Body size and prostate cancer.
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Adipose Tissue↗
Biomedical subjects
A M Nomura
Publications and source records attributed to A M Nomura.
A glimpse into the future.
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Epidemiologic Studies↗
Feasibility of collecting buccal cell DNA by mail in a cohort study.
This study assessed the feasibility of obtaining buccal cell DNA by mail from participants in a large, community-based cohort study in Hawaii. Mouthwash collection kits were sent to a total of 355 randomly selected Japanese, Caucasian, and Hawaiian cohort members. Subjects were requested to swish 10 ml of mouthwash in their mouth for 60 s and expel it into a collection cup, which they mailed back to our laboratory. Half of the subjects were requested to collect a second sample. After up to two mailings and two reminder phone calls, two-thirds of the subjects returned a sample. The participation rate was lower for Hawaiians (59.0%) than for Caucasians (68.1%) and Japanese (76.3%). Participation was not affected by requesting two specimens. Participants did not differ from the total sample in terms of education and smoking status. The mean DNA yield was lower in females (41.7 microg) than males (53.4 microg) and in Japanese (37.8 microg) as compared with Hawaiians (51.9 microg) and Caucasians (54.5 microg). For subjects who returned two samples, the DNA yields were similar when both specimens were extracted in the same batch. All samples were successfully genotyped for polymorphisms in the CYP1A1, CYP2E1, GSTM1, GSTT1, and NQO1 genes by PCR-RFLP. From these and previous data, we conclude that, in situations where blood samples cannot be obtained, mail collection of mouthwash samples should be considered because it yields substantial amounts of high-quality genomic DNA for large numbers of study subjects.
Aged↗
A multiethnic cohort in Hawaii and Los Angeles: baseline characteristics.
The authors describe the design and implementation of a large multiethnic cohort established to study diet and cancer in the United States. They detail the source of the subjects, sample size, questionnaire development, pilot work, and approaches to future analyses. The cohort consists of 215,251 adult men and women (age 45-75 years at baseline) living in Hawaii and in California (primarily Los Angeles County) with the following ethnic distribution: African-American (16.3%), Latino (22.0%), Japanese-American (26.4%), Native Hawaiian (6.5%), White (22.9%), and other ancestry (5.8%). From 1993 to 1996, participants entered the cohort by completing a 26-page, self-administered mail questionnaire that elicited a quantitative food frequency history, along with demographic and other information. Response rates ranged from 20% in Latinos to 49% in Japanese-Americans. As expected, both within and among ethnic groups, the questionnaire data show substantial variations in dietary intakes (nutrients as well as foods) and in the distributions of non-dietary risk factors (including smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity, and physical activity). When compared with corresponding ethnic-specific cancer incidence rates, the findings provide tentative support for several current dietary hypotheses. As sufficient numbers of cancer cases are identified through surveillance of the cohort, dietary and other hypotheses will be tested in prospective analyses.
Black or African American↗
Calibration of the dietary questionnaire for a multiethnic cohort in Hawaii and Los Angeles.
The performance of the dietary questionnaire used in a multiethnic cohort study in Hawaii and Los Angeles was assessed in a calibration substudy that compared diet reported from the questionnaire with three 24-hour dietary recalls. For the calibration substudy, subjects from each of eight subgroups defined by sex and ethnic group (African-American, Japanese-American, Latino, and White) were chosen randomly from among the cohort members, and each participant's previous day's diet was assessed by telephone recall on three occasions over approximately 2 months. After completing the three 24-hour recalls, each calibration subject was sent a second questionnaire; 1,606 persons completed three recalls and a second questionnaire (127 to 267 per ethnic-sex group). This report describes correlation coefficients and calibration slopes for the relation between the 24-hour recalls and second questionnaire values for a selected set of macro- and micronutrients, as absolute intakes, nutrient densities, and calorie-adjusted nutrients. In all subgroups, estimates of the correlation between the questionnaire and 24-hour recalls were greater after energy adjustment (average correlations ranged from 0.57-0.74 for nutrient densities and from 0.55-0.74 for calorie-adjusted nutrients) than when absolute nutrient values were used (average range 0.26-0.57). For absolute nutrient intakes, the correlations were greatest for Whites, somewhat lower for Japanese-Americans and Latinos, and lowest for African-Americans. After energy adjustment, the difference between subgroups were diminished, and the correlations were generally highly satisfactory.
Black or African American↗
Serum selenium and subsequent risk of prostate cancer.
It is suspected that selenium is protective against prostate cancer. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a nested case-control study in a cohort of 9345 Japanese-American men examined between 1971 and 1977. At the time of examination, a blood specimen was obtained, and the serum was frozen. After a surveillance period of more than 20 years, 249 tissue-confirmed incident cases of prostate cancer were identified. Their stored sera and those of 249 matched controls were measured for selenium levels. Odds ratios for prostate cancer, based on quartiles of serum selenium levels, were determined using the General Estimating Equations approach. The multivariate odds ratio for the highest quartile was 0.5 (95% confidence interval, 0.3-0.9) with a two-sided P for trend of 0.02. The inverse association was more notable for cases with advanced disease and for cases diagnosed 5-15 years after phlebotomy. However, the association was mainly present in current or past cigarette smokers rather than nonsmokers, which leads to caution in the interpretation of the results.
Aged↗
Breast cancer and oral contraceptive use in Asian-American women.
Breast cancer incidence has historically been 4-7 times higher in the United States than in Asia. A previous study by the authors in Asian-American women demonstrated a substantial increase in breast cancer risk in women who migrated from Asia to the United States, with the risk almost doubling during the first decade after migration. Increased use of oral contraceptives soon after migration to the United States could possibly explain this rapid rise in risk. In a population-based case-control study of Chinese, Filipino, and Japanese-American women, aged 20-55 years, who lived in San Francisco-Oakland, California; Los Angeles, California; and Oahu, Hawaii during 1983-1987, 597 cases (70% of those eligible) and 966 controls (75%) were interviewed. Controls were matched to cases on age, ethnicity, and area of residence. Oral contraceptive (OC) use increased with time since migration; 15.0% of Asian-born women who had been in the West <8 years, 33.4% of Asian-born women who had been in the West > or =8 years, and 49.6% of Asian women born in the West had ever used OCs. However, duration of OC use (adjusted for age, ethnicity, study area, years since migration, education, family history of breast cancer and age at first full-term birth) was not associated with increased risk of breast cancer. Moreover, neither OC use before age 25 years nor before first full-term birth was associated with increased risk. Results were unchanged when restricted to women under age 45 years or under age 40 years. After adjustment for duration of OC use, women who had been in the United States > or =8 years were still at almost twice the risk of breast cancer compared with women who had been in the United States 2-7 years. This study suggests that OC use cannot explain the elevated risk observed in Asian women who migrated to the United States > or =7 years ago.
Adult↗
Cytochrome P450c17alpha gene (CYP17) polymorphism predicts use of hormone replacement therapy.
We investigated whether a polymorphism in the cytochrome P450c17alpha gene (CYP17), which is associated with higher endogenous hormone levels, influences the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT). The study included 749 postmenopausal women ages 44-75 years at baseline randomly selected from a larger multiethnic cohort. African-American, Japanese, Latina, and white women were included in the study. Women who carry the CYP17 A2/A2 genotype were about half as likely as women with the A1/A1 genotype to be current HRT users (odds ratio = 0.52; 95% confidence interval, 0.31-0.86). This association was present in all four racial/ethnic groups and for women above and below the median weight of 150 pounds. These findings suggest that the actual risk of breast cancer associated with HRT use may be higher than previously reported.
Adult↗
Auto-inactivation by cleavage within the dimer interface of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus protease.
An autolysis site of functional and structural significance has been mapped within the dimer interface of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus protease. Cleavage 27 residues from the C terminus of the 230 amino acid residue, 25 kDa protein was observed to cause a loss of dimerization and proteolytic activity, even though no active site moieties were lost. Gel-filtration chromatography and analytical ultracentrifugation were used to analyze the changes in oligomerization upon autolysis. The selective auto-disruption of this essential protein-protein interface by proteolytic cleavage resulted in a 60 % loss in mean residue ellipticity by circular dichroism as well as a 20 % weaker, 10 nm red-shifted intrinsic protein fluorescence emission spectrum. These apparent conformational changes induced a strict inhibition of enzymatic activity. An engineered substitution at the P1' position of this cleavage site attenuated autolysis by the enzyme and restored wild-type dimerization. In addition to retaining full proteolytic activity in a continuous fluorescence-based enzyme assay, this protease variant allowed the determination of the enzyme's dimerization dissociation constant of 1.7 (+/-0.9) microM. The structural perturbations observed in this enzyme may play a role in viral maturation, and offer general insight into the allosteric relationship between the dimer interface and active site of herpesviral proteases. The functional coupling between oligomerization and activity presented here may allow for a better understanding of such phenomena, and the design of an enzyme variant stabilized to autolysis should further the structural and mechanistic characterization of this viral protease.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
Dietary fat and prostate cancer: current status.
Efforts to elucidate the causes of prostate cancer have met with little success to date. All that is known with certainty is that the incidence increases exponentially with age, varies by geography and by race or ethnicity, and is higher among men whose father or brother had the disease. Because the incidence changes in migrants and their offspring, exogenous factors certainly contribute to the risk of prostate cancer. Early epidemiologic studies implicated dietary fat as a likely causal factor for this cancer. However, scientific support for such an association has diminished in recent years as more epidemiologic evidence has accrued. Accordingly, we reviewed the relevant English language literature on this topic, including epidemiologic and animal studies, as well as current concepts regarding the involvement of fat in carcinogenesis to re-examine the fat-prostate cancer hypothesis. We conclude that dietary fat may indeed be related to prostate cancer risk, although the specific fat components that are responsible are not yet clear. Given the diverse effects of fatty acids on cellular biology and chemistry, it seems likely that the relationship is complex, involving the interplay of fat with other dietary factors, such as antioxidant vitamins and minerals, or with genetic factors that influence susceptibility. Some suggestions for further research are offered.
Dietary Fats↗
In situ detection of hepatitis B, C, and G virus nucleic acids in human hepatocellular carcinoma tissues from different geographic regions.
We performed a retrospective study to determine the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and hepatitis G virus (HGV) genomes in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded liver tissues from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients in various geographic areas. The prevalence of each hepatitis virus in the liver tissues that have both carcinoma and noncarcinoma regions was different among the countries. HCV was the most prevalent in Japan (75 of 122 [61.5%]), Spain (9 of 15 [60%]), and the United States (27 of 65 [41.5%]); HBV was the most prevalent in Korea (45 of 55 [82%]) and among Japanese Americans in Hawaii (4 of 8 [50%]). Genotype II/1b was the most common genotype of HCV encountered in HCCs in these countries. In contrast, HGV RNA was undetectable in all tested HCCs. "Cryptogenic HCC," defined as HCC of unknown etiology, was seen 4 (3%) and 4 (6.2%) of Japanese and American patients, respectively, but this was not found in other countries. Interestingly, patients with HCC related to primary biliary cirrhosis (4.6%), who were excluded from analysis as hepatitis virus infections, were present only in the United States, but not in other countries. This study suggests that HCV, particularly genotype II/1b, and HBV may play an important role in hepatocarcinogenesis in these countries. There was no evidence of any relation between HGV infection and development of HCC.
Adult↗
Serum vitamin D metabolite levels and the subsequent development of prostate cancer (Hawaii, United States)
OBJECTIVES: Because several serum studies of vitamin D metabolites have produced equivocal results on their relation to prostate cancer risk, the purpose of this study is to evaluate this association further. METHODS: A nested case-control study in a cohort of 3,737 Japanese-American men examined from 1967 to 1970 was conducted in Hawaii (United States). At the time of examination, a single blood specimen was obtained, and the serum was frozen. After a surveillance period of over 23 years, 136 tissue-confirmed incident cases of prostate cancer were identified. Their stored sera and those of 136 matched controls were measured for the following: 25-hydroxyvitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, calcium, phosphorus, and parathyroid hormone. RESULTS: There were no notable differences between cases and controls in their median serum levels of the five laboratory measurements. Odds ratios (OR) for prostate cancer, based on the quartiles of serum levels in controls, were also determined. The ORs for the highest quartiles relative to the lowest were 0.8 (95 percent confidence interval [CI] = 0.4-1.8) for 25-hydroxyvitamin D and 1.0 (CI = 0.5-2.1) for 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D. CONCLUSION: It is possible that the lack of sufficient numbers of study subjects with low vitamin D levels affected the results. Nonetheless, the findings suggest that there is a lack of a strong association between vitamin D and prostate cancer.
Age Distribution↗
Soy intake and risk of breast cancer in Asians and Asian Americans.
Evidence from case-control studies suggests, although not entirely consistently, that soy intake may protect against breast cancer. The designs and findings of studies conducted in Asian women living in Japan, Singapore, China, and the United States are reviewed. Because of the considerably higher intake of soy by native Asians than by Asian Americans living in California and Hawaii, these studies investigated different segments of the dose-response relation between soy intake and breast cancer risk. Data are not sufficient to determine the amount or frequency of soy intake effective in protecting against breast cancer. Of concern is that soy intake may be homogeneously high in Asia, making it difficult to identify differences in breast cancer risk between high and moderate daily consumers. In studies conducted in Asian Americans, it is difficult to be certain that soy intake is not a marker of other factors related to Western lifestyle that are causally associated with risk of breast cancer. Additional studies assessing the role of soy and breast cancer are needed. These studies should assess intake of all food sources of soy, considering portion size as well as other dietary and nondietary factors that may confound the soy-breast cancer association. A better understanding of the mechanisms whereby soy intake may influence the risk of breast cancer is also needed. Dietary intervention studies with soy will provide information on the acute effects of soy on endogenous hormone concentrations. Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies are necessary to investigate the longer-term relations between hormone concentrations and soy intake in women.
Asian↗
Obesity, alcohol consumption, smoking, and mortality.
PURPOSE: The goals of this study were to assess prospectively the impact of obesity, alcohol use, and smoking on total mortality and to test the etiologic hypothesis that subjects with two or more of these risk factors may experience an elevated risk of overall mortality. METHODS: Information on body mass index (BMI), alcohol intake, cigarette smoking, and other life-style factors was obtained from a cohort of 8006 Japanese-American men living in Hawaii. They were between 45 and 68 years of age at the initial examination (1965-1968). After 22 years of follow-up that included nearly 159,000 person-years of observation, 2667 deaths from all causes were identified. RESULTS: There was a significant quadratic (J-shaped) relation between BMI and overall mortality. A weaker J-shaped pattern in risk was also present for the intake of alcohol. A strong positive association was observed with pack-years of cigarette smoking. A synergistic interaction between BMI and alcohol was statistically significant (P = 0.0017). Specifically, men who had the lowest body mass (BMI < 21.21 kg/m2) and drank moderately to heavily (> or = 25 oz/mo) experienced a 63% excess risk (relative risk, 1.63; 95% confidence interval; 1.33 - 1.99) compared to a reference group composed of men who had intermediate body mass (BMI, 21.21 - 26.30 kg/m2) and drank occasionally to lightly (0.01 - 24.99 oz/mo). The increase in risk due to the interactive effect of low BMI and high alcohol intake was stronger (and statistically significant) than when each of these risk factors was considered separately (excess risk, 28% and 2%, respectively). There was no significant interaction for BMI and cigarette smoking, for alcohol and cigarette smoking, or for the three factors combined. CONCLUSIONS: The most important finding of this study was that, in addition to confirming that cigarette smoking could shorten life, extreme (high or low) BMI values and high alcohol consumption are each potentially harmful to health, but even more so if moderate or heavy drinking is concomitant with low body mass, a possible indicator for low intake of nutrients.
Age Distribution↗
Serum micronutrients and upper aerodigestive tract cancer.
Numerous dietary studies have found that vegetables and fruits protect against upper aerodigestive tract cancer. To evaluate the role of beta-carotene and other specific carotenoids, a nested case-control study using prediagnostic serum was conducted among 6832 American men of Japanese ancestry examined from 1971 to 1975. During a surveillance period of 20 years, the study identified 28 esophageal, 23 laryngeal, and 16 oral-pharyngeal cancer cases in this cohort. The 69 cases were matched to 138 controls. A liquid chromatography technique, designed to optimize recovery and separation of the individual carotenoids, was used to measure serum levels of lutein, zeaxanthin, beta-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, retinol, retinyl palmitate, and alpha-, delta-, and gamma-tocopherol. With adjustment for cigarette smoking and alcohol intake, we found that alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, total carotenoids and gamma-tocopherol levels were significantly lower in the 69 upper aerodigestive tract cancer patients than in their controls. Trends in risk by tertile of serum level were significant for these five micronutrients. These significant trends persisted in cases diagnosed 10 or more years after phlebotomy for the three individual carotenoids and total carotenoid measurements. The odds ratios for the highest tertile were 0.19 (95% confidence interval, 0.05-0.75) for alpha-carotene, 0.10 (0.02-0.46) for beta-carotene, 0.25 (0.06-1.04) for beta-cryptoxanthin, and 0.22 (0.05-0.88) for total carotenoids. When the cases were separated into esophageal, laryngeal, and oral-pharyngeal cancer, both alpha-carotene and beta-carotene were consistently and strongly associated with reduced risk at each site. The findings suggest that alpha-carotene and other carotenoids, as well as beta-carotene, may be involved in the etiology of upper aerodigestive tract cancer.
Aged↗
Serum micronutrients and prostate cancer in Japanese Americans in Hawaii.
Numerous dietary studies and several serum micronutrient studies have produced equivocal results on the relation of vitamins A and E to prostate cancer risk. To evaluate this association further, we conducted a nested case-control study in a cohort of 6860 Japanese-American men examined from 1971 to 1975. At the time of examination, a single blood specimen was obtained, and the serum was frozen. After a surveillance period of more than 20 years, 142 tissue-confirmed incident cases of prostate cancer were identified. Their stored sera and those of 142 matched controls were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography for the following: total carotenoids, lutein, zeaxanthin, beta-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, total retinoids, retinol, total tocopherols, alpha-tocopherol, delta-tocopherol, and gamma-tocopherol. Odds ratios for prostate cancer, based on quartiles of serum micronutrient levels, were determined using conditional logistic regression analysis. The odds ratio for the highest quartiles were 1.8 (95% confidence interval, 0.9-3.9) for beta-cryptoxanthin, 1.6 (0.8-3.5) for beta-carotene, 0.8 (0.4-1.5) for retinol, and 0.7 (0.3-1.5) for gamma-tocopherol, but none of the differences was statistically significant. For the other micronutrients, the results were also unremarkable. The findings of this study indicate that none of the micronutrients is strongly associated with prostate cancer risk.
Aged↗
Relative weight, weight change, height, and breast cancer risk in Asian-American women.
BACKGROUND: Breast cancer incidence rates have historically been four to seven times higher in the United States than in China or Japan, although the reasons remain elusive. When Chinese, Japanese, or Filipino women migrate to the United States, their breast cancer risk rises over several generations and reaches that for white women in the United States, indicating that modifiable exposures are involved. In a previous report on this case-control study of breast cancer in Asian-American women, designed to take advantage of their diversity in risk and lifestyle, we demonstrated a sixfold gradient in risk by migration history, comparable to the international differences in breast cancer incidence rates. PURPOSE: In this analysis, we have examined the roles of adult height, adiposity, and weight change in breast cancer etiology. METHODS: A population-based, case-control study of breast cancer was conducted among women of Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino ethnicities, aged 20-55 years, living in San Francisco-Oakland (CA), Los Angeles (CA), and Oahu (HI) during the period from April 1, 1983, through June 30, 1987. We successfully interviewed 597 (70%) of 852 eligible case subjects and 966 (75%) of 1287 eligible control subjects from August 1985 through February 1989. Subjects were asked about current height, usual adult weight, and usual weight in each decade of life, excluding the most recent 3 years and any periods of pregnancy. RESULTS: Height, recent adiposity (weight in the current decade of life/height 1.5), and recent weight change (between the current and preceding decades of life) were strong predictors of breast cancer risk after adjustment was made for accepted breast cancer risk factors. Risk doubled (relative risk [RR] = 2.01; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.16-3.49) over the 7-inch (17.8-cm) range in height (two-sided P for trend = .003), with comparable effects in both premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Except for reduced risk in the heavy, younger women (weight/height 1.5 > 29 kg/m 1.5 and < 40 years old), risk was positively associated with usual adult adiposity. Trends in risk became more striking as adiposity in each succeeding decade of adult life was considered. Women in their 50s and in the top quintile for their age group had twice the breast cancer risk (RR = 2.13; 95% CI = 1.17-3.87) of women in the bottom quintile (two-sided P for trend = .004). Women in their 50s, above the median adiposity for their age group, and with a recent gain of more than 10 pounds had three times the risk (RR = 3.01; 95% CI = 1.45-6.25) of women below the median adiposity and with no recent weight change. Recent weight loss was consistently associated with reduced risk (RRs of approximately 0.7) relative to no recent weight change. CONCLUSIONS: Adult adiposity, weight change, and height are critical determinants of breast cancer risk. Increased adiposity and weight gain in the decade preceding diagnosis are especially influential, suggesting that excess weight may function as a late stage promoter. IMPLICATIONS: Weight maintenance and/or reduction as an adult, possibly accompanied by specific changes in diet and physical activity, may have a significant and rapid impact on breast cancer risk.
Adult↗
A prospective study of colon and rectal cancer among Hawaii Japanese men.
The goals of this study were to assess the association of diet, alcohol, smoking, and other life-style factors with the risk of colon and rectal cancer and to examine the differences in the risk factors associated with each cancer site. Information on diet, alcohol, smoking, and other life-style factors was obtained from 7945 Japanese-American men who were living in Hawaii and examined from 1965 through 1968. After 174,514 person-years of observation, 330 incident cases of colon cancer and 123 incident cases of rectal cancer were diagnosed by histology. The risk of both colon and rectal cancer increased with age, alcohol intake, and pack-years of cigarette smoking. For colon cancer, there was also a direct association with body mass index and heart rate, while an inverse association was observed with serum cholesterol, intake of monounsaturated fatty acid, and percentage of calories from fat. For rectal cancer, the risk decreased with an increase in the intake of carbohydrates as percentage of calories. These findings suggest that some of the risk factors for colon cancer are different from those for rectal cancer.
Age Distribution↗