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Purpose: To review the epidemiologic literature examining pesticide exposure and liver cancer incidence.Methods: A search of the MEDLINE and Embase databases was conducted in October 2015. Eligibility criteria included examining hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or primary liver cancer, pesticides as an exposure of interest, and individual-level incidence. The review was performed according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.Results: Forty-eight papers were assessed for eligibility and 15 studies were included in the review. The majority of studies were conducted in China and Egypt (n = 8), used a case-control design (n = 14), and examined HCC (n = 14). Most studies showed no association between self-reported and/or occupational exposure to pesticides and liver cancer risk. Six studies demonstrated statistically significant positive associations, including three biomarker-based studies (two using pre-diagnostic sera) that reported higher serum levels of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) were associated with increased HCC risk. Studies indirectly measuring pesticide exposure using self-reported exposure, occupation, job-exposure matrices, or geographic residence demonstrated inconsistent results. These studies were limited by exposure assessment methods, lack of confounder information, minimal case confirmation, selection bias, and/or over-adjustment.Conclusions: There is mixed evidence suggesting a possible association between specific pesticides and HCC risk, with the strongest evidence observed in biomarker-based studies. In particular, organochlorine pesticides, including DDT, may increase HCC risk. Future research should focus on improved pesticide exposure assessment methods, potentially incorporating multiple approaches including biomonitoring while considering the chemicals of interest, historical exposure to address latency periods, and examining specific chemicals and exposure pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: An increasing incidence of thyroid cancer has been seen in China during the past several decades. The aim of this study was to analyze potential age, period, and cohort effects on the incidence of thyroid cancer in mainland China and to predict new cases up to 2032. Methods: We calculated age-adjusted and age-specific incidence rates of thyroid cancer, conducted an age–period–cohort analysis of 35,037 thyroid cancer incidence cases reported to Cancer Incidence in Five Continents from 1983 to 2012 in mainland China, and predicted incidence up to 2032 using the Bayesian age–period–cohort method. Results: The age-adjusted overall incidence rate of thyroid cancer increased from 1.93/100,000 in 1983–1987 to 12.18/100,000 in 2008–2012 among females and from 0.77/100,000 in 1983–1987 to 3.89/100,000 in 2008–2012 among males, with a female-to-male ratio of approximately 3.0 during the three decades. Strong birth cohort and period effects on the incidence of thyroid cancer were observed for both sexes, and such an increasing trend is predicted to continue for at least the next 20 years. More than 3.7 million new cases are projected in the 2028–2032 period. Conclusion: The increasing trend of thyroid cancer in mainland China will cause a great burden in the future. In addition to the potential impact of improvement in medical diagnostics, potential exposure to risk factors have played a role in the observed rising trend. Further population-based epidemiologic studies are required to identify risk factors to aid in thyroid cancer prevention and control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: While leukocyte telomere length (TL) has been associated with breast cancer risk, limited information is available regarding the role of genetically-determined TL on breast cancer risk. We investigated whether aggregated TL-associated variants are associated with the risk of breast cancer in 2,865 breast cancer cases and 2,285 controls from the Shanghai Breast Cancer Genetics Study.Methods: Six genetic variants, identified through a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of TL in European-ancestry participants, were included in the study. A separate sample [n = 1,536, from the Shanghai Women's Health Study (SWHS), for whom information on both phenotypical leukocyte TL and genetic information was collected] was used to evaluate the association of six variants with TL in Asians. Three genetic risk scores (GRSs), based on the number of alleles associated with shorter TL that each individual carries for the six variants, were derived for the study: un-weighted, internally weighted (from the SWHS), and externally weighted (from the European-ancestry GWAS study), and evaluated for their association with breast cancer risk by applying logistic regression analysis.Results: Both internally and externally weighted GRSs were significantly associated with a decreased risk of breast cancer (OR 0.83, 95 % CI 0.72-0.95 and OR 0.84, 95 % CI 0.74-0.96, respectively, for tertile 3 vs. tertile 1). Non-genetic risk factors for breast cancer (i.e., age, years of menstruation/reproduction, oral contraceptive usage, and BMI) did not modify the association between GRSs and the risk of breast cancer.Conclusion: Our results suggest that short TL, determined by genetic factors, may be associated with a reduced susceptibility to breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of body mass index (BMI), weight change on triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) prognosis in a population-based prospective cohort study. The current analysis included 518 participants diagnosed with TNBC in Shanghai Breast Cancer Survival Study. Weight at 1 year prior to cancer diagnosis, at diagnosis, and at 6, 18 and 36 months after cancer diagnosis and height at 6 months after cancer diagnosis were assessed. Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated in relation to BMI and weight change using Cox proportional hazard models. Obesity (BMI ≥ 28.0 kg/m(2)) at 1-year pre-diagnosis was associated with higher risk of total mortality and recurrence/disease-specific mortality, with multivariate hazard ratios (HRs) of 1.79 (95 % CI 1.06-3.03) and 1.83 (95 % CI 1.05-3.21), respectively. The associations between BMI and TNBC prognosis attenuated over time from pre-diagnosis to post-diagnosis. Compared with stable weight (change within 5 %), weight loss ≥5 % at 18- or 36-month post-diagnosis was related with higher risk of total mortality and recurrence/disease-specific mortality. Respective multivariate HRs were 2.08 (95 % CI 1.25-3.46) and 1.42 (95 % CI 0.77-2.63) for OS, and 2.50 (95 % CI 1.45-4.30) and 2.17 (95 % CI 1.14-4.12) for DFS. However, the association of weight loss and OS/DFS attenuated after excluding patients whose weight was measured after recurrence. Weight gain ≥5 % at 18- or 36-month post-diagnosis was associated with a non-significant increased risk of death. The results showed that obesity pre-diagnosis and weight loss post-diagnosis was inversely associated with TNBC prognosis. Emphasis on maintaining stable weight after cancer diagnosis for TNBC patients may be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Epidemiological studies on alcohol consumption and the risk of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) have been inconclusive. We evaluated the association between alcohol consumption and MDS risk in a Chinese population.Methods: A hospital-based case-control study was conducted between 2012 and 2013 in Hangzhou, China. The analysis included 208 case-control pairs. Diagnosis of MDS was confirmed according to the 2008 World Health Organization classification system. Controls were individually matched to the cases by gender, birth quinquennium, and residential locality. Information on habitual alcohol consumption, diet, and lifestyle was sought from face-to-face interview using a validated questionnaire. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated using conditional logistic regression.Results: Fewer cases (36.5 %) were classified as alcohol drinkers compared with the controls (48.6 %). Compared with abstainers, the adjusted OR for alcohol drinkers was 0.41 (95 % CI 0.21-0.80), and significant reduced risks were found for light alcohol consumption (≤12.5 g/day of ethanol) and for wine consumption, adjusted ORs (95 % CIs) being 0.27 (0.12-0.61) and 0.12 (0.02-0.79), respectively. Compared with individuals who consumed neither alcohol nor cigarettes, the reduced risk associated with light alcohol consumption was only statistically significant among non-smokers (OR 0.19, 95 % CI 0.06-0.60).Conclusions: The findings suggest a favorable role of light alcohol consumption in MDS, particularly among non-smokers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate how birthplace influences the incidence of papillary thyroid cancer among Asian American women.Methods: Birthplace- and ethnic-specific age-adjusted and age-specific incidence rates were calculated using data from the California Cancer Registry for the period 1988-2004. Birthplace was statistically imputed for 30% of cases using a validated imputation method based on age at Social Security number issuance. Population estimates were obtained from the US Census. Incidence rate ratios (IRR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated for foreign-born vs. US-born women.Results: Age-adjusted incidence rates of papillary thyroid cancer among Filipina (13.7 per 100,000) and Vietnamese (12.7) women were more than double those of Japanese women (6.2). US-born Chinese (IRR = 0.48, 95% CI: 0.40-0.59) and Filipina women (IRR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.58-0.96) had significantly higher rates than those who were foreign-born; the opposite was observed for Japanese women (IRR = 1.55, 95% CI: 1.17-2.08). The age-specific patterns among all foreign-born Asian women and US-born Japanese women showed a slow steady increase in incidence until age 70. However, among US-born Asian women (except Japanese), substantially elevated incidence rates during the reproductive and menopausal years were evident.Conclusions: Ethnic- and birthplace-variation in papillary thyroid cancer incidence can provide insight into the etiology of this increasingly common and understudied cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Although gastric cancer incidence is declining in China, trends may differ from historical patterns in developed countries. Our aim was to (1) retrospectively estimate the effects of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) and smoking on past gastric cancer incidence and (2) project how interventions on these two risk factors can reduce future incidence.Methods: We used a population-based model of intestinal-type gastric cancer to estimate gastric cancer incidence between 1985 and 2050. Disease and risk factor data in the model were from community-based epidemiological studies and national prevalence surveys.Results: Between 1985 and 2005, age-standardized gastric cancer incidence among Chinese men declined from 30.8 to 27.2 per 100,000 (12%); trends in H. pylori and smoking prevalences accounted for >30% of overall decline. If past risk factor trends continue, gastric cancer incidence will decline an additional 30% by 2050. Yet, annual cases will increase from 116,000 to 201,000 due to population growth and aging. Assuming that H. pylori prevention/treatment and tobacco control are implemented in 2010, the decline in gastric cancer incidence is projected to increase to 33% with universal H. pylori treatment for 20-year-olds, 42% for a hypothetical childhood H. pylori vaccine, and 34% for aggressive tobacco control.Conclusions: The decline in gastric cancer incidence has been slower than in developed countries and will be offset by population growth and aging. Public health interventions should be implemented to reduce the total number of cases. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10552-009-9397-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]