvC) patients in total and by BRCA1/2 mutation status.

Patients And Methods: In a nationwide case-control study on OvC conducted in Israel between 1994 and 1999, 779 Jewish women with epithelial invasive OvC were tested for the three Ashkenazi Jewish founder mutations in BRCA1 (185delAG; 5382insC) and BRCA2 (6174delT) genes and followed for survival up to 2003. Of the 605 women of Ashkenazi origin, 213 (35.

Obesity among Arabs and Jews in Israel: a population-based study.

Background: Arabs in Israel have high morbidity and mortality from diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Obesity is a risk factor for both conditions.

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of obesity (body mass index >30 kg/m2), subjects' knowledge and behaviors, and their reports on practices of health-care professionals regarding body weight among Arabs and Jews.

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.

Maternal medication use and the risk of brain tumors in the offspring: the SEARCH international case-control study.

N-nitroso compounds (NOC) have been associated with carcinogenesis in a wide range of species, including humans. There is strong experimental data showing that nitrosamides (R(1)NNO.COR(2)), a type of NOC, are potent neuro-carcinogens when administered transplacentally.

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.

Life-style habits and homocysteine levels in an elderly population.

Background And Aims: Increased plasma total homocysteine (Hcy) is a known cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factor, related to several components of the established CVD risk profile. Observational studies support the role of modifying life-style related risk factors such as diet, physical activity and alcohol consumption in CVD prevention. Regular physical activity protects against coronary artery disease, possibly through its role in controlling risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus and obesity, but also independently.

Gynecologic surgeries and risk of ovarian cancer in women with BRCA1 and BRCA2 Ashkenazi founder mutations: an Israeli population-based case-control study.

Background: In the general population, the risk of developing ovarian cancer is reduced in women who have undergone tubal ligation, hysterectomy, or oophorectomy, although peritoneal cancer can arise after bilateral oophorectomy. In studies from genetic screening clinics, women with mutations in the breast and ovarian susceptibility genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 have been found to have a low risk of peritoneal carcinoma in the first years after bilateral oophorectomy. We assessed the level and persistence of reduction of ovarian (including peritoneal) cancer risk after gynecologic surgeries for women who carry BRCA1/2 mutations but were not selected from high-risk clinics.

Farm-related exposures and childhood brain tumours in seven countries: results from the SEARCH International Brain Tumour Study.

A total of 1218 cases of childhood brain tumours (CBT) and 2223 control subjects from the general population were included in a population-based case-control study conducted in nine centres in seven countries. Mothers were asked about farm- or agriculture-related exposures. Significantly elevated odds ratios (OR) for CBT were associated with children's personal and maternal prenatal exposure while living on a farm with pigs (child OR = 1.

Lifestyle and ethnicity play a role in all-cause mortality.

The Israeli population is characterized by its marked ethnic diversity. These ethnic groups (originating mainly from Yemen/Aden, the Middle East, North Africa and Europe/America) have kept traditional distinct lifestyle habits and exhibit different morbidity and mortality trends. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the associations among ethnic background, lifestyle patterns and 18-y all-cause mortality.