Implementation of a program for treatment of acute infections in nursing homes without hospital transfer.

Background: Nursing care residents have high hospitalization rates. To address this, we established a unique virtual geriatric unit that has developed a program aimed at providing support to nursing homes.

Aims: We aimed to evaluate effectiveness of in-house intravenous antibiotic treatment in nursing hospitals after the implementation of the specially designed training program.

Long-term all-cause mortality and its association with cardiovascular risk factors in thyroid cancer survivors: an Israeli population-based study.

Background: The global incidence of thyroid cancer (TC) has risen considerably during the last three decades, while prognosis is generally favorable. We assessed the long-term all-cause mortality in TC survivors compared to the general population, and its association with cardiovascular risk factors.

Methods: Individuals diagnosed with TC during 2001-2014 (TC group) and age- and sex-matched individuals from the same Israeli healthcare system without thyroid disease or a cancer history (non-TC group) were compared.

Body Composition, Resting Energy Expenditure, and Metabolic Changes in Women Diagnosed with Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma.

Thyroid hormones heavily impact energy expenditure, body mass, and body composition. Their role in the state of exogenous subclinical hyperthyroidism in differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) patients, however, is less well defined. The first aim of this study was to assess changes in body weight, body composition, resting energy expenditure (REE), respiratory quotient (RQ), and metabolic parameters in female DTC patients, starting from the phase of a euthyroid state before total thyroidectomy through the subsequent year after thyrotropin (TSH) suppression.

Long-term cardiovascular and cerebrovascular morbidity in Israeli thyroid cancer survivors.

Objective: Thyroid cancer (TC) survivors may be at risk of subsequent cardiovascular and cerebrovascular (CaV&CeV) morbidity. The 2009 American Thyroid Association (ATA) guidelines recommended less aggressive treatment for low-risk TC patients. The aim of this study was to assess the atherosclerotic CaV&CeV outcome of Israeli TC survivors compared to individuals with no thyroid disease, and the atherosclerotic CaV&CeV outcome before (2000-2008) and after (2009-2011) implementation of the 2009 ATA guidelines.

Cancer risk among Holocaust survivors in Israel-A nationwide study.

Background: Holocaust survivors during World War II were exposed to various factors that are associated with cancer risk. The objective of this study was to determine whether Holocaust survivors had an increased risk for developing cancer.

Methods: The study population included 152,622 survivors.

Trends of Second Primary Malignancy in Patients with Thyroid Cancer: A Population-Based Cohort Study in Israel.

Background: Thyroid cancer (TC) is the most common endocrine malignancy. TC patients have a good prognosis and a low disease-related mortality rate. Since such patients are often young, they may be at a higher risk for a second primary malignancy (SPM).

Challenges in Recruiting Aging Women Holocaust Survivors to a Case Control Study of Breast Cancer.

Older adults are underrepresented in medical research for many reasons, including recruitment difficulties. Recruitment of older adults for research studies is often a time-consuming process and can be more challenging when the study involves older adults with unique exposures to traumatic events and from minority groups. The current article provides a brief overview of (a) challenges encountered while recruiting aging women Holocaust survivors for a case control study and (b) strategies used for meeting those challenges.

Cancer incidence in people living with HIV/AIDS in Israel, 1981-2010.

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) improved the survival of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and decreased HIV-related morbidities. This study assesses the cancer incidence of all adult PLWHA in Israel by transmission routes before and after 1996. This cohort study was based on cross-matching the National HIV/AIDS and Cancer Registries of all HIV/AIDS and cancer cases reported from 1981 to 2010 with the National civil census.

Prediagnostic self-assessed health and extent of social networks predict survival in older individuals with cancer: a population based cohort study.

Objectives: To assess the association between social networks on survival after cancer diagnosis in a population-based sample of elderly Israelis (>60 yo) living in the community in 1985 and followed for up to 20 years.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a historical prospective study, using baseline measurements from a 1985 survey of a representative sample of community-dwelling population. Five distinct social networks were defined using information regarding number and intensity of social contacts: traditional-family (reference category), friends and neighbors, narrow-family, diverse, and attenuated.

Cancer incidence among physicians in Israel.

Background: Physicians' occupational environment includes exposures to potential carcinogenic factors on a regular basis. The prevalence of specific tumor types and subsequent mortality are reported to be elevated in physicians.

Objectives: To assess the incidence of various cancer types among Israeli physicians of various specialties, as compared with the general population, and to determine the role, if any, of gender and ethnicity.

Predictors for thyroid carcinoma in Israel: a national cohort of 1,624,310 adolescents followed for up to 40 years.

Introduction: Data on adolescent precursors of thyroid cancer in adulthood are scant.

Methods: In order to evaluate potential risk factors for thyroid cancer, we linked two national data sources: the military recruitment health examinations and the Israel National Cancer Register. The study population (1,624,310 participants) included 1,145,865 Jewish males aged 16-19 years when examined between 1967 and 2005, and 478,445 Jewish females aged 16-19 years when examined between 1989 and 2005.

Cancer incidence and mortality following exposures to distal and proximal major stressors.

Purpose: Severe psychological trauma has been shown to leave psychological and biological sequelae, including compromise of the neuro-hormonal and immunological systems. Despite much research, the putative effect of such stressor on cancer remains ambiguous. This study maximized the exploration of cancer incidence and mortality by combining a proximal (parental bereavement) with a distal major stressor (Holocaust exposure) on both risks.

World War II-related post-traumatic stress disorder and breast cancer risk among Israeli women: a case-control study.

Background: Several studies have suggested that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is related to adverse health outcomes. There are limited data on PTSD and cancer, which has a long latency period. We investigated the association between World War II (WWII)-related PTSD and subsequent breast cancer (BC) risk among Jewish WWII survivors and examined whether this association was modified by exposure to hunger during WWII.

High incidence of benign brain meningiomas among Iranian- born Jews in Israel may be linked to both hereditary and environmental factors.

Background: Following research demonstrating an increased risk for meningiomas in the Jewish population of Shiraz (Iran) we conducted a cohort analysis of meningiomas among Jews originating in Iran and residing in Israel.

Materials And Methods: We use the population-based registry data of the Israeli National Cancer Registry (INCR) for the main analysis. All benign meningioma cases diagnosed in Israel from January 2000 to the end of 2009 were included.

Burden of human papillomavirus infection and related diseases in Israel.

This manuscript provides the available data on the burden of human papillomavirus (HPV) infections and HPV-related diseases in Israel. The incidence of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 (CIN3) among Jewish women was 17.4 per 100,000 in 2007, showing an increase since 1997.

Cancer incidence and survival among infants in Israel, 1998-2007.

Cancer during the first year of life is relatively rare and often has clinical and biological properties different from those of the same histologic type of cancer occurring in older children. The aim of this study was to find differences in epidemiology and survival between infants and older children and to compare the percentage of distribution of infant cancer types in Israel with that reported in the United States. We collected infant <1 year of age cases diagnosed between 1998 and 2007 as having cancer from the database of the Israel National Cancer Registry, a total of 309 cases with an incidence rate of 228.

[Mediterranean diet in cancer patients and cancer free adult Arabs in Israel--a case-control study].

Background: Although several studies have investigated the association of the Mediterranean diet (MD) with overall risk of specific cancers, data on overall cancer risk are sparse, especially in Arab populations.

Objectives: To compare between the score of MD in cancer patients and cancer-free adult Israeli Arabs in order to identify risk factors amenable to intervention.

Methods: A case control study was conducted in northern Israel, involving 200 Arab subscribers of a regional Health Maintenance Organization (HMO).

Incidence of cancer among diabetic and non-diabetic adult Israeli Arabs.

Background: A worldwide epidemic of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is in progress. This disease carries a heavy socioeconomic burden.

Objectives: To compare the incidence rate of overall and site-specific cancers among Israeli Arabs with T2DM to that of Israeli Arabs without.

Cancer incidence and survival among adolescents in Israel during the years 1998 to 2009.

Purpose: Our goal was to describe adolescent cancer incidence and survival in Israel, and to identify demographic and epidemiologic variations among adolescents with cancer.

Patients And Methods: We used data from the Israel National Cancer Registry in order to examine the incidence and survival of adolescent cancer in Israeli adolescents aged 15-19 years, diagnosed during the years 1998-2009. Cases were analyzed according to sex, ethnicity and geographical region, as well as comparison to other countries in the region and other western countries.

Mortality risk factors associated with familial Mediterranean fever among a cohort of 1.25 million adolescents.

Objective: There are limited data on long-term comorbidities and mortality among patients with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF). Our objective was to evaluate comorbidities and death rates among individuals with FMF.

Methods: We studied a nationwide, population-based, retrospective cohort of 1225 individuals with FMF (59% men) in a database of 1 244 350 adolescents (16-20 years of age) medically evaluated for military service between 1973 and 1997.

Breast cancer trends in Israeli Jewish and Arab women, 1996-2007.

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in Israeli Jewish and Arab women. The main objective of this study was to reexamine the trends in breast cancer incidence, mortality, and survival in Israel in 1996 through 2007, as well as the use of mammography. Data were obtained from the Israel National Cancer Registry, the Central Bureau of Statistics, and National Health Surveys.

Changes in brain glioma incidence and laterality correlates with use of mobile phones--a nationwide population based study in Israel.

Introduction: Mobile phones are in extensive use worldwide and concerns regarding their role in tumor formation were raised. Over the years multiple studies were published in order to investigate this issue using several approaches. The current study looks at secular trends of brain gliomas (low and high grade) incidence and changes in tumor's laterality over 30 years in a population extensively using this technology with a possible correlation to the spread of use of mobile phones.

Adolescent obesity and paternal country of origin predict renal cell carcinoma: a cohort study of 1.1 million 16 to 19-year-old males.

Purpose: The incidence of renal cell carcinoma has increased in recent decades, particularly among middle-aged adults. Early precursors of renal cancer remain unclear. We evaluated the association of body mass index and height determined in late adolescence, and paternal or grandpaternal country of origin with the risk of renal cell carcinoma.

Residential proximity to petroleum storage tanks and associated cancer risks: Double Kernel Density approach vs. zonal estimates.

Background And Aims: The relationship between exposure to petroleum products and cancer is well-established in occupational studies carried out among employees of transportation and oil-producing industries. However, question remains whether living near petroleum storage facilities may represent a cancer risk. In the present study, we examined cancer incidence rates associated with residential proximity to the Kiryat Haim industrial zone in Northern Israel, using different analytical techniques and adjusting for several potential confounders, such as road proximity, population density, smoking rates and socio-demographic attributes.

Risk of germ cell testicular cancer according to origin: a migrant cohort study in 1,100,000 Israeli men.

Testicular cancer incidence is highest among men of northern European ancestry and lowest among men of Asian/African descent. We conducted a large-scale migrant cohort study to assess origin and migrant generation as predictors of testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs), controlling for possible confounders. Data on 1,092,373 Jewish Israeli males, who underwent a general health examination prior to compulsory military service at ages 16-19 between the years 1967-2005, were linked to Israel National Cancer Registry to obtain incident TGCTs up to 2006.