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Biomedical subjects

A S Morrison

Publications and source records attributed to A S Morrison.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

Endogenous sex hormones, prolactin, and breast cancer in premenopausal women.

Forty-one women with breast cancer and 119 controls participated in a case-control study of the relation of endogenous sex hormones to breast carcinoma in premenopausal women. During the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle, one overnight urine specimen was collected. During the luteal phase, urine and blood specimens were obtained. 17 beta-Estradiol, sex hormone-binding globulin, progesterone, and prolactin were measured in plasma, whereas estrogen metabolites (estrone, estradiol, and estriol) and pregnanediol were assessed in the urine. Breast cancer was associated with high-plasma estradiol and prolactin and with low progesterone. Similar but weaker associations were observed for urinary estrogens and pregnanediol in the luteal phase.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Endogenous sex hormones, prolactin, and mammographic features of breast tissue in premenopausal women.

The relationship between levels of certain endogenous hormones and the mammographic features of breast tissue was evaluated in 110 premenopausal women who were referred to hospital-based radiology units for a routine xeromammogram. This analysis was based on specimens collected during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. Plasma 17 beta-estradiol, progesterone, and prolactin were measured, as well as urine estrone, estradiol, estriol, and pregnanediol. The main xeromammographic features of the breast assessed were Wolfe's parenchymal pattern and the percentages of the breast showing nodular densities and homogeneous density. In these data, endogenous hormones were not strongly associated with mammographic features of breast tissue. However, women with the N1 and P1 parenchymal patterns had somewhat higher levels of estrogens and prolactin and somewhat lower levels of progesterone than women with the P2 and DY patterns.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

A case-control study of hepatocellular carcinoma and the hepatitis B virus, cigarette smoking, and alcohol consumption.

A case-control study was undertaken to evaluate the roles of the hepatitis B virus (HBV), cigarette smoking, and alcohol use in the etiology of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A major purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of cigarette smoking on HCC among hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-negative persons, since it had been suggested that the relative effect of cigarette smoking on HCC was higher among HBsAg-negative persons than among HBsAg-positive persons. Eighty-six cases and 161 hospital controls were included in the study. This study confirmed the strong relationship between the HBV and HCC. Twelve of 67 cases and none of 63 controls were chronically infected with HBV as evidenced by serum HBsAg. The study also found a moderately strong relationship between alcohol use and HCC. The results of the present study do not support the hypothesis that cigarette smoking is a risk factor for HCC. Among all subjects, the relative rate of HCC for cigarette smokers compared with nonsmokers after adjustment for alcohol consumption was 1.0 with 95% confidence limits, 0.5 to 1.8. Among HBsAg-negative subjects, the relative rate was 1.1 with 95% confidence limits, 0.5 to 2.4. There was also no consistent dose-response relationship between quantity smoked and HCC in this study.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Occupation and bladder cancer in Boston, USA, Manchester, UK, and Nagoya, Japan.

Relations between occupational history and the development of cancer of the lower urinary tract ("bladder cancer") were evaluated in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, Manchester, UK, and Nagoya, Japan. Population-based series of incident cases and controls were identified and interviewed in each area. The present analysis was limited to men and was based on 430 cases and 397 controls in Boston, 399 cases and 493 controls in Manchester, and 226 cases and 443 controls in Nagoya. In Boston, elevated risk of bladder cancer was associated with employment related to dyes (relative risk = 2 X 1; 90% confidence interval, 0 X 9-5 X 1), leather (1 X 7; 1 X 1-2 X 6), paint (1 X 5; 0 X 9-2 X 4), or organic chemicals (1 X 6; 1 X 1-2 X 5). In Manchester, elevated risk was associated with 0 X 9-3 X 6). No clear association was observed between occupation and risk in Nagoya. Elevations in risk related to occupation generally were stronger in men under 65 years of age compared to older men. Differences from place to place in associations between occupation and risk may be the result of differences in the exposures to hazardous agents that jobs with the same title involve.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Epidemics in Renaissance Florence.

Epidemics and mortality in 15th and 16th century Florence, Italy, were investigated by use of records of the government-sponsored Dowry Fund. These records contain the date of birth, date of investment, and date of dowry payment or death of 19,000 girls and women. Major epidemics ("plagues") occurred repeatedly. The most severe were in 1430, 1437-38, 1449-50, 1478-79, and 1527-31. Annual death rates of girls enrolled in the Dowry Fund increased by 5 to 10 times in each of these periods. During the last period, at least 20-25 per cent of the population of Florence is likely to have died. Recurrent epidemics accounted for 38 per cent of the total mortality experienced by girls enrolled in the Dowry Fund. The frequency of serious epidemics diminished with the passage of time, and overall mortality declined by about 10 per cent over the 15th and 16th centuries. Epidermic mortality was not consistently related to age. The effects of epidemics were most severe in the summer and autumn. Non-epidemic mortality was also greater in the summer and autumn than in the winter and spring.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1985

Case-control study of urinary bladder cancer in metropolitan Nagoya.

We conducted a population-based case-control study of patients with bladder cancer and of controls drawn randomly from the general population of Metropolitan Nagoya and interviewed both groups. The incidence rates of bladder cancer were 2.42 and 7.05/100,000 for females and males, respectively. The analysis, based on 293 patients and 589 controls who were frequency matched for age, sex, and residence, provided the following major findings. Age-adjusted relative risks of 1.89 (1.15-3.10) and 3.53 (1.71-7.27) were found in male and female cigarette smokers, respectively. Significant relative risk was also found in males who drank cocoa. Elevated risk with a dose-response relationship was observed among women who used hair dye and who smoke, but this risk was insignificant, with the disappearance of a dose-response relationship, when it was adjusted for smoking. Age- and smoking-adjusted relative risk of coffee drinking was insignificant with no dose-response relationship. Relative risk of artificial sweetener use was below 1 with adjustment for age and smoking. Intake of alcoholic beverages and cola was insignificantly associated. Reduced risk of significance was suggested for the intake of black tea and matcha (powdered green tea) in females and of fruit juice in males.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

An international study of smoking and bladder cancer.

The effects of smoking cigarettes and other forms of tobacco on the development of cancer of the lower urinary tract (bladder cancer) were evaluated in Boston, Massachusetts, Manchester, United Kingdom and Nagoya, Japan. Population-based series of incident cases and controls were identified and interviewed in each area. The present analyses were based on 592 cases and 533 controls in Boston, 553 cases and 731 controls in Manchester, and 290 cases and 588 controls in Nagoya. Smokers of cigarettes had about twice the incidence of bladder cancer as nonsmokers. In men the strength of the association between cigarette smoking and bladder cancer was similar in the 3 study areas. The strength of the association varied somewhat from area to area among women. Bladder cancer risk increased with frequency of cigarette smoking and with deep inhaling. In Boston men who smoked 2 or more packs of cigarettes per day and inhaled deeply had nearly 7 times the risk of nonsmokers. Ex-smokers had a level of risk between that of current smokers and nonsmokers. However, there was no clear relationship between risk and age at which cigarette smoking began, time since discontinuation among ex-smokers and use of filters. Over-all, there was little difference in bladder cancer risk between men who had and who had not smoked pipes but pipe smoking did appear to be associated with risk among men who had never smoked cigarettes. Cigar smoking was unrelated to bladder cancer.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Height and weight, mammographic features of breast tissue, and breast cancer risk.

A case-control study was conducted to evaluate the association of body size with morphologic features of breast tissue visible on mammograms, and to analyze the interrelations of these factors with breast cancer risk. The cases were 362 women with newly diagnosed breast cancer identified in 1978-1979 in three large hospital-based xeromammography units in Boston, Massachusetts, and one unit in Livingston, New Jersey. The controls were 686 women referred to these units in the same period for a "routine" mammogram. The parenchymal pattern (N1, P1, P2, DY) and the per cent of the breast showing nodular densities were the principal mammographic features assessed. Among controls, body weight was strongly but inversely associated with the per cent of women who had the high risk P2 or DY patterns and with the mean per cent of the breast showing nodular densities. Body weight and the amount of nodular densities were both directly related to breast cancer risk. The strengths of the relations of body weight and of nodular densities to risk were each increased when the other factor was taken into account.

Body Height↗
PubMed1984

Advances in the etiology of urothelial cancer.

Cigarette smoking has been shown to be the most important known preventable cause of bladder cancer. Occupations have continued to come under suspicion, although many of the newer findings are tentative. Neither coffee drinking nor use of artificial sweeteners appears to have been responsible for much, if any, human bladder cancer.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Histologic features of bladder cancer in Boston, USA, Manchester, UK, and Nagoya, Japan.

Histologic characteristics of bladder cancer in Boston, USA, Manchester, UK, and Nagoya, Japan, were evaluated. In each of these areas broadly-based series of cases were assembled during a collaborative case-control study. The present analysis was based on 589 cases in Boston, 484 cases in Manchester, and 241 cases in Nagoya. A single pathologist reviewed a slide of the primary tumor without reference to identifying information or other data. The primary histologic type of nearly all tumors was transitional-cell, and there was little variation in the proportion of transitional-cell tumors among the study areas. Nor was there much variation in the distribution of histologic grade, the proportion of tumors showing submucosal invasion, or the proportion of tumors with a papillary surface. Age at diagnosis was strongly correlated with histologic grade. The proportion of grade III (most malignant) tumors was about twice as high among patients 80 years of age and over as among those aged less than 50. An apparent association between age and submucosal invasion was explained in large part by the relationships of histologic grade to submucosal invasion and to age. Other histologic features had only weak and inconsistent relations with age. None of the features evaluated showed consistent associations with history of cigarette-smoking or with sex.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1982

Artificial sweeteners and bladder cancer in Manchester, U.K., and Nagoya, Japan.

We have evaluated the relation between cancer of the lower urinary tract ("bladder cancer") and the use of artificial sweeteners, by means of case-control studies in Manchester, U.K., and Nagoya, Japan, areas where extensive use occurred 30-40 years ago. In each area, a broadly based series of cases (555 in Manchester, 293 in Nagoya) was interviewed and a series of controls (735 in Manchester, 589 in Nagoya) chosen from the general population. A history of use of sugar substitutes primarily saccharin, was not associated with an elevated risk of bladder cancer in either study area. Risk of bladder cancer did not increase regularly with frequency or duration of use of sugar substitutes. Data on dietetic beverages were not obtained in Nagoya. This exposure was not associated with a greater risk of bladder cancer in Manchester. The results of this study suggest that use of artificial sweeteners confers little or no risk of bladder cancer.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

The effects of early treatment, lead time and length bias on the mortality experienced by cases detected by screening.

This paper describes a means of analysing the effects that the benefit of early treatment, lead time and length-biased sampling (and other forms of prognostic selection bias) have on the mortality rate of cases detected in screening programmes. Both benefit and lead time reduce the mortality rate of screen-detected cases. A beneficial effect of early treatment will lead to a decrease in the number of deaths, the numerator of the rate. The amount of person-time among screen-detected cases, the denominator, is increased by early diagnosis as a result of screening (lead-time) as well as by prolongation of life due to early treatment. The numbers of cases experiencing benefit and lead time can be estimated by comparisons of the numbers of deaths and numbers of diagnosed cases between the entire screened population, from which the series of screen-detected cases is drawn, and an otherwise comparable unscreened population. Benefit and lead time, as reflected in these numbers, can be removed from the mortality rate of cases detected by screening. The effects of benefit or lead time on prognosis then can be assessed by comparing the observed mortality rate of screen-detected cases to the rates with benefit or lead time removed. Prognostic selection bias (a tendency of screen-detected cases to be relatively benign or relatively malignant) can be evaluated by comparing the case-mortality rate, with both benefit and lead time removed, to the mortality rate of cases in an unscreened population. The relationships described are illustrated with data from a breast cancer screening programme.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed1982

Mammographic features of the breast and breast cancer risk.

The authors conducted a case-control study at two Boston, Massachusetts, are hospitals to evaluate the relation of anatomic features of the breast, visible on the xeromammogram, to the risk of breast cancer. The cases were 408 women with newly diagnosed breast cancer and the controls were 1021 women without signs or symptoms of breast disease. The features of the breast assessed were the "parenchymal pattern" as defined by Wolfe (Am J Roentgenol 1976; 126:1132-9), and specific radiologic characteristics which are components of the parenchymal pattern classification. Women whose mammogram showed the P2 or DY parenchymal patterns were at elevated risk compared to women with the N1 pattern. Further, risk increased regularly with increases in the percentage of the breast that showed nodular densities and with increases in the average size and concentration of these densities. Women with extensive homogeneous density were also at elevated risk. These findings were observed only among women aged 20-59 years. In this group, women with nodular densities in 60% or more of the breast appeared to have a five-fold increase in risk compared to women without nodular densities in the breast.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

The relation of mammographic features of the breast to breast cancer risk factors.

The authors evaluated the relation of breast cancer risk factors to the appearance of the breast on xeromammograms. Subjects were 1021 women without breast cancer whose first xeromammographic examination at one of two Boston, Massachusetts, area hospitals was done for a reason described as "baseline" or "routine." The principal mammographic features assessed were the percentage of the breast showing nodular densities and the percentage showing homogeneous density. The extent of nodular and homogeneous densities decreased as age increased. The amount of both types of density decreased with increase in the number of full-term pregnancies. The percentages of the breast showing nodular and homogeneous densities were slightly higher for premenopausal compared to postmenopausal women, and for women with a history of breast biopsy or aspiration compared to women without. Certain characteristics of observed relations between risk factors and mammographic features differed for the two types of densities.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Coffee drinking and cancer of the lower urinary tract.

The relation of coffee drinking to the incidence rate of cancer of the lower urinary tract ("bladder cancer") was evaluated. Broadly based series of cases and series of controls drawn from the general population of each area were assembled and interviewed in Boston, Massachusetts (587 cases, 528 controls), Manchester, England (541 cases, 725 controls), and Nagoya, Japan (289 cases, 586 controls). Compared to drinkers of an average of less than 1 cup of coffee per day, those who drank more had a relative risk of bladder cancer estimated as 1.0 (0.8-1.2, 95% confidence interval). With adjustment for cigarette smoking habits, only small and irregular changes in risk were seen with increasing frequency of coffee consumption. Duration of coffee drinking showed little relation to risk of bladder cancer may be due to incomplete control of the effect of cigarette smoking. If there is a true association of coffee drinking and bladder cancer it is likely to be weak.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1981

Urinary tryptophan metabolites and cancer of the bladder in humans.

Urinary excretion of six aromatic amine metabolites of tryptophan was compared between a group of 30 patients with bladder cancer and a group of 33 controls selected from the general population of the study area. Measurements were based on a single overnight urine specimen collected at home by each subject, without a "loading" does of L-tryptophan. For each metabolite, both the distribution and the mean amount excreted were nearly identical for cases and controls. The small cases-control differences in mean values were virtually unchanged by adjustment for age, sex, and smoking status. Generally, excretion levels were higher for females than for males. Excretion levels also tended to be higher for older than for younger subjects and for smokers compared to nonsmokers. However, most of these differences also were small.

Adult↗