Background: Inflammation may be important in endometrial cancer development. Long-chain ω-3 (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCω-3PUFAs) may reduce inflammation and, therefore, reduce cancer risk. Because body mass is associated with both inflammation and endometrial cancer risk, it may modify the association of fat intake on risk.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExperimental and epidemiological studies suggest that vitamin D may be implicated in haemostatic regulations and influence the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE). The aim of this study was to investigate whether oral supplementation of vitamin D3 combined with calcium reduces the risk of VTE. In the randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled Women's Health Initiative Calcium Plus Vitamin D trial, 36,282 postmenopausal women aged 50-79 years were randomised to receive 1,000 mg of calcium carbonate and 400 IU of vitamin D3 per day (n=18,176) or a matching placebo (n=18,106) during an average of seven years.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA genome-wide association study (GWAS) of bladder cancer identified a genetic marker rs8102137 within the 19q12 region as a novel susceptibility variant. This marker is located upstream of the CCNE1 gene, which encodes cyclin E, a cell-cycle protein. We performed genetic fine-mapping analysis of the CCNE1 region using data from two bladder cancer GWAS (5,942 cases and 10,857 controls).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGenome-wide association studies (GWAS) have mapped risk alleles for at least 10 distinct cancers to a small region of 63 000 bp on chromosome 5p15.33. This region harbors the TERT and CLPTM1L genes; the former encodes the catalytic subunit of telomerase reverse transcriptase and the latter may play a role in apoptosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: This study aims to determine the positive and negative predictive values of self-reported diabetes during the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) clinical trials.
Methods: All WHI trial participants from four field centers who self-reported diabetes at baseline or during follow-up, as well as a random sample of women who did not self-report diabetes, were identified. Women were surveyed regarding diagnosis and treatment.
Background: Clinical outcomes of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) calcium plus vitamin D supplementation trial have been reported during 7.0 years of active intervention. We now report outcomes 4.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn increased risk of breast cancer has been reported in patients with non-melanomatous skin cancer (NMSC), but this association has not been studied in a large, multi-geographic population. We utilized data from the Women's Health Initiative observational study to assess whether history of NMSC is associated with breast cancer risk. This analysis included 70,246 postmenopausal White and Hispanic women aged 50-79, in which 4,247 breast cancer cases were identified over a mean (SD) of 11.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHigher self-reported physical activity is associated with lower breast cancer incidence and mortality. Objectively measured timed walking speed, predictive of longevity in older adults, has been associated with ambulatory physical activity in small studies but definitive assessment of the association is lacking. Participants were a subset of 14 719 postmenopausal women in the Women's Health Initiative study who, at entry, had 10 m, timed walking speed determined.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To determine whether 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A inhibitors (statins) are associated with a decreased risk of colorectal cancer.
Methods: The population included 159,219 postmenopausal women enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative in which 2000 pathologically confirmed cases of colorectal cancer were identified during an average of 10.7 (S.
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev
July 2011
Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and mortality rates are higher in African-Americans as compared with other racial/ethnic groups. The women's health initiative (WHI) study sample was used to determine whether differences in CRC risk factors explain racial/ethnic differences in incidence and mortality.
Methods: The WHI is a longitudinal study of postmenopausal women recruited from 40 centers.
Background: Elective bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (BSO) is routinely performed with hysterectomy for benign conditions despite conflicting data on long-term outcomes.
Methods: This is a prospective cohort of 25 448 postmenopausal women aged 50 to 79 years enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study who had a history of hysterectomy and BSO (n = 14 254 [56.0%]) or hysterectomy with ovarian conservation (n = 11 194 [44.
Objective: Obesity increases endometrial cancer risk, yet its impact on disease stage and grade is unclear. We prospectively examined the effects of body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) on incidence, stage, and grade of endometrial cancer.
Methods: We studied 86937 postmenopausal women enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative.
Background: In the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) randomized controlled trial, use of estrogen plus progestin increased lung cancer mortality. We conducted post hoc analyses in the WHI trial evaluating estrogen alone to determine whether use of conjugated equine estrogen without progestin had a similar adverse influence on lung cancer.
Methods: The WHI study is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial conducted in 40 centers in the United States.
Purpose: Emerging clinical evidence suggests intravenous bisphosphonates may inhibit breast cancer while oral bisphosphonates have received limited evaluation regarding breast cancer influence.
Patients And Methods: The association between oral bisphosphonate use and invasive breast cancer was examined in postmenopausal women enrolled onto the Women's Health Initiative (WHI). We compared a published hip fracture prediction model, which did not incorporate bone mineral density (BMD), with total hip BMD in 10,418 WHI participants who had both determinations.
Objective: Coronary artery calcified plaque is a marker for atheromatous plaque burden and predicts future risk of cardiovascular events. The relationship between calcium plus vitamin D (calcium/D) supplementation and coronary artery calcium (CAC) has not been previously assessed in a randomized trial setting. We compared CAC scores after trial completion between women randomized to calcium/vitamin D supplementation and women randomized to placebo.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the psychological effects of physical and verbal abuse in a cohort of older women.
Methods: This observational cohort study was conducted at 40 clinical sites nationwide that are part of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) Observational Study. We surveyed 93,676 women aged 50 to 79 years using the mental health subscales and the combined mental component summary (MCS) score of the RAND Medical Outcomes Study 36-item instrument.
Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes
March 2010
Background: The 2007 update to the American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines for cardiovascular disease prevention in women recommend a simplified approach to risk stratification. We assigned Women's Health Initiative participants to risk categories as described in the guideline and evaluated clinical event rates within and between strata.
Methods And Results: The Women's Health Initiative enrolled 161 808 women ages 50 to 79 years and followed them prospectively for 7.
Background: In the post-intervention period of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) trial, women assigned to treatment with oestrogen plus progestin had a higher risk of cancer than did those assigned to placebo. Results also suggested that the combined hormone therapy might increase mortality from lung cancer. To assess whether such an association exists, we undertook a post-hoc analysis of lung cancers diagnosed in the trial over the entire follow-up period.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The effects of dietary changes on osteoporosis, low bone density, and frequent falls are unestablished.
Objective: We assessed the effect of the Women's Health Initiative Dietary Modification low-fat and increased fruit, vegetable, and grain intervention on incident hip, total, and site-specific fractures and self-reported falls, and, in a subset, on bone mineral density (BMD).
Design: Postmenopausal women (n = 48,835) aged 50-79 y (18.
Background: The immune system and inflammation are implicated in the pathogenesis of cancer. Prospective studies linking biomarkers of inflammation with cancer incidence and mortality have been inconclusive.
Methods: To determine whether there is an independent association of white blood cell (WBC) count with incident cancer in postmenopausal women, a prospective cohort study was performed at 40 US clinical centers involving 143,748 postmenopausal women aged 50 to 79 years who were free of cancer at baseline and were enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative.
Objectives: To assess the extent to which prior hormone therapy modifies the breast cancer risk found with estrogen plus progestin (E+P) in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) randomized trial.
Methods: Subgroup analyses of prior hormone use on invasive breast cancer incidence in 16,608 postmenopausal women in the WHI randomized trial of E+P over an average 5.6 years of follow-up.
Background: Despite experimental observations suggesting that 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A inhibitors (statins) have antitumor activity, clinical studies have reached mixed conclusions about the relationship between statin use and breast cancer risk.
Methods: To investigate associations between potency, duration of use, and type of statin used and risk of invasive breast cancer, we examined data for 156,351 postmenopausal women who were enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative. Information was collected on breast cancer risk factors and on the use of statins and other lipid-lowering drugs.
Context: The Women's Health Initiative Estrogen-Aone trial comparing conjugated equine estrogens (CEE) with placebo was stopped early because of an increased stroke incidence and no reduction in risk of coronary heart disease. Preliminary results suggesting possible reduction in breast cancers warranted more detailed analysis.
Objective: To determine the effects of CEE on breast cancers and mammographic findings.
Background: Postmenopausal hormone therapy has been associated with a 2- to 3-fold increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VT) (including deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism) in observational studies and secondary prevention clinical trials. Clinical trial data on the effects of estrogen alone on VT are limited.
Methods: The Women's Health Initiative estrogen trial enrolled 10 739 women aged 50 to 79 years without a uterus.