Metformin and endometrial cancer risk in Chinese women with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Taiwan.

Objective: To evaluate metformin effects on endometrial cancer risk in Chinese female patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Taiwan.

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort analysis using the National Health Insurance database of Taiwan. Female patients with newly diagnosed T2DM and without endometrial cancer in 1998-2002 were followed to end of 2009 (n=478,921).

Rosiglitazone may reduce non-melanoma skin cancer risk in Taiwanese.

Background: Whether rosiglitazone may affect the risk of non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) has not been investigated.

Methods: The reimbursement databases of all Taiwanese diabetic patients from 1996 to 2009 were retrieved from the National Health Insurance. An entry date was set at 1 January 2006 and a total of 886418 patients with type 2 diabetes were followed up for NMSC incidence until the end of 2009.

Metformin reduces thyroid cancer risk in Taiwanese patients with type 2 diabetes.

Background: Whether metformin may affect thyroid cancer risk has not been studied. This study investigated the association between metformin use and thyroid cancer risk in Taiwanese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Methods: The reimbursement databases of all diabetic patients from 1996 to 2009 were retrieved from the National Health Insurance.

Metformin significantly reduces incident prostate cancer risk in Taiwanese men with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Background: Whether metformin therapy affects incident prostate cancer risk in Asian patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has not been investigated.

Methods: The National Health Insurance reimbursement database of Taiwanese male patients with new-onset T2DM between 1998 and 2002 and aged ⩾40years (n=395,481) were retrieved to follow up prostate cancer incidence until the end of 2009. Metformin was treated as a time-dependent variable.

Diabetes but not insulin increases the risk of lung cancer: a Taiwanese population-based study.

Background: The trend of lung cancer incidence in Taiwan is unknown, and the association between type 2 diabetes/insulin use and lung cancer is rarely studied.

Methods: The trends of lung cancer incidence in 1979-2007 in the Taiwanese general population were calculated. A random sample of 1,000,000 subjects covered by the National Health Insurance in 2005 was recruited.

Pioglitazone does not affect the risk of kidney cancer in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Objective: To investigate whether pioglitazone treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus was associated with an increased risk of kidney cancer.

Methods: The reimbursement databases of all Taiwanese patients with type 2 diabetes who received oral anti-diabetic agents or insulin from 1996 to 2009 were retrieved from the National Health Insurance. An entry date was set at 1 January 2006, and a total of 1,093,675 patients with type 2 diabetes were followed up for kidney cancer incidence until the end of 2009.

Human insulin does not increase bladder cancer risk.

Background: Whether human insulin can induce bladder cancer is rarely studied.

Methods: The reimbursement databases of all Taiwanese diabetic patients from 1996 to 2009 were retrieved from the National Health Insurance. An entry date was set at 1 January 2004 and a total of 785,234 patients with type 2 diabetes were followed up for bladder cancer incidence until the end of 2009.

Higher risk of mortality from lung cancer in Taiwanese people with diabetes.

Background: The association between diabetes and lung cancer is rarely studied in the Asian populations. This study investigated lung cancer mortality trends, mortality rate ratios between people with diabetes and the general population, and associated risk factors in people with diabetes in Taiwan.

Methods: Age-standardized trends from 1995 to 2006 were evaluated, followed by calculation of age-sex-specific average mortality rates within the 12-year period in the general population.

Pioglitazone and oral cancer risk in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Background: Pioglitazone has shown an inhibitory effect on the growth of cell lines derived from human salivary gland and human oral squamous cell carcinoma. However, whether this effect can be applied to patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who use pioglitazone for glycemic control remains unanswered.

Methods: The reimbursement records of all Taiwanese diabetic patients under treatment with oral anti-diabetic agents or insulin from 1996 to 2009 were retrieved from the National Health Insurance database.

Rosiglitazone may reduce thyroid cancer risk in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Background: Whether rosiglitazone use in patients with type 2 diabetes may affect thyroid cancer risk has not been investigated.

Methods: The reimbursement databases of all diabetic patients under oral anti-diabetic agents or insulin from 1996 to 2009 were retrieved from the National Health Insurance of Taiwan. An entry date was set at 1 January 2006, and 887,665 patients with type 2 diabetes were followed for thyroid cancer incidence until the end of 2009 for ever-users, never-users, and subgroups of rosiglitazone exposure using tertile cut-offs for time since starting rosiglitazone, duration of therapy, and cumulative dose.

Human insulin does not increase prostate cancer risk in Taiwanese.

Background: Whether human insulin can increase the risk of prostate cancer is rarely studied.

Patients And Methods: The reimbursement databases of all Taiwanese patients with diabetes from 1996 to 2009 were retrieved from the National Health Insurance databases of Taiwan. An entry date was set at January 1, 2004 and a total of 498,407 men with type 2 diabetes were followed for prostate cancer incidence until the end of 2009.

Protective effect of gallic acid on alloxan-induced oxidative stress and osmotic fragility in rats.

In the present study, we investigated the antioxidant effect of gallic acid (GA) on membrane lipid peroxidation and osmotic fragility in alloxan-induced diabetic Wistar rats. GA was administered orally at doses of 5, 10, and 20 mg/kg body weight for 45 days, after which liver and kidney tissues were analyzed for the degree of lipid peroxidation, reduced glutathione, and the activities of antioxidants such as catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase. Administration of GA to alloxan-induced diabetic rats reduced the blood glucose level with an increase in the level of insulin.

Pioglitazone does not affect the risk of ovarian cancer: analysis of a nationwide reimbursement database in Taiwan.

Background: The association between pioglitazone and ovarian cancer has not been studied.

Methods: The reimbursement databases of all Taiwanese patients with a diagnosis of diabetes and under oral anti-diabetic agents or insulin from 1996 to 2009 were retrieved from the National Health Insurance. An entry date was set at 1 January 2006 and a total of 546,632 female patients with type 2 diabetes were followed up for ovarian cancer incidence until the end of 2009.

Insulin use and smoking jointly increase the risk of bladder cancer mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Background: Whether insulin use predicts bladder cancer mortality has not been investigated. Furthermore, it is not known whether insulin use and smoking jointly influence the risk.

Materials And Methods: A total of 86,939 patients (40,014 men, 46,925 women) with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and aged ≥ 25 years in a nationally representative cohort were followed prospectively from 1995 to 2006 for bladder cancer mortality.

Molecular profiling of prostatic acinar morphogenesis identifies PDCD4 and KLF6 as tissue architecture-specific prognostic markers in prostate cancer.

Histopathological classification of human prostate cancer (PCA) relies on the morphological assessment of tissue specimens but has limited prognostic value. To address this deficiency, we performed comparative transcriptome analysis of human prostatic acini generated in a three-dimensional basement membrane that recapitulates the differentiated morphological characteristics and gene expression profile of a human prostate glandular epithelial tissue. We then applied an acinar morphogenesis-specific gene profile to two independent cohorts of patients with PCA (total n = 79) and found that those with tumors expressing this profile, which we designated acini-like tumors, had a significantly lower risk of postoperative relapse compared with those tumors with a lower correlation (hazard ratio, 0.

Update and projection on HIV/AIDS in Taiwan.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Taiwan started in 1986, with 5,221 cases of HIV infections, 1,596 cases of AIDS, and 911 deaths reported through 2003. National surveillance data indicate that men who have sex with men accounted for 48.2% of HIV infections, followed by heterosexual men (33.

Habitual betel quid chewing and risk for hepatocellular carcinoma complicating cirrhosis.

This case-control study aimed to assess the independent and interactive role of habitual betel quid chewing and known risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Subjects enrolled included 210 pairs of sex- and age-matched cirrhotic patients with HCC, patients with cirrhosis alone, and healthy controls. Information on risk factors was obtained through serologic examination of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and antibodies to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV), and a standardized personal interview with a structured questionnaire.