Latin America and the Caribbean Code Against Cancer 1st Edition: 17 cancer prevention recommendations to the public and to policy-makers (World Code Against Cancer Framework).

Preventable risk factors are responsible of at least 40% of cases and almost 45% of all cancer deaths worldwide. Cancer is already the leading cause of death in almost half of the Latin American and the Caribbean countries constituting a public health problem. Cost-effective measures to reduce exposures through primary prevention and screening of certain types of cancers are critical in the fight against cancer but need to be tailored to the local needs and scenarios.

Cervical cancer screening, treatment and prophylaxis in Brazil: Current and future perspectives for cervical cancer elimination.

As a middle-income country, Brazil has one of the largest public health systems worldwide, which deals with free and universal access to health care. Regarding cervical cancer, the country possesses a large infrastructure for the screening of premalignant and malignant lesions, but yet based on old technology, having Papanicolaou as the major screening method, followed by colposcopy and treatment. Also, large disparities in access are present, which makes effectiveness of screening and treatment in different regions of the country highly unequal.

Socioeconomic, Clinical, and Molecular Features of Breast Cancer Influence Overall Survival of Latin American Women.

Molecular profile of breast cancer in Latin-American women was studied in five countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Uruguay. Data about socioeconomic characteristics, risk factors, prognostic factors, and molecular subtypes were described, and the 60-month overall cumulative survival probabilities (OS) were estimated. From 2011 to 2013, 1,300 eligible Latin-American women 18 years or older, with a diagnosis of breast cancer in clinical stage II or III, and performance status ≦̸1 were invited to participate in a prospective cohort study.

Risk of smoking relapse with the use of electronic cigarettes: A systematic review with meta-analysis of longitudinal studies.

Introduction: The use of e-cigarettes has been the subject of a public health debate on their possibility of undermining efforts for tobacco control. The aim of this study was to synthesize the risk of smoking relapse with the use of e-cigarettes by former smokers.

Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycInfo and LILACS were searched without restriction to language or date of publication.

Time trends and age-period-cohort analysis of cervical cancer mortality rate in Brazil.

Background: Cervical cancer (CC) is a common preventable and curable disease that may lead to death. Our aim was to describe the patterns of time trends in CC mortality rates among women in Brazil from 1980 to 2017, and identify the influence of age, period and birth cohort (APC) stratified by region (North NR, Northeast NER, Southeast SER, South SR, Center-Western region CWR).

Methods: We performed a time-series analysis using secondary data bases.

Factors associated with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN2/CIN3), early stage and advanced stage of cervical cancer diagnosis in the Brazilian Amazonian region.

To understand the impact of demographic, behavioral and contextual factors on cervical cancer, we examined the profile of women classified according to cervical cancer staging [precursor lesions cervical intraephitelial neoplasia (CIN2/CIN3), early- and advanced-stage cancer]. Patients were identified in the main oncological reference hospital in Pará State, Brazil, from 2013 through 2015. Adjusted prevalence ratios and their respective 95% confidence intervals were estimated using Poisson regression with robust variance.

Patient Preferences for Breast Cancer Treatment Interventions: A Systematic Review of Discrete Choice Experiments.

Introduction: Understanding how patients value different characteristics of an intervention and make trade-offs in a therapy choice context with potential benefit and possible harm may result in decisions for which a better reflected value is delivered. This systematic review summarizes patient preferences for breast cancer treatments elicited by discrete choice experiments (DCE).

Methodology: The electronic databases MEDLINE (PubMed), Scopus, PsycINFO, CINAHL, LILACS, and Web of Science were last searched on May 9, 2019 without restrictions regarding language and time of publication.

Electronic cigarettes and narghile users in Brazil: Do they differ from cigarettes smokers?

Background: Cigarette smoking prevalence is declining, however, other tobacco products have emerged recently, such as electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and narghile (hookah/shisha/waterpipe). Narghile sales are not prohibited in Brazil, but e-cigarettes are. Accurate estimates of such products are key for proper monitoring and control.

Smoke-free legislation and neonatal and infant mortality in Brazil: longitudinal quasi-experimental study.

Objective: To examine the associations of partial and comprehensive smoke-free legislation with neonatal and infant mortality in Brazil using a quasi-experimental study design.

Design: Monthly longitudinal (panel) ecological study from January 2000 to December 2016.

Setting: All Brazilian municipalities (n=5565).

Breast Cancer Quality of Life and Health-state Utility at a Brazilian Reference Public Cancer Center.

: To evaluate health-related-quality-of-life and derive health-state-utility (HSU) from breast cancer patients, before and after routine therapy at a Brazilian reference public cancer center.: In a prospective cohort study, a consecutive sample of outpatients newly diagnosed with breast cancer was submitted to two interviews (baseline, 6-month) to complete EQ-5D-3L/VAS and EORTC-QLQ-C30/BR23 questionnaires. Demographic and clinical information was reviewed from medical records.

HPV73 a nonvaccine type causes cervical cancer.

HPV73 is classified as possibly oncogenic. It is neither routinely evaluated in HPV screening, nor covered by any of the prophylactic vaccines. We sought to investigate the carcinogenic characteristics of HPV73.

Characterization of HPV integration, viral gene expression and E6E7 alternative transcripts by RNA-Seq: A descriptive study in invasive cervical cancer.

Scarce data are available on the expression of papillomavirus genome and the frequency of alternatively spliced E6E7 mRNAs in invasive cervical cancer. We carried out a comprehensive characterization of HPV expression by RNA-Seq analysis in 22 invasive cervical cancer with HPV16 or HPV18, characterizing the presence of integrated/episomal viral DNA, the integration sites in human genome and the proportion of alternative splicing products of E6 and E7 genes. The expression patterns suggested the presence of episomal and/or integrated viral DNA, with integration detected in most tumors, frequently occurring within human genes in HPV18+ and in intergenic regions in HPV16+ tumors.

Is a Family History of the Breast Cancer Related to Women's Cancer Prevention Behaviors?

Families share behavioral risk factors that can increase the risk of cancer development. We examined whether having a positive family breast cancer history is associated with health behaviors/screening practices. Analyses were based on a cross-sectional sample of 545 Brazilian National Cancer Institute Hospital patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer in 2013/2014.

HPV DNA methylation at the early promoter and E1/E2 integrity: A comparison between HPV16, HPV18 and HPV45 in cervical cancer.

Objectives: To compare and describe type-specific characteristics of HPV16, HPV18 and HPV45 in cervical cancer with respect to 3'LCR methylation and disruption of E1/E2.

Methods: The methylation level of 137 cervical cancer samples (70 with HPV16, 37 with HPV18, and 30 with HPV45) of Brazilian patients was analyzed by pyrosequencing. PCR amplifications were performed to characterize E1 and E2 disruption as an episomal surrogate.

Assessing the relationship between smoking and abdominal obesity in a National Survey of Adolescents in Brazil.

Abdominal obesity is even a stronger risk factor than overall obesity for noncommunicable chronic diseases. We examined the association between smoking and abdominal obesity among adolescents. Analyses were based on 38,813 subjects aged 15-17 years from the Study of Cardiovascular Risks in Adolescents (ERICA), a Brazilian school-based national survey.

Human Papillomavirus Genotype Distribution among Cervical Cancer Patients prior to Brazilian National HPV Immunization Program.

To evaluate the impact of HPV immunization and possible changes in virus type-specific prevalence associated with cervical cancer, it is important to obtain baseline information based on socioeconomic, educational, and environmental characteristics in human populations. We describe these characteristics and the type-specific HPV distribution in 1,183 women diagnosed with cervical cancer in two Brazilian healthcare institutions located at the Southeastern (Rio de Janeiro/RJ) and the Amazonian (Belém/PA) regions. Large differences were observed between women in these regions regarding economic, educational, and reproductive characteristics.

Understanding the relationship between sales of legal cigarettes and deaths: A case-study in Brazil.

Brazil has experienced a large decline in cigarette consumption in the last 25years. However, the most recent annual reports from the tobacco industry market leader in Brazil did not show a decrease in its gross profits. This is particularly important because tobacco industry donations/sponsorships come directly from the industry's reported gross-profits and are used to subvert health policies.

Do more graphic and aversive cigarette health warning labels affect Brazilian smokers' likelihood of quitting?

Between 2008 and 2013, Brazil experienced a large decline in smoking prevalence, with an innovative round of aversive pictorial health warnings implemented on cigarette packs and at points of sale in 2009. The objective of this study was to examine changes over time in the distribution of quitting attempts and self-reported thoughts about quitting due to health warnings among current smokers. We conducted a pre-post study to evaluate data from two nationally-representative surveys conducted in 2008 and 2013.

Estimating the size of illicit tobacco consumption in Brazil: findings from the global adult tobacco survey.

Background: Brazil experienced a large decline in smoking prevalence between 2008 and 2013. Tax rate increases since 2007 and a new tobacco tax structure in 2012 may have played an important role in this decline. However, continuous tax rate increases pushed up cigarette prices over personal income growth and, therefore, some consumers, especially lower income individuals, may have migrated to cheaper illicit cigarettes.

The association between scheduling a gynecologic clinical visit and clinical breast examination in Rio de Janeiro.

Objective: To investigate factors associated with gynecology health professionals' failure to perform clinical breast examinations (CBEs) during clinical visits.

Methods: A cross-sectional, interview-based survey was conducted in 2010 among women aged at least 18 years who had undergone a cervical smear in 2007 at primary-care units in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Binomial regression was used to generate prevalence ratios and absolute differences between visits for routine examinations or gynecologic complaints.

Smokers in Brazil: who are they?

Background: Brazil has experienced a large decline in smoking prevalence due to several tobacco control policies that were implemented in the past 25 years. Previous population-wide studies found a consistent reduction over time in daily cigarette consumption among all socioeconomic groups.

Objective: To examine changes between 2008 and 2013 in tobacco behaviours and health-related conditions of smokers.

Smoking and adverse maternal and child health outcomes in Brazil.

Introduction: Numerous studies from high-income countries document the causal relationship between cigarette smoking during pregnancy and adverse maternal and child health (MCH) outcomes. Less research has been conducted in low and middle income countries, but a burgeoning literature can be found for Brazil.

Methods: We review Brazilian studies of the prevalence of maternal smoking, the relative risk of smoking-attributable adverse MCH outcomes, and present new estimates for these outcomes, using the attributable fraction method.

Screening of RB1 alterations in Brazilian patients with retinoblastoma and relatives with retinoma: phenotypic and genotypic associations.

Purpose: To identify constitutional alterations of the retinoblastoma 1 gene (RB1) in two cohorts of Brazilian patients with retinoblastoma and to analyze genotype-phenotype associations.

Methods: Molecular screening was carried out by direct sequencing of the 27 RB1 exons and flanking regions in blood DNA of 71 patients with retinoblastoma and 4 relatives with retinoma, and with multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) in 21 patients. The presumed impact of nucleotide substitutions on the structure of the retinoblastoma protein (pRB) was predicted by Polymorphism Phenotyping-2 (PolyPhen-2).