Biomedical subjects

I J Hall

Publications and source records attributed to I J Hall.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Race, anthropometric factors, and stage at diagnosis of breast cancer.

A recent study suggested that the greater prevalence of severe obesity among African-American women explained almost one third of the observed differences between African-American and White women in stage at diagnosis of breast cancer. The objective of this investigation was to attempt to replicate these findings in a second, larger population and to expand the analyses by including a measure of body fat distribution, the waist:hip ratio. The authors used data from a population-based study in North Carolina comprising 791 breast cancer cases (302 in African-American women and 489 in White women) diagnosed between 1993 and 1996. African-American women were more likely to have later-stage (TNM stage >/=II) breast cancer (odds ratio (OR) = 2.2; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.6, 2.9). They also were much more likely to be severely obese (body mass index >/=32.3) (OR = 9.7; 95% CI: 6.5, 14.5) and to be in the highest tertile of waist:hip ratio (OR = 5.7; 95% CI: 3.8, 8.6). In multivariate logistic regression models, adjustment for waist:hip ratio reduced the odds ratio for later-stage disease in African-American women by 20%; adjustment for both waist:hip ratio and severe obesity reduced the odds ratio by 27%. These observations suggest that obesity and body fat distribution, in addition to socioeconomic and medical care factors, contribute to racial differences in stage at breast cancer diagnosis.

Black People↗

PubMed2000

Body size and breast cancer risk in black women and white women: the Carolina Breast Cancer Study.

The relation between body size and breast cancer risk was investigated in a population-based, case-control study of Black women (350 cases, 353 controls) and White women (523 cases, 471 controls) from North Carolina, aged 20-74 years in 1993-1996. Logistic regression analyses compared tertiles of each body size variable, adjusting for age and breast cancer risk factors (results shown for highest relative to lowest tertile). Among premenopausal women, body mass index (kg/m2) was inversely associated with breast cancer (odds ratio (OR) = 0.46, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.26, 0.80) for Whites but not for Blacks. There was essentially no association among postmenopausal women. Higher waist/hip ratio, adjusted for body mass index, increased risk for all women. Odds ratios for Black and White premenopausal women were 2.50 (95% CI: 1.10, 5.67) and 2.44 (95% CI: 1.17, 5.09), respectively; odds ratios for Black and White postmenopausal women were 1.62 (95% CI: 0.70, 3.79) and 1.64 (95% CI: 0.88, 3.07), respectively. Findings for body mass index differed among Black women when stratified by age (<50 years) (OR = 0.50, 95% CI: 0.25, 1.01) instead of menopausal status. Thus, the associations of breast cancer with body mass index and waist/hip ratio among Black women are similar to those documented for Whites, despite different body size profiles on average.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Identification of additional complementation groups that regulate genomic instability.

By somatic cell hybridization, amplification has been found to be a recessive genetic trait in three tumor cell lines examined. Studies with transgenic mice have shown that amplification frequency can be altered by a lack of wild-type TP53 (p53) activity. Other factors may regulate this phenotype in tumor cell lines possessing both wild-type p53 activity and amplification ability. Complementation analysis of somatic cell hybrids was performed to delineate groups of tumor cell lines that share a common defect that modulates the ability to amplify. The amplification frequencies of three normal fibroblast x tumor hybrids were suppressed 10-100-fold from parental tumor values, extending the observation that amplification is a recessive genetic characteristic in these cell lines. Analysis of tumor x tumor hybrids revealed at least two complementation groups. Defects in these groups differed from TP53 and implicate multiple variables in the regulation of gene amplification.

Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic↗

PubMed1991

Quality assurance: monitors in special care.

Special care units need to establish economically feasible and meaningful monitors to evaluate patient care needs. High-cost areas, such as special care, monitor appropriate use of resources in high-risk, high-volume, and problem-prone areas. The monitoring process needs to provide information regarding the quality of care in the special care unit without greatly decreasing time spent by staff in direct patient care. This chapter discusses development of efficient monitoring tools for quality assurance indicators in the special care unit.

Humans↗