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Booze during pregnancy could lead to acute myeloid leukemia in kids

May 6, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Washington, May 6 (ANI): Drinking alcohol during pregnancy could increase the risk of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in children, according to a recent paper.

The study has been published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Julie Ross, Ph.D., director of the division of pediatric epidemiology and clinical research at the University of Minnesota, said there are about 700 cases of AML in the United States in children each year.

“It”s quite rare, so we want to be careful about worrying parents too much,” said Ross, who was not involved in the study, but is an editorial board member of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Ross and the lead researcher of this study, Paule Latino-Martel, Ph.D., research director at the Research Center for Human Nutrition in France, agreed that these findings should strengthen the public health recommendation against alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

“Despite the current recommendation that pregnant women should not drink alcohol during pregnancy, alcohol consumption during pregnancy is 12 percent in the United States, 30 percent in Sweden, 52 percent in France, 59 percent in Australia and 60 percent in Russia,” said Latino-Martel.

Latino-Martel and colleagues analyzed 21 case control studies. Alcohol intake during pregnancy, defined as a response to a yes or no question, was associated with a 56 percent increased risk of AML in children. The risk of AML was higher in children aged 0 to 4 years old at diagnosis. There was no significant association with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. (ANI)

Milk-renal cell cancer risk: No concrete proof

May 6, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Washington, May 6 (ANI): A study has cast doubt on previous research that suggested drinking milk was related to factors that may increase the risk of renal cell cancer.

“The data in this study provide no concrete evidence of a need to alter milk drinking in any way,” said lead researcher Nicholas Timpson, Ph.D., lecturer in genetic epidemiology at the MRC CAiTE Center in the department of social medicine at the University of Bristol, United Kingdom. “If anything, the failure of genetic findings to replicate the association between milk and renal cell cancer suggests that fears that milk consumption might elevate cancer risk are likely to be unfounded.”

These study results are published in the May issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Previously reported studies suggested a connection between milk intake and renal cell carcinoma risk, and whether this represents a causal association or is the result of bias is currently unclear. Timpson and colleagues used a genetic marker to try to help untangle this observation.

From 1999 through 2003 the researchers conducted a large, hospital-based, case-control study from four central and eastern European countries.

Using observational, genetic and phenotypic data, they determined whether the genetic variant at the gene MCM6 — known to be associated with lactose tolerance — may be used as a non-confounded and unbiased marker for milk consumption”s link to cancer risk.

For adult milk drinkers vs. non-milk drinkers in this study, the difference in the odds of renal cell carcinoma was approximately 35 percent. However, when assessing the relationship in a more direct way by using genetic data there was no association between the two.

“We found evidence for the often-questioned relationship between milk consumption and cancer, yet when we used genotypes to verify this relationship, there was no corroboratory evidence,” Timpson said. “This does suggest that the basic findings may be subject to the kinds of biases and inaccuracies that often upset epidemiological research, but that this study would need to be undertaken on a much larger scale in order to verify these initial findings.”

Johanna Lampe, Ph.D., an editorial board member of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention who is not associated with this study, said this study demonstrates the complexities of evaluating dietary exposures and cancer risk.

“These results are a reminder to proceed with caution when interpreting data that suggest an association between intake of specific foods and risk of a particular cancer. Human diet is complex and typically involves adherence to certain dietary patterns that are also tied to other lifestyle behaviors,” said Lampe, full member and nutrition scientist in the division of public health sciences at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Wash. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Cancer Epidemiology, cancer risk, case control study, causal association, concrete evidence, concrete proof, Eastern European Countries, genetic data, genetic epidemiology, Genetic findings, Genetic Marker, genetic variant, Milk Consumption, milk drinkers, milk intake, Phenotypic Data, Renal Cell Cancer, renal cell carcinoma, Social Medicine, university of bristol

Aspirin a day ‘cuts breast cancer risk’

March 24, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Washington, March 24 (ANI): A new study has shown that postmenopausal women who take aspirin and other analgesics (known as painkillers) regularly have lower estrogen levels, which could contribute to a decreased risk of breast or ovarian cancer.

“We observed some significant inverse associations between concentrations of several estrogens and the use of aspirin, aspirin plus non-aspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and all analgesics combined,” said Margaret A. Gates, Sc.D., research fellow at the Channing Laboratory at Brigham and Women”s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

“Our results suggest that among postmenopausal women, regular users of aspirin and other analgesics may have lower estrogen levels than non-users,” Gates added.

Gates and colleagues examined the association between use of aspirin, NSAIDs and acetaminophen and concentrations of estrogens and androgens among 740 postmenopausal women who participated in the Nurses” Health Study.

Frequency of all analgesic use was inversely associated with estradiol, free estradiol, estrone sulfate and the ratio of estradiol to testosterone.

Average estradiol levels were 10.5 percent lower among women who regularly used aspirin or non-aspirin NSAIDs. Similarly, free estradiol levels were 10.6 percent lower and estrone sulfate levels were 11.1 percent lower among regular users of aspirin or other NSAIDs.

Among regular users of any analgesic (aspirin, NSAIDs or acetaminophen), levels of these hormones were 15.2 percent, 12.9 percent and 12.6 percent lower, respectively, according to Gates.

These study results are published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. (ANI)

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Baldness at young age cuts prostate cancer risk

March 16, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

London, March 16 (ANI): Men who go bald at an early age have less chances of suffering from prostate cancer, according to a new study.

An American team observed 2,000 men aged between 40 and 47, half of whom had prostate cancer.

It was learnt that those who had their hair thinned by the age of 30 were 45 per cent less likely to get prostrate cancer, compared to those who did not suffer hair loss.

“At first, the findings were surprising. But we found that early onset baldness was associated with a 29 per cent to 45 per cent reduction in their relative risk of prostate cancer,” the Telegraph quoted Professor Jonathan Wright, an expert in prostate cancer at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, as telling the Daily Mail.

The study also found that most men think going bald makes them feel old and less attractive.

The study has been published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology. (ANI)

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Smoking, overweighing up breast cancer risk

September 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 2 (ANI): A study conducted in Canada has reinforced the correlation between being overweight, smoking and breast cancer.

Published in the Journal of Cancer Epidemiology, the study is unique because it did not include subjects who were diagnosed for BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations, which predispose women to breast cancer.

The study entirely focused on lifestyle factors like smoking, exercise, nutrition and weight.

All women analysed in the study were direct ancestors of the first French colonists.

“To our knowledge, this is the first study conducted on a sample of women without BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations, which are often found in French-Canadian women,” said lead researcher Vishnee Bissonauth, a graduate of the Universite de Montreal’s Department of Nutrition, and a researcher at the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center.

The study found that weight gains after the age of 20 increased the risk of breast cancer.

Where the weight gain was more than 15.5 kilos, the risk was found to increase by an average of 68 percent.

Risk increases depending on how late in life the weight gain occurs, according to the study.

Women who gained more than 10 kilos after age 30, or more than 5.5 kilos after age 40, were found to be almost twice as likely to suffer from breast cancer as a those whose weight was stable.

The study showed that the risk tripled if the body mass index was at its maximum after age 50.

Smoking a pack a day for nine years was also found to increase breast cancer risks by 59 percent.

Though the impact of smoking seemed to decrease for menopausal women, it remained at 50 percent.

Bissonauth stressed the need for more research into the correlation between smoking and breast cancer.

The researchers revealed that moderate physical activity appeared to decrease cancer risks by 52 percent for pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women.

The correlation was also observed for women who did intense physical activity, but the difference was not significant, said the lead researcher.

That finding, said Bissonauth, may be down to the fact that women who did moderate physical activity were more likely to do it regularly, while those who did intense physical activity were likely to quit after a few weeks.

“Cancer is a complex disease and can be latent for several years. Therefore, it is important to work on the factors we can control and to lead a healthy lifestyle, which means watching one’s weight, avoid smoking and doing regular exercise,” said Bissonauth. (ANI)

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Smoking, overweighing up breast cancer risk

September 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 2 (ANI): A study conducted in Canada has reinforced the correlation between being overweight, smoking and breast cancer.

The study entirely focused on lifestyle factors like smoking, exercise, nutrition and weight.

All women analysed in the study were direct ancestors of the first French colonists.

The study found that weight gains after the age of 20 increased the risk of breast cancer.

Where the weight gain was more than 15.5 kilos, the risk was found to increase by an average of 68 percent.

Risk increases depending on how late in life the weight gain occurs, according to the study.

Women who gained more than 10 kilos after age 30, or more than 5.5 kilos after age 40, were found to be almost twice as likely to suffer from breast cancer as a those whose weight was stable.

The study showed that the risk tripled if the body mass index was at its maximum after age 50.moking a pack a day for nine years was also found to increase breast cancer risks by 59 percent.

Though the impact of smoking seemed to decrease for menopausal women, it remained at 50 percent.

Bissonauth stressed the need for more research into the correlation between smoking and breast cancer.

The researchers revealed that moderate physical activity appeared to decrease cancer risks by 52 percent for pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women.

The correlation was also observed for women who did intense physical activity, but the difference was not significant, said the lead researcher.

Filed Under: Health News Tagged With: body mass index, brca1 and brca2, brca2 gene, breast cancer, breast cancer risk, breast cancer risks, Cancer Epidemiology, diffe, exercise nutrition, french colonists, Gene Mutations, intense physical activity, lifestyle factors, menopausal women, moderate physical activity, pack a day, pre menopausal, risk increases, sainte justine, study women, universite de montreal

High insulin levels may increase prostate cancer risk

August 22, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Aug 22 (ANI): Researchers have found that high insulin levels might increase the risk of developing prostate cancer.

Lead researcher Dr Demetrius Albanes, of the Nutritional Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., examined the relationship of the level of serum insulin and glucose, as well as surrogate indices of insulin resistance, to the development of prostate cancer.

The study showed that elevated insulin levels in the normal range appear to be associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer.

When subjects in the second through fourth quartiles of serum insulin concentration were compared with those in the first or lowest quartile, higher insulin levels within the normal range were associated with statistically significantly increased risk of prostate cancer.

The findings appear in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. (ANI)

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Childhood cancer ‘increases with advancing maternal age’

July 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, July 15 (ANI): Baby born to an older mother may have a slightly increased risk for many of the cancers that occur during childhood, according to a new study from the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota.

Logan Spector, Ph.D., assistant professor of paediatrics and cancer epidemiology researcher, and Kimberly Johnson, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow in paediatric epidemiology, led the research team on this study.

“Our finding shows that although the absolute risk is low, advancing maternal age may be a factor and explain why, after other factors are adjusted for, some children get cancer,” said Spector.

For the study, the researchers used information from birth registry records in New York, Washington, Minnesota, Texas, and California.

The study included the records of 17,672 children in those states diagnosed with cancer at ages 0-14 years between 1980 and 2004 and 57,966 children not diagnosed with cancer.

“We saw that the risk of 7 of the 10 most common childhood cancers increased slightly, about 7-10 percent, with every five-year increase in maternal age,” Spector said.

The researchers noted the father’s age did not seem to matter once the mother’s age was taken into account.

Spector and Johnson say more research needs to be done on why the risk for childhood cancer increases with advancing maternal age.

Types of cancers most often affecting children include leukemia, lymphoma, central nervous system tumor, neuroblastoma, Wilms’ tumor, bone cancer, and soft tissue sarcoma.

The results are published in the July 2009 issue of the journal Epidemiology. (ANI)

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Eating animal fat may raise pancreatic cancer risk

June 27, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, June 27 (ANI): A high-fat diet full of red meat and dairy products can increase the risk of pancreatic cancer, says a new study.

The research has been published online June 26 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

To reach the cocnlsuion, Rachael Z. Stolzenberg-Solomon, Ph.D., of the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., and colleagues analyzed a cohort of over 500,000 people from the National Institutes of Health – AARP Diet and Health Study.

Participants completed a food frequency questionnaire in 1995 and 1996 and were followed prospectively for an average of 6 years to track a variety of health outcomes, including pancreatic cancer.

Men and women who consumed high amounts of total fats had 53 percent and 23 percent higher relative rates of pancreatic cancer, respectively, compared with men and women who had the lowest fat consumption.

Participants who consumed high amounts of saturated fats had 36 percent higher relative rates of pancreatic cancer compared with those who consumed low amounts.

“[W]e observed positive associations between pancreatic cancer and intakes of total, saturated, and monounsaturated fat overall, particularly from red meat and dairy food sources. We did not observe any consistent association with polyunsaturated or fat from plant food sources,” the authors write.

“Altogether, these results suggest a role for animal fat in pancreatic carcinogenesis,” they added. (ANI)

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Childhood cancer survivors face lifelong cancer risk

May 27, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 27 (ANI): People who have been treated for cancer in childhood have a persistent and high risk for a second primary cancer throughout their lives, according to a new study.

In earlier studies, scientists said that second primary cancer risk after treatment in childhood is higher than that in the general population.

However, follow-up was restricted to a few decades and the incidence in long-term survivors was rarely investigated.

The latest study-led by Dr. Jorgen H. Olsen of the Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, Danish Cancer Society-offers data for incidence of second cancers among childhood cancer patients in the Nordic countries over a full age range, from birth to age 79.

For the study, the researchers analysed a cohort of 47,697 people who were diagnosed with cancer prior to the age of 20, from 1943 to 2005.

Members of the cohort were followed for subsequent primary cancers listed in registries, and the age-specific risk pattern of the survivors was compared with that of the national populations using country and sex standardized incidence ratios (SIRs).

And it was found that the observed incidence rate of new primary cancers was higher than the expected rates, and the relative risk of second primary cancers was statistically significantly increased in all age groups.

They observed a total of 1,180 second primary cancers in 1,088 persons, which yielded a SIR of 3.3, with the brain as the most common site.

Also, the researchers found that the relative risk for second primary cancers in male survivors was statistically significantly higher than in female survivors.

“This study quantified long-term temporal patterns of increased risk of cancer at specific sites in survivors of childhood cancer. The results may be useful in the screening and care of these individuals,” wrote the authors.

The study has been published in the latest online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. (ANI)

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Booze during pregnancy could lead to acute myeloid leukemia in kids

Aspirin a day ‘cuts breast cancer risk’

Baldness at young age cuts prostate cancer risk

Smoking, overweighing up breast cancer risk

Smoking, overweighing up breast cancer risk

High insulin levels may increase prostate cancer risk

Childhood cancer ‘increases with advancing maternal age’

Eating animal fat may raise pancreatic cancer risk

Childhood cancer survivors face lifelong cancer risk

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