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F Berrino

Publications and source records attributed to F Berrino.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Consumption of dairy products in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort: data from 35 955 24-hour dietary recalls in 10 European countries.

OBJECTIVES: To describe and compare the consumption of dairy products in cohorts included in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). METHODS: Data from single 24-hour dietary recall interviews collected through a highly standardised computer-based program (EPIC-SOFT) in 27 redefined centres in 10 European countries between 1995 and 2000. From a total random sample of 36 900, 22 924 women and 13 031 men were selected after exclusion of subjects under 35 and over 74 years of age. RESULTS: A high total consumption of dairy products was reported in most of the centres in Spain and in the UK cohort sampled from the general population, as well as in the Dutch, Swedish and Danish centres. A somewhat low consumption was reported in the Greek centre and in some of the Italian centres (Ragusa and Turin). In all centres and for both sexes, milk constituted the dairy sub-group with the largest proportion (in grams) of total dairy consumption, followed by yoghurt and other fermented milk products, and cheese. Still, there was a wide range in the contributions of the different dairy sub-groups between centres. The Spanish and Nordic centres generally reported a high consumption of milk, the Swedish and Dutch centres reported a high consumption of yoghurt and other fermented milk products, whereas the highest consumption of cheese was reported in the French centres. CONCLUSION: The results demonstrate both quantitative and qualitative disparities in dairy product consumption among the EPIC centres. This offers a sound starting point for analyses of associations between dairy intake and chronic diseases such as cancer.

Adult↗

Cancer prevalence in European registry areas.

BACKGROUND: Information on cancer prevalence is of major importance for health planning and resource allocation. However, systematic information on cancer prevalence is largely unavailable. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-eight population-based cancer registries from 17 European countries, participating in EUROPREVAL, provided data on almost 3 million cancer patients diagnosed from 1970 to 1992. Standardised data collection and validation procedures were used and the whole data set was analysed using proven methodology. The prevalence of stomach, colon, rectum, lung, breast, cervix uteri, corpus uteri and prostate cancer, as well as of melanoma of skin, Hodgkin's disease, leukaemia and all malignant neoplasms combined, were estimated for the end of 1992. RESULTS: There were large differences between countries in the prevalence of all cancers combined; estimates ranged from 1170 per 100000 in the Polish cancer registration areas to 3050 per 100000 in southern Sweden. For most cancers, the Swedish, Swiss, German and Italian areas had high prevalence, and the Polish, Estonian, Slovakian and Slovenian areas had low prevalence. Of the total prevalent cases, 61% were women and 57% were 65 years of age or older. Cases diagnosed within 2 years of the reference date formed 22% of all prevalent cases. Breast cancer accounted for 34% of all prevalent cancers in females and colorectal cancer for 15% in males. Prevalence tended to be high where cancer incidence was high, but the prevalence was highest in countries where survival was also high. Prevalence was low where general mortality was high (correlation between general mortality and the prevalence of all cancers = -0.64) and high where gross domestic product was high (correlation = +0.79). Thus, the richer areas of Europe had higher prevalence, suggesting that prevalence will increase with economic development. CONCLUSIONS: EUROPREVAL is the largest project on prevalence conducted to date. It has provided complete and accurate estimates of cancer prevalence in Europe, constituting essential information for cancer management. The expected increases in prevalence with economic development will require more resources; allocation to primary prevention should therefore be prioritised.

Adolescent↗

Erythrocyte membrane fatty acids and subsequent breast cancer: a prospective Italian study.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between erythrocyte membrane fatty acids and postmenopausal breast cancer risk was analyzed previously only by retrospective studies, which suggested a protective effect of increased saturation index (SI), i.e., the ratio of membrane stearic to oleic acid. We investigated the relationships in a prospective study of hormones, diet, and prediagnostic breast cancer (the ORDET study) conducted in northern Italy. METHODS: A total of 4052 postmenopausal women were followed for an average of 5.5 years; 71 cases of invasive breast cancer were identified. For each case subject, two matched control subjects were chosen randomly from among cohort members. The various fatty acids in erythrocyte membranes were measured as a percentage of total fatty acids. Conditional logistic regression analysis evaluated the association between membrane fatty acid composition and breast cancer risk. The SI, which is influenced by the activity of the enzyme delta 9 desaturase (Delta 9-d), was also investigated. All statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS: Oleic (highest versus lowest tertile of percentage of total fatty acids, odds ratio [OR] = 2.79; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.24 to 6.28) and monounsaturated fatty acids (highest to lowest tertile, OR = 5.21; 95% CI = 1.95 to 13.91) were positively associated with breast cancer risk. The SI (highest to lowest tertile, OR = 0.29; 95% CI = 0.13 to 0.64) was inversely associated with breast cancer risk. The analysis suggested an inverse association between total polyunsaturated fatty acids and breast cancer risk, but individual polyunsaturated fatty acids behaved differently. There was no association between saturated fatty acids and breast cancer risk. CONCLUSIONS: We have found that monounsaturated fats and SI in erythrocyte membranes are predictors of postmenopausal breast cancer. Both of these variables depend on the activity of the enzyme Delta 9-d. The dietary, metabolic, and hormonal factors acting on Delta 9-d expression and activity and, therefore, on patterns of fatty acid metabolism, should be further investigated as possible determinants of breast cancer.

Adult↗

Variation in survival of children with central nervous system (CNS) malignancies diagnosed in Europe between 1978 and 1992: the EUROCARE study.

EUROCARE is a population-based survival study including data from European Cancer Registries. The present paper analyses survival after a malignant neoplasm of the central nervous system (CNS) in childhood (aged 0--14 years at diagnosis). The database includes 6130 cases from 34 population-based registries in 17 countries: 1558 were primitive neuroectodermal tumours (PNET) and 4087 astrocytoma, ependymoma or other gliomas: these morphologies were grouped in the analyses in order to reduce the diagnostic variability among the registries. 87% of cases were microscopically diagnosed (range among registries 71--100%) and losses to follow-up were limited to 2% (range 0--14%). Actuarial analyses indicate that the European (weighted) average of 5 years cumulative survival for cases diagnosed in 1978--1989 was 53% (95% confidence interval (CI) 49--57) for CNS neoplasms, 44% (95% CI 37--50) for PNET and 60% (95% CI 55--65) for the glioma-related types. Analysis of the sub-set of cases diagnosed in 1985--1989 revealed better results: cumulative survival at 5 years was 61% (95% CI: 55--65) for all CNS neoplasms; 48% (95% CI 41--56) for PNET and 68% (95% CI 62--73) for glioma-related types. Compared with older children, infants showed poorer prognosis: in 1978--1989 the 5-year survival rate was 33% (95% CI 23--45) and in 1985--1989 it was 46% (95% CI 34--59). Variability among countries was very large, with 5-year survival for CNS tumours diagnosed in 1985--1989 ranging from 28% in Estonia (95% CI 17--43) to 73% Sweden (95% CI 59--83) and 75% in Iceland (95% CI 35--95) and 73% in Finland (95% CI 66--79). Time trends were studied in a multivariate analysis observing a reduction in the risk of death in periods of diagnosis 1982--1985 (hazard ratio (HR)=0.85; 95% CI 0.78--0.93) and 1986--1989 (HR=0.70; 95% CI 0.64--0.77) compared with 1978--1981. The analysis were extended to 1990--1992 for the countries whose registries provided data for that period did not indicate any further progress. Results of this study confirm the large variability in European countries and indicate a positive trend in the survival probability for cases diagnosed in the 1980s.

Adolescent↗