Incidence of rare cancers in the city of São Paulo, Brazil.

Introduction:: Rare cancers are a challenge for clinical practice as well as for epidemiology and public health. Studies on this subject are few and limited to the study of cases with scarce epidemiologic information. This study aimed to evaluate the incidence of rare cancers and to compare the demographic, anatomic, and histologic characteristics of rare and nonrare (common) cancers.

Incidence and mortality risk for respiratory tract cancer in the city of São Paulo, Brazil: Bayesian analysis of the association with traffic density.

Background: There is evidence that exposure to traffic-related air pollution is related to the incidence of and mortality associated with lung cancer. The aim of this study was to perform a spatial analysis, with a Bayesian approach, to test the hypothesis that high traffic density is associated with increased respiratory tract cancer incidence and mortality risk among individuals over 20 years of age residing in the city of São Paulo, Brazil.

Methods: We employed data from two different databases: the São Paulo Municipal Population-Based Cancer Registry (2002-2011 cancer incidence data); and the Mortality Database of the São Paulo Municipal Health Department (2002-2013 cancer mortality data).

Evaluating the use of in-store measures in retail food stores and restaurants in Brazil.

Objective: To assess inter-rater reliability, test-retest reliability, and construct validity of retail food store, open-air food market, and restaurant observation tools adapted to the Brazilian urban context.

Methods: This study is part of a cross-sectional observation survey conducted in 13 districts across the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2010-2011. Food store and restaurant observational tools were developed based on previously available tools, and then tested it.

The role of the local retail food environment in fruit, vegetable and sugar-sweetened beverage consumption in Brazil.

Objective: To examine the relationship between the local retail food environment and consumption of fruits and vegetables (FV) and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) in São Paulo, Brazil, as well as the moderation effects of income in the studied relationships.

Design: Cross-sectional study design that drew upon neighbourhood- and individual-level data. For each participant, community (density and proximity) and community food environment (availability, variety, quality and price) measures of FV and SSB were assessed in retail food stores and specialized fresh produce markets within 1·6 km of their homes.

Neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics and differences in the availability of healthy food stores and restaurants in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Differential access to healthy foods has been hypothesized to contribute to health disparities, but evidence from low and middle-income countries is still scarce. This study examines whether the access of healthy foods varies across store types and neighborhoods of different socioeconomic statuses (SES) in a large Brazilian city. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2010-2011 across 52 census tracts.

Comparison of application times for ice packs used to relieve perineal pain after normal birth: a randomised clinical trial.

Aims And Objectives: To compare the effect of an ice pack applied for 10, 15 and 20 minutes to relieve perineal pain after birth.

Background: Perineal pain after vaginal birth, with or without vaginal trauma, is one of the most common morbidities reported for postnatal women. Cryotherapy has been used in postpartum period to relieve perineal pain and investigated in several studies.

Classical osteoblastoma, atypical osteoblastoma, and osteosarcoma: a comparative study based on clinical, histological, and biological parameters.

Objective: To investigate the biological behavior of classical and atypical osteoblastomas in comparison to osteosarcomas.

Methods: Based on histological parameters, 30 osteoblastomas were subclassified as classical osteoblastomas (23/30) or atypical osteoblastoma (high cellularity, prominent blue osteoid, and epithelioid osteoblasts--7/30). Comparative immunohistochemical and clinical analysis was performed in 17 cases of patients with high-grade osteosarcoma.

Lower heart rate variability is associated with higher serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein concentration in healthy individuals aged 46 years or more.

Background: To test the hypothesis of an association between cardiac autonomic activity evaluated by heart rate variability and systemic inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein, we studied the correlation of the indices of heart rate variability relative to serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) in a healthy Brazilian population.

Methods: Four hundred twenty-one healthy individuals aged 15-82 years (mean 40.4 years), 184 men (43.

[Lipidic profile of individuals without cardiopathy with overweight and obesity].

Objective: To assess the lipidic profile of overweight and obese individuals submitted to cardiologic assessment and who did not show evidences of cardiopathy.

Methods: Sample with 684 individuals, 389 (56.9%) women and 295 (43.

[Job control, job demands, social support at work and health among adolescent workers].

Objective: To evaluate physical and psychological dimensions of adolescent labor (such as job demands, job control, and social support in the work environment), and their relation to reported body pain, work injuries, sleep duration and daily working hours.

Methods: A total of 354 adolescents attending evening classes at a public school in Sao Paulo, Brazil, answered questionnaires regarding their living and working conditions (Karasek's Job Content Questionnaire, 1998), and their health status. Data collection took place in April and May 2001.

[Delayed diagnosis in retinoblastoma].

Objectives: To identify the main symptoms of retinoblastoma and to determine the mean time between symptom onset and diagnosis (lag time).

Patients And Methods: We carried out a retrospective analysis of the patients diagnosed with retinoblastoma between January 1991 and June 2000, at the Pediatric Department of the Hospital do Cancer, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Statistical analyses performed were: Student's t test, ANOVA, Tukey-HSD test (honest significant differences), Levene's test, multiple regression, ROC curve, logistic regression, Kaplan-Meier, and log rank.

High-sensitivity C-reactive protein concentration in a healthy Brazilian population.

Background: The use of serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) for cardiovascular risk profiling requires knowledge of the distribution in different populations. We studied serum hs-CRP in a healthy Brazilian population, with no evidence of heart disease, relative to gender and smoking status as well as other clinical and laboratory variables.

Methods: 684 healthy Brazilian individuals, aged 14-74 years (mean 40.

Association of CYP3A4 genotype with detection of Vgamma/Jbeta trans-rearrangements in the peripheral blood leukocytes of pediatric cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy for ALL.

Cancer patients receiving chemotherapy are exposed to high doses of cytotoxic and genotoxic drugs which, in some cases, can lead to treatment related leukemia. Since this only occurs in a minority of patients, however, it is possible some individuals are predisposed due to genetic polymorphisms in genes for enzymes that mediate drug metabolism. To address this possibility we measured the genotoxicity of chemotherapeutic agents in patients receiving treatment for ALL by the frequency of the Vgamma/Jbeta trans-rearrangement in their peripheral blood leukocytes and compared this with CYP3A4 genotype.

The influence of tumor necrosis factor -308 and C-reactive protein G1059C gene variants on serum concentration of C-reactive protein: evidence for an age-dependent association.

Background: C-reactive protein (CRP) synthesis and activity are modulated both by genetic and environmental factors. Data about the influence of genetic factors upon CRP concentration are sparse. We evaluated the hypothesis that allele variations in the genes encoding the CRP and TNF-alpha genes could modulate hs-CRP serum concentration in the general population.

Serial measure of cardiac troponin T levels for prediction of clinical events in decompensated heart failure.

Background: This study determined whether serial determinations of cardiac troponin T (cTnT) in decompensated heart failure (HF) are predictive of clinical events (death, need for readmission for new episode of HF decompensation, or both) during 1 year of follow-up.

Methods And Results: Sixty-two patients with decompensated HF were enrolled in this cohort. The first measurement of cTnT (cTnT1) was from a blood sample drawn within 4 days of hospital admission; the second measurement (cTnT2) was on blood obtained 7 days later.

Past and present habitual physical activity and its relationship with bone mineral density in men aged 50 years and older in Brazil.

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between habitual physical activity (HPA) during life and bone mineral density (BMD) in men aged 50 years and older.

Methods: A total of 326 men aged 50 years and older, volunteers living in São Paulo city, Brazil, were studied. BMD was measured in the whole body, femoral neck, Ward's triangle, trochanter, and lumbar spine (L2-L4) with a dual-energy x-ray absorptiometer.

Upper respiratory symptoms associated with aging of the ventilation system in artificially ventilated offices in São Paulo, Brazil.

Background: The increase of work-related respiratory complaints in artificially ventilated buildings has multiple causes, and the role of allergen exposure and symptoms is still controversial.

Study Objectives: To analyze the risk factors and the association of work-related symptoms with allergen exposure and different conditions of the same air conditioning system in São Paulo, Brazil.

Design: Workers were classified according to characteristics of the air conditioning system: the first group (group 1) with ventilation machinery and ducts with > 20 years of use, the second group (group 2) with ventilation machinery with > 20 years of use and ventilation ducts with < 2 years of use, and the third group (group 3) with ventilation machinery and ducts with < 2 years of use.