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Biomedical subjects

A Ekbom

Publications and source records attributed to A Ekbom.

At least 217 records · Page 12Linked to original sources

Season of birth and breast cancer risk in Sweden.

Recent research suggests that intrauterine exposures, perhaps factors that influence birth weight and other indicators of fetal growth, may affect future breast cancer risk. Because birth weight shows seasonal variation in Sweden, we assessed whether risk for breast cancer is associated with month of birth. The analyses included all 115,670 women, born between 1858 and 1968, who were reported to the Swedish Cancer Registry in 1958-89 as having breast cancer. Poisson regression models were used to examine the data. After adjustment for seasonality of number of live births in the population at risk, a significant seasonal pattern was identified for women born between 1880 and 1920. Women born in June had a 5% higher risk of breast cancer than those born in December. By contrast, there was no evidence of birth seasonality among 440,948 women with cancer at other sites. Exposures relevant to breast cancer risk later in life are unlikely to be related to month of birth. Thus, prenatal or early post-natal factors influence breast carcinogenesis, but the seasonal variation in these factors must have decreased over time.

Breast Neoplasms↗

Handedness, age at menarche, and age at menopause.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relation between handedness and age at menarche or age at menopause, as both handedness and reproductive variables have been suggested to be influenced by the intrauterine endocrine environment. METHODS: Self-reported information on handedness, age at menarche, age at menopause, and other demographic and reproductive variables was recorded for 10,328 women still menstruating or in natural menopause. These women had been selected as controls in a multicenter case-control study of breast cancer conducted in the 1960s. Left-handedness (including ambidexterity) was modeled as the outcome variable through multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: After adjusting for center, age, menopausal status, age at menopause, years of schooling, and parity, there was no significant relation of handedness to age at menarche (odds ratio for each year delayed 1.01, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.97-1.06) or age at menopause (odds ratio 1.00, 95% CI 0.98-1.02). CONCLUSION: These findings lend no support to the hypothesis that intrauterine endocrine variables associated with handedness also are related to reproductive variables.

Adolescent↗

Gastric cancer risk after vagotomy.

The risk of gastric cancer after vagotomy for benign gastric and duodenal disease was examined in a population based cohort of 7198 patients operated on during 1971-79 and followed up until 1988. After exclusion of the first year of follow up there were 34 cases of gastric cancer compared with 25.6 expected (standardised incidence ratio (SIR) = 1.33; 95% confidence intervals (CI) 0.92 to 1.86). Separate analyses by duration of follow up, sex, age at operation, underlying diagnosis, and operative procedures did not show any significant increased or decreased risk of gastric cancer in any of the subgroups. In conclusion, decreased gastric acid secretion after vagotomy does not increase the risk of gastric cancer in the first 10 years after operation or in the subgroup followed up for 10-18 years. A longer follow-up is needed before an excess risk can be excluded.

Aged↗

Accuracy of double contrast barium enema and sigmoideoscopy in the detection of polyps in patients with diverticulosis.

The sensitivity between double contrast barium enema (DCBE) and sigmoideoscopy in diagnosing neoplastic lesions in the sigmoid colon was compared in patients with diverticulosis. In 52 patients with severe diverticulosis (> or = 15 diverticulas) the DCBE detected one out of 4 polyps found by sigmoideoscopy. In the remaining 54 patients with mild diverticulosis (< 15 diverticulas) DCBE detected 7 out of 10 polyps found by sigmoideoscopy. Successful bowel preparation did not influence the outcome of the DCBE. Sigmoideoscopy was incomplete in 17 (16%) of the patients; females were more difficult to examine than males (p = 0.012), as were those with a previous pelvic operation (p = 0.032). We conclude that neither DCBE nor sigmoideoscopy alone is sufficient to detect all neoplastic lesions in the sigmoid colon in patients with sigmoid diverticulosis of the colon.

Adult↗

Risk of extrahepatic bileduct cancer after cholecystectomy.

The aetiology of cancer of the extrahepatic bile duct is unknown. Gallstones have been proposed to be a risk factor on the basis of ecological and epidemiological evidence. As gallstones are formed in the gallbladder, the occurrence of extrahepatic bileduct cancer in patients after cholecystectomy is of interest. All patients (62,734) who had had a cholecystectomy during 1965-1983 within the Uppsala Health Care Region, Sweden, were followed up to the end of 1987. Excluding the first year of follow-up, 23 cancers of the extrahepatic bileduct occurred vs 26.3 expected for a standardised incidence ratio (SIR) of 0.88 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.56-1.31). 10 years or more after operation there was a greater reduction of risk (SIR = 0.27; 95% CI 0.06-0.80). Similar patterns were observed for men and women, and among patients who had undergone cholecystectomy only compared with those who had had their common bileducts explored. To assess surveillance bias the incidence of primary liver cancer was also analysed: SIR = 1.15; 95% CI 0.91-1.44 overall, and 10 years or more after cholecystectomy SIR = 0.98; 95% CI 0.66-1.40. This study shows a reduced risk of extrahepatic bileduct cancer 10 or more years after cholecystectomy, indicating that gallstones may be a cause of this cancer.

Bias↗

Parity and hepatocellular carcinoma. A population-based study in Sweden.

The association between parity and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was studied using a data-base generated by linking 2 Swedish nation-wide registries; the Cancer Registry and the Fertility Registry. Among women born between 1925 and 1960, 133 patients with HCC recorded in the Cancer Registry between 1958 and 1984 were compared with 665 age-matched controls. In this nested case-control study there was no positive association between parity, age at first birth or frequency of twinning on the one hand, and risk of HCC on the other. It appears that the positive association between parity and HCC previously reported is limited to cases of HCC caused by chronic infection with hepatitis B virus; these cases represent only a small fraction of HCC cases in Sweden.

Adult↗

Parity and cancers of the gall bladder and the extrahepatic bile ducts.

The relation of parity and age at first birth to cancers of the gall bladder and extrahepatic bile ducts in women was studied using a database generated by linking 2 Swedish national registries; the Fertility Registry and the Cancer Registry. Among women born between 1925 and 1960, 257 cases of gall-bladder cancer recorded in the Cancer Registry between 1958 and 1984 were compared with 1,285 controls, age-matched to cases in a 5:1 ratio. In addition, 60 cases of extrahepatic-bile-duct cancer were matched with 300 controls. There was a positive association between number of live births and risk of gall-bladder cancer (p 0.06), but simultaneous consideration of parity and age at first birth revealed a more complex picture. Parity increases the risk for cancer of the gall bladder when the first birth occurs before the age of about 25 years, whereas parity associated with first birth after the age of about 30 years is associated with reduced risk for the disease. Thus, among parous women there is a highly significant inverse association of age at first birth with risk for gall-bladder cancer after adjustment for number of live births. Variable levels of pregnancy estrogens according to maternal age and variable effects of parity on non-pregnancy estrogens by age, may explain the observed pattern. The results on extrahepatic-bile-duct cancer, parity and age at first birth did not indicate the existence of an association in either direction.

Adult↗

Breast cancer risk in mothers of multiple births.

Data from an international case-control study of breast cancer that was conducted in the 1960s were used to examine whether multiple births affect the risk of breast cancer in the mother. Among 2821 parous breast-cancer patients, 88 had had one or more multiple births, whereas among 8882 controls 247 had had one or more multiple births; the logistic-regression-adjusted odds ratio (OR) was 1.21, the 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.94 to 1.55. The OR was significantly elevated during the 15-year period following the latest multiple birth (1.76; CI, 1.12 to 2.75), but declined toward the null afterwards. A late first pregnancy imparted a substantially higher breast-cancer risk when it was multiple rather than singleton; the OR was 2.34 for a multiple and 1.48 for a singleton first pregnancy when the cutoff point was 30 years, and 4.58 and 1.57, respectively, when the cutoff point was 35 years. Since multiple pregnancies are characterized by higher levels of pregnancy estrogens, the results of this study would be compatible with the hypothesis that these hormones may be responsible for the transient increase in breast-cancer risk following a term pregnancy and, in particular, a multiple term pregnancy. The long-term reduction of breast-cancer risk is probably due to a different mechanism, most likely the terminal differentiation of susceptible mammary-gland cells.

Adult↗

Incidence of cancer among patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate hypotheses about the relationship between immune alterations and cancer, several investigators have determined cancer incidence in groups of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a chronic autoimmune disease. The primary finding has been an increased risk of hematopoietic cancers. PURPOSE: In this study, we have attempted to refine estimates of the association between RA and subsequent development of specific cancers. METHODS: We investigated site-specific cancer risk associated with RA in a population-based cohort study of 11683 Swedish men and women with a hospital (inpatient) diagnosis of RA. These case patients were identified from 1965 to 1983 and had follow-up through 1984 by computer linkage of the Swedish Hospital Inpatient Register to the National Swedish Cancer Registry (840 case patients with cancer) and the Swedish Registry of Causes of Death. Cancer risk was estimated by standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) for specific cancers. RESULTS: For men and women overall, there were decreased risks for cancers of the colon (SIR = 0.63; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.5-0.9), rectum (SIR = 0.72; 95% CI = 0.5-1.1), and stomach (SIR = 0.63; 95% CI = 0.5-0.9) and an increased risk for lymphomas (SIR = 1.98; 95% CI = 1.5-2.6). CONCLUSIONS: The reduced risk for colorectal cancer in patients with RA is consistent with previous studies of RA patients and with reports which state that use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may protect against the development of large bowel cancers. The excess of lymphomas also confirms a number of earlier investigations of RA patients.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗

Pernicious anemia and subsequent cancer. A population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Elevated risk of cancers of the stomach, colon, and buccal cavity, as well as of lymphoma and leukemia, have been reported for patients with pernicious anemia in case reports and hospital-based and cross-sectional studies. METHODS: A cohort of 2021 men and 2496 women living in the Uppsala health care region in Sweden, discharged with a hospital diagnosis of pernicious anemia from 1965 to 1983, was followed for 20 years for subsequent risk of cancer. RESULTS: A total of 553 cancers were diagnosed among these patients, significantly more than expected based on cancer standardized incidence rates (SIRs) in the general population (SIR = 1.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2-1.5). Most prominent were excesses for cancer of the stomach (SIR = 2.9; 95% CI, 2.4-3.5), esophagus (SIR = 3.2; 95% CI, 1.8-5.2), and pancreas (SIR = 1.7; 95% CI, 1.2-2.4) among men and women; myeloid leukemia among men (SIR = 4.4; 95% CI, 1.8-5.2); and multiple myeloma among women (SIR = 2.5; 95% CI, 1.1-4.9). An excess of gastric carcinoid tumors also was evident in this cohort. The risk of stomach cancer was highest in the first year after diagnosis of pernicious anemia (SIR = 7.4; 95% CI, 5.3-10.1), but an increased risk persisted throughout the follow-up period. The risk of esophageal cancer also remained elevated throughout the study period, although the risk of pancreatic cancer dropped off after 5 years. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms the excess risk of gastric carcinoma and carcinoid tumors associated with pernicious anemia, and suggests that the susceptibility state may extend to esophageal and other cancers.

Aged↗

Cholecystectomy and colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: An increased risk of large bowel cancer, especially of the right colon, following cholecystectomy has been reported in some studies but contradicted in others. The aim of this study was to settle this question by creating a cohort of cholecystectomy patients that was large enough and with a sufficient follow-up time to detect even weak associations. METHODS: A population-based cohort consisting of 62,615 patients who underwent cholecystectomy was followed up for the occurrence of colorectal cancer up to 23 years. RESULTS: There were 633 colorectal cancers versus 637.9 expected (standardized incidence ratio [SIR] = 0.99; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.92-1.07). Analyses of an extensive number of subgroups including sex, age at operation, duration of follow-up, underlying diagnosis, type of operation, and different cancer sites did not show any association. However, for cancer of the right colon among women, the risk was increased (SIR = 1.24; 95% CI = 1.03-1.48) most prominent 15 years or more after operation (SIR = 1.54; 95% CI = 1.03-2.22). CONCLUSIONS: Overall, there is no excess risk of colorectal cancer following cholecystectomy, but consistent with some earlier reports, we observed an increased risk among women for right-sided colon cancer 15 years or more after operation.

Adult↗

Breast-feeding and breast cancer in the offspring.

The causation of breast cancer in certain strains of mice by a virus that can be transmitted vertically, through the milk produced during lactation, has led to the hypothesis that a similar phenomenon could exist in humans. There have been laboratory-based studies in humans suggesting that a virus may be involved in the etiology of female breast cancer although other investigations did not support this hypothesis. Descriptive data and epidemiologic evidence of ecologic nature do not indicate a role of lactation in the causation of human breast cancer, but the hypothesis has not been adequately assessed in analytic epidemiologic studies. A nested case-control study undertaken in Sweden to examine the role of prenatal factors on breast cancer risk in the offspring, allowed the evaluation of the importance of breast-feeding in the causation of this disease. Standardised records concerning women born at the Uppsala University Hospital from 1874 to 1954 were linked with invasive breast cancer incident cases, identified through their unique national registration number in the Swedish Cancer Registry during 1958-1990. For each case with breast cancer, the females born to the first three mothers admitted after the case's mother were selected as potential matching controls. Only controls living in Sweden and free from breast cancer until the time of diagnosis of breast cancer in the corresponding case were eventually included in the study. The analysis was based on 458 cases of breast cancer born in singleton pregnancies and 1,197 singleton age- and birth date-matched controls. Breast-feeding was not a significant or suggestive risk factor for breast cancer in the offspring; compared to women who at discharge were wholly or partly breastfed, women who as newborn were not breastfed had a relative risk of breast cancer of 0.97 with 95% confidence interval 0.44-2.17 (P = 0.95).

Breast Feeding↗

Increased risk of left sided colon cancer in patients with diverticular disease.

Certain similar epidemiological characteristics suggest a common aetiology for colon cancer and diverticulosis of the colon. The hypothesis that patients with diverticulosis are at increased risk of developing colon cancer was tested in a retrospective, population based, cohort study in Sweden. A total of 7159 patients (2478 men and 4681 women) who had been given a hospital discharge diagnosis of diverticulosis or diverticulitis of the colon between 1965 and 1983 were followed up during 1985 by means of record linkage procedures. After excluding the first 2 years of follow up, there was not a significant increase in risk (SIR) overall for colon cancer (SIR = 1.2; 95% confidence intervals (CI) 0.9, 1.6) or for rectal cancer (SIR = 1.1; 95% CI 0.7, 1.7). The observed number of right sided colon cancers was as expected (SIR = 0.9; 95% CI 0.5, 1.5). In contrast, an increased risk of left sided colon cancer was found both overall (SIR = 1.8; 95% CI 1.1, 2.7) and consistently in men and women as well as in different age groups. This risk increased the longer the follow up (p value for trend < 0.001). These results do not support the hypothesis of a common aetiology in diverticular disease and colonic cancer but suggest a causal relationship between diverticular disease and cancer of the left colon.

Adult↗

Twin membership and breast cancer risk.

Pregnancy estrogens are substantially elevated in twin pregnancies and are likely to be more so in the case of dizygotic twins. If levels of pregnancy estrogens were positively related to breast cancer risk in the offspring, female twin members would be expected to be at slightly higher risk. Data from an international case-control study were utilized to assess this hypothesis. The analysis was based on 870 cases with breast cancer and 2,641 hospital controls from two sites: Glamorgan, Wales (1965-1967), and Boston, Massachusetts (1965-1966). Seventeen cases were members of twin pairs, and 8 of them had a twin brother; 33 controls were members of twin pairs and 14 had a twin brother. Among all women, the odds ratios for breast cancer were as follows: for twins with brothers, 1.54 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.64-3.71); for twins with sisters, 1.30 (95% CI 0.58-2.92); and for all twins, 1.40 (95% CI 0.77-2.55). The odds ratios were higher among premenopausal women. These findings are not conclusive, but they are compatible with the hypothesis that pregnancy estrogens may affect the risk of breast cancer in the offspring.

Age Factors↗

Evidence of prenatal influences on breast cancer risk.

Intrauterine exposure to high concentrations of endogenous pregnancy oestrogens may be important in the aetiology of breast cancer. In a nested case-control study we have assessed the relation between breast cancer risk and indicators of pregnancy oestrogen concentrations; pre-eclampsia/eclampsia is negatively related and measures of fetal size are positively related to oestrogen concentrations. Standard records for women born at Uppsala University Hospital between 1874 and 1954 were linked with records of invasive breast cancer cases, identified through their unique national registration numbers in the Swedish Cancer Registry during 1958-90. For each breast cancer case, we selected as potential controls female offspring of the first three mothers admitted to the hospital after the case's mother; only controls still living in Sweden and free from breast cancer when it was diagnosed in the case were finally included. Conditional logistic regression analysis was done for 458 breast cancer cases and 1197 matched controls. Pre-eclampsia/eclampsia was associated with a breast cancer rate ratio of 0.24 (95% confidence interval 0.09-0.70, p = 0.01). Linear trends for breast cancer incidence with increasing birth weight, birth length, and placental weight were positive but not significant. Thus, prenatal factors are important in breast carcinogenesis. Concentrations of pregnancy oestrogens may be one such factor, but other prenatal or perinatal factors cannot be excluded.

Adult↗

Alcoholism and liver cirrhosis in the etiology of primary liver cancer.

The aim of this study was to determine the risk of developing primary liver cancer in patients with a diagnosis of alcoholism, liver cirrhosis, or both. Three population-based, mutually exclusive cohorts were defined on the basis of hospital discharge diagnosis between 1965 and 1983. Complete follow-up through 1984--excluding the first year of follow-up--showed that among 8,517 patients with a diagnosis of alcoholism, 13 cancers occurred, vs. 4.2 expected (standardized incidence ratio (SIR) = 3.1; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.6 to 5.3); among 3,589 patients with liver cirrhosis, 59 cancers occurred, vs. 1.7 expected (SIR = 35.1; 95% CI = 26.7 to 45.3), and among 836 patients with both diagnoses, 11 cancers occurred, vs. 0.3 expected (SIR = 34.3; 95% CI = 17.1 to 61.3). Thus, alcoholism alone entailed a moderately increased risk and alcoholism with liver cirrhosis did not increase the high relative risk for liver cancer more than cirrhosis alone. We conclude that alcohol intake may be a liver carcinogen only by being causally involved in the development of cirrhosis; and further, that the risk of developing liver cancer following cirrhosis in this population is similar to or higher than that after chronic hepatitis-B-virus infection in other Western countries.

Aged↗

Alcoholism and cancer risk: a population-based cohort study.

The incidence of cancer was studied in a population-based cohort of 9,353 individuals (8,340 men and 1,013 women) with a discharge diagnosis of alcoholism in 1965-83, followed up for 19 years (mean 7.7). After exclusion of cancers in the first year of follow-up, 491 cancers were observed cf 343.2 expected through 1984 (standardized incidence ratio [SIR] = 1.4, 95 percent confidence interval [CI] = 1.3-1.6). A similar excess risk of cancer was seen among men (SIR = 1.4, CI = 1.3-1.6) and among women (SIR = 1.5, CI = 1.1-2.0). We observed the established associations with cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx (SIR = 4.1, CI = 2.9-5.7), esophagus (SIR = 6.8, CI = 4.5-9.9), larynx (SIR = 3.3, CI = 1.7-6.0), and lung (SIR = 2.1, CI = 1.7-2.6), although confounding by smoking likely increased these risk estimates. While there was evidence of increased risk for pancreatic cancer (SIR = 1.5, CI = 0.9-2.3), alcoholism did not elevate the incidence of cancer of the stomach (SIR = 0.9, CI = 6-1.4), large bowel (SIR = 1.1, CI = 0.8-1.5), prostate (SIR = 1.0, CI = 0.8-1.3), urinary bladder (SIR = 1.0, CI = 0.6-1.5), or of malignant melanoma (SIR = 0.9, CI = 0.3-1.9). Among women, the number of breast cancers observed was close to expected (SIR = 1.2, CI = 0.6-2.2), although a significant excess number of cervical cancers occurred (SIR = 4.2, CI = 1.5-9.1).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Aged↗