1,721,280 research outputs found
International mortality trends in prostate cancer
No full textProstate cancer is widely considered to be a form of cancer whose aetiology is poorly understood and which is becoming much more frequent in developed countries. All national time series of prostate cancer mortality data available in the World Health Organisation (WHO) mortality database were analysed in a systematic manner to investigate whether prostate cancer mortality was increasing and whether there were any striking similarities in the nature of any changes between countries. In particular, Age-Period-Cohort modelling was employed to establish and estimate the nature of any changes taking place in risk among successive generations of men: the method of Holford (Stat Meth Med Res 1991; 1:317-337) was employed. In all datasets the cohort-risk has remained constant in men born throughout this century. It is notable that the cohort relative risks for any cohort in any country are small and never exceed 1.5. While in many countries the all-ages mortality rate of prostate cancer appears to be continuing to increase, this is being driven by increasing rates among the oldest age groups which could be subject to the potential influences of improvements in diagnosis and death certification. Based on the results obtained from these statistical models, it is expected that overall prostate cancer mortality rates will soon begin to decline in many countries. The small fluctuations in mortality rates in more recent cohorts of men contrast with the large increases seen in the incidence of prostate cancer and support the concept of an artificial inflation of incidence rates and a changing stage distribution brought about initially by aggressive histopathological examination of prostatectomy specimens and latterly by the increasing use of prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing
Analytical and graphical methods to model the association between family history and disease from a case-control study
No full textSubjects within a family have a high probability of sharing environmental factors as well as genes. Without any previous hypothesis, familial aggregation cannot be attributed to genetic or environmental factors. In epidemiology a common measure of familial aggregation is the odds ratio (OR) evaluated from case-control studies which gives a measure of the increased risk associated with particular aspects of the family's history of disease. An analytical method is presented to model the OR of case-control studies in the presence of risk factors, genetic or environmental, that are correlated between relatives. A graphical approach that can be used to link the parameters of the model with the values of the OR is also described. The method is illustrated using the example of familial aggregation in colorectal cancer
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Effect of the synthetic retinoid fenretinide on circulating free prostate-specific antigen, insulin-like growth factor-I, and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 levels in men with superficial bladder cancer
No full textPurpose: Fenretinide (4-HPR) is a synthetic retinoid that has shown a preventive activity in prostate cancer animal models. Experimental Design: We measured the changes in total and free prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and its association with insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and IGFBP-3 levels after 1 year of treatment in 24 subjects given 4-HPR and 24 control subjects enrolled in a randomized bladder cancer prevention trial. Results: No significant effect of 4-HPR was observed on total and free fraction of PSA levels. The median percentage [95 confidence interval (95% CI)] change for % free PSA and total PSA in the 4-HPR and the control group were, respectively, 7.6 (95% CI, -4.0 to 69.3) versus 5.1 (95% CI, -21.4 to 59.8) and -7.8 (95% CI, -18.2 to 52.5) versus -12.3 (95% CI, -44.6 to 9.6). However, in patients ages <60 years, there was a trend to an increase of total free PSA and % free PSA after treatment with 4-HPR that was different from a trend to a decrease in the control group (P = 0.002 and 0.052, respectively). The interaction between age and treatment was statistically significant on free PSA (P = 0.001). A similar pattern was noted with smoking status (P = 0.011 for the interaction on free PSA). No association was observed between PSA levels and IGF-I or IGFBP-3 levels. Conclusions: We conclude that 4-HPR has no significant effect on circulating PSA, but it increases significantly free PSA levels in subjects younger than 60 years and in nonsmokers. These effects might support an activity in prostate cancer prevention but further studies are required. ©2005 American Association for Cancer Research
The mediating role of empathy in the relationship between mindfulness and couple satisfaction
No full textPrevious studies showed that trait mindfulness is positively associated with couple satisfaction. However, little is known about the mechanisms through which mindfulness abilities might promote relationship satisfaction. This study explored whether empathy mediates the effect of mindfulness on couple satisfaction in emerging adults. Participants were 218 young adults (71% females; mean age = 22.2 yr, SD = 2.9) involved in a dating relationship. Subjects completed self-report measures of mindfulness (Observing, Describing, Acceptance and Acting with Awareness), cognitive and affective empathy, and couple satisfaction. The possible role of empathy as mediator of mindfulness effect on couple satisfaction was investigated by mediation analysis. All statistical tests were two-sided at a significance level of 0.05. Couple satisfaction was positively correlated with Observing and Acting with Awareness and with both components of empathy. Observing was positively correlated with cognitive and affective empathy, while Acting with Awareness was negatively associated with the affective component. Cognitive empathy mediated the effect of Observing on couple satisfaction. Acting with Awareness indirectly decreased couple satisfaction by decreasing affective empathy, but also had an outweighing positive direct effect on couple satisfaction.
Findings indicate that couple satisfaction is associated with specific facets of mindfulness in young adults. Furthermore, the ability to notice internal and external events may promote higher couple satisfaction by fostering the ability to understand how the partner feels. Acting with Awareness seems to have a double-edge effect on couple satisfaction in young adults: a positive direct effect outbalances a negative indirect effect mediated by a decrease in affective empathy
Does dietary folate intake modify effect of alcohol consumption on breast cancer risk? Prospective cohort study
No full textObjective: To evaluate the effect of dietary folate intake on the relation between alcohol consumption and breast cancer risk. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Melbourne, Australia. Participants: 17 447 Anglo-Australian women resident in Melbourne, aged 40-69 years at recruitment in 1990-4, and followed up until 31 December 2003. Main outcome measure: Invasive breast cancers diagnosed during follow-up and ascertained through the Victorian cancer registry. Results: 537 invasive breast cancers were diagnosed. Compared with lifetime abstainers, the hazard ratio for breast cancer in women who consumed an average of 40 g or more of alcohol daily at baseline was 1.41 (95% confidence interval 0.90 to 2.23). No direct association was found between dietary folate intake and risk of breast cancer, but a high folate intake mitigated the excess risk associated with alcohol. The estimated hazard ratio of an alcohol consumption of 40 g/day or more was 2.00 (1.14 to 3.49) for women with intakes of 200 μg/day of folate and 0.77 (0.33 to 1.80) for 400 μg/day of folate (P = 0.04 for interaction between alcohol and folate). Conclusions: An adequate dietary intake of folate might protect against the increased risk of breast cancer associated with alcohol consumption
Average volume of alcohol consumed, type of beverage, drinking pattern and the risk of death from all causes
No full textBackground: The objective was to investigate associations between average volume of alcohol consumption, type of beverage and drinking pattern and all-cause mortality in the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study. Methods: Average consumption, including type of beverage, was estimated from beverage-specific questions on quantity and frequency of consumption. Pattern of consumption was estimated from a 7-day diary. During an average of 10.5 years of follow-up of 36 984 participants, 1971 deaths occurred. Results: For both men and women, mortality curves were J-shaped (nadir at 9-12 g/day of alcohol consumption; upper protective dose of 42-76 g/day). Wine consumption was associated with lower mortality (for men, minimum hazard ratio (HR) at 20/39 g/day of wine consumption: 0.69; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.54/0.87; for women, minimum HR at 1-19 g/day: 0.82; 95% CI: 0.70-0.98). Beer was associated with an increased risk for men (test for trend, P = 0.05), but not for women. After adjustment for total amount of alcohol consumed, the number of drinking-days was inversely associated with the risk of dying in men (P-trend = 0.04). Conclusions: These results confirm previous findings about the effect of average volume of alcohol and type of beverage and suggest that drinking pattern is an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality. © 2006 Oxford University Press
The effect of socioeconomic status on survival from colorectal cancer in the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study
No full textPrevious research relating lower socioeconomic status (SES) with poorer survival from colorectal cancer has varied in adjustment for confounding factors and in the use of individual-level or aggregate-level indicators of SES. We investigated the effect of SES and country of birth on survival from colorectal cancers diagnosed in participants of the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study. A total of 526 colorectal cancer cases diagnosed since baseline were followed from diagnosis to 1 June 2006 or death. Information on tumour site and stage, and treatments given were obtained from systematic medical record review. SES at diagnosis was assigned using both an area-based measure of social disadvantage and individual level of educational attainment. Cox regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios associated with socioeconomic disadvantage, educational attainment, and country of birth. During an average follow-up of 5.6 years from diagnosis, 230 deaths occurred, 197 from colorectal cancer. After adjusting for age, sex, tumour stage, waist circumference and adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy, the hazard ratios of dying from all causes and from colorectal cancer associated with living in the least disadvantaged areas compared with most disadvantaged areas were 0.73 (95% CI 0.53-1.00, p for trend = 0.06) and 0.80 (95% CI 0.57-1.12, p for trend = 0.22) respectively. Further adjustment for hospital case-load, tumour characteristics, and lifestyle factors did not change the estimates materially. Level of educational attainment and country of birth were not independent predictors of the risk of dying from colorectal cancer. Despite a universal health care system in Australia, socioeconomic inequalities in survival from colorectal cancer exist, and an enduring challenge is to ensure that improvements in colorectal cancer survival are shared equally across the population. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
[Strengthen and expand vaccination provision in prisons to promote access to preventive tools and health equity]
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