Alcohol, tobacco and breast cancer--collaborative reanalysis of individual data from 53 epidemiological studies, including 58,515 women with breast cancer and 95,067 women without the disease.

Alcohol and tobacco consumption are closely correlated and published results on their association with breast cancer have not always allowed adequately for confounding between these exposures. Over 80% of the relevant information worldwide on alcohol and tobacco consumption and breast cancer were collated, checked and analysed centrally. Analyses included 58,515 women with invasive breast cancer and 95,067 controls from 53 studies.

Fried foods: a risk factor for laryngeal cancer?

The role of fried foods on laryngeal cancer risk was investigated in a case-control study from Italy and Switzerland on 527 cases and 1,297 hospital controls. A significant increased risk was found for high consumption of fried meat, fish, eggs and potatoes, with odds ratios of 1.6, 3.

Cessation of smoking and drinking and the risk of laryngeal cancer.

A case-control study was conducted in Italy and Switzerland between 1992 and 2000 on 527 cases of laryngeal cancer and 1,297 hospital controls. The risk of laryngeal cancer steadily decreased from 3 years after stopping smoking. Some decline in risk was observed only 20 years or more after stopping drinking.

A pooled analysis of case-control studies of thyroid cancer. VII. Cruciferous and other vegetables (International).

Objective: To investigate the association between cruciferous and other vegetables and thyroid cancer risk we systematically reanalyzed the original data from 11 case-control studies conducted in the US, Asia, and Europe.

Methods: A total of 2241 cases (1784 women, 457 men) and 3716 controls (2744 women, 972 men) were included. Odds ratios (OR) and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated for each study by logistic regression models, conditioned on age and sex, and adjusted for history of goiter, thyroid nodules or adenomas, and radiation.

Alcohol drinking outside meals and cancers of the upper aero-digestive tract.

In our integrated series of case-control studies conducted in Italy and Switzerland (324 oral, 397 pharyngeal, 271 oesophageal, 506 laryngeal cancers and 3,263 controls), individuals who also drank alcoholic beverages outside meals showed an increased risk compared to those who drank at meals only. At any alcohol intake level, subjects also drinking between meals showed a more elevated risk of developing an upper aero-digestive tract cancer than subjects drinking only at meals. After adjustment for potential covariates, and, after allowance for the number of daily drinks to adjust for different alcohol-intake levels, the odds ratios for subjects reporting drinking outside meals were 1.

Long-term mortality of women with a diagnosis of breast cancer.

Survival from breast cancer has improved over the last few years, but scanty information is available on the long-term follow-up. We therefore considered data on 1,095 women with breast cancer diagnosed between 1974 and 1984 in the Swiss Cancer Registry of Vaud (population 616,000 inhabitants) who had survived for at least 10 years. Overall, 129 deaths from breast cancer were observed 10-19 years after the original diagnosis, corresponding to a standardized mortality ratio (SMR) of 20.

Cancer of the larynx in non-smoking alcohol drinkers and in non-drinking tobacco smokers.

The separate effect of alcohol and tobacco on laryngeal cancer was analysed in two case-control studies from Italy and Switzerland, comprising 40 non-smoking and 68 non-drinking cases, and 160 non-smoking and 161 non-drinking controls. The multivariate odds ratio was 2.46 for heavy drinkers non-smokers, and 9.

Trends in mortality from Hodgkin's disease in western and eastern Europe.

Hodgkin's disease mortality rates steadily declined by about 75% between the late 1960's and the late 1990's in the current European Union countries and the USA, and Japan. Eastern European countries, however, showed only an approximately 40% decline between the late 1960's and the early 1990's, and no further fall thereafter.

Cortisol diurnal variation in blood and saliva of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer: relevance for clinical outcome.

Background: In healthy humans, cortisol displays marked 24-hour rhythms in serum and saliva, with a strong correlation between both fluids; the circadian variation of salivary cortisol is prognostic of longer survival in patients with metastatic breast cancer. In order to confirm these results in a non-hormone-dependent cancer, cortisol concentrations in serum and saliva were compared at different circadian stages, in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

Patients And Methods: A first study consisted of round-the-clock sampling for two 24-hour periods, in 18 patients.

Trends in mortality from non-Hodgkin's lymphomas.

Trends in death certification rates from non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL) were analyzed on the basis of the World Health Organization database over the period 1969-1998. Until the late 1970s, mortality from NHL was similar in the European Union (EU), the USA and Japan, i.e.

Trends in mortality from cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases in Europe and other areas of the world.

Objective: To analyse trends in mortality from coronary heart disease (CHD) and cerebrovascular disease (CVD) over the period 1965 to 1998 in the European Union, other European countries, the USA, and Japan.

Methods And Results: Data were derived from the World Health Organization database. In the European Union, CHD mortality in men rose from 146/100 000 in 1965-9 to 163/100 000 in 1975-9 and declined thereafter to 99/100 000 in 1995-8 (-39%).

Food groups and laryngeal cancer risk: a case-control study from Italy and Switzerland.

Besides tobacco and alcohol, diet has been thought to be associated with laryngeal cancer risk. We thus analyzed the role of various food groups, as well as specific seasoning fats, in a case-control study conducted in Northern Italy and the Swiss Canton of Vaud from 1992 to 2000. Our study included 527 incident, histologically confirmed cases and 1,297 frequency-matched controls, selected among patients admitted to the same hospitals as cases for acute, nonneoplastic conditions, unrelated to smoking, alcohol consumption and long-term modifications of diet.

Risk factors for medullary thyroid carcinoma: a pooled analysis.

Objective: To investigate risk factors for medullary thyroid cancer (MTC).

Methods: We conducted a pooled analysis of 14 case-control studies from Europe, North America, and Asia, including 67 medullary cancers (43 women and 24 men) diagnosed in ten studies. Of the original 4776, we selected five controls per case matched on study, gender, and age.

Macronutrients and colorectal cancer: a Swiss case-control study.

Background: A role of energy and various nutrients, including protein, sugar, saturated and unsaturated fats, in colorectal cancer risk has been suggested, but should be better defined.

Patients And Methods: The association between dietary intake of various macronutrients and colorectal cancer risk was analysed using data from a case-control study conducted between 1992 and 2000 in the Swiss Canton of Vaud. The study comprised 286 case subjects (174 males, 112 females; median age 65 years) with incident, histologically confirmed colon (n = 149) or rectal (n = 137) cancer, and 550 control subjects (269 males, 281 females; median age 59 years) admitted to the same University Hospital for a wide spectrum of acute non-neoplastic conditions.

Host circadian clock as a control point in tumor progression.

Background: The circadian timing system controlled by the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) of the hypothalamus regulates daily rhythms of motor activity and adrenocortical secretion. An alteration in these rhythms is associated with poor survival of patients with metastatic colorectal or breast cancer. We developed a mouse model to investigate the consequences of severe circadian dysfunction upon tumor growth.

Circadian rhythms of DNA synthesis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) occurs frequently in southern China. The circadian rhythm of DNA synthesis of a poorly differentiated NPC human cell line (CNE2) was investigated as an experimental prerequisite for designing chrono-chemotherapy schedules for patients with this disease. Twenty-two nude mice with BALB/c background were synchronized alternatively in 12h of light and 12h of darkness (LD12:12) for at least 3wk prior to the transplantation of a CNE2 tumor fragment into each flank (area of approximately 2 x 2 mm2).

In-vitro circadian rhythm of murine bone marrow progenitor production.

Hematopoietic processes display 24h rhythms both in rodents and in human beings. We hypothesized these rhythms to be in part generated by a circadian oscillator within the bone marrow. The ability of murine bone marrow granulo-monocytic (GM) precursors to form colonies following colony-stimulating factor (rm GM-CSF) exposure was investigated in liquid culture samples obtained every 3 h for a span of up to 198 h.

Pharmacological effects of vinorelbine on body temperature and locomotor activity circadian rhythms in mice.

The effects of vinorelbine (VRL) on the circadian rhythms in body temperature and locomotor activity were investigated in unrestrained B6D2F1 mice implanted with radio-telemetry transmitters. A single intravenous VRL dose (24 or 12 mg/kg) was given at 7 h after light onset (HALO), a time of high VRL toxicity, and resulted in transient suppression of temperature and activity circadian rhythms in mice kept in light-dark (LD) 12h: 12h. Such suppression was dose-dependent.

Tumor-based rhythms of anticancer efficacy in experimental models.

Experimental tumor models constitute a prerequisite toward chronotherapy testing in cancer patients. Studies in experimental models are required to understand the relation between tumor rhythms and antitumor treatments efficacy. In healthy tissues, cell proliferation, and differentiation processes are regulated precisely and exhibit marked circadian rhythmicity.

Marker rhythms of circadian system function: a study of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer and good performance status.

Cancer patients may exhibit normal or altered circadian rhythms in tumor and healthy tissues. Four rhythms known to reflect circadian clock function were studied in 18 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer and good performance status. Rest-activity was monitored by wrist actigraphy for 72 h before treatment, and its circadian rhythm was estimated by an autocorrelation coefficient at 24h and a dichotomy index that compared the activity level when in and out of bed.