• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.10
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• pp.5189-5193
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• 2012

Kemerovo is an industrial region of the Russian Federation characterized by highly developed mining, chemical, metallurgical and power industries. Many of the factories were closed down due to the socioeconomical crisis in the early 90's, and economic potential of the survivors has also decreased significantly. Paradoxically, this has led to the improvement of the ecological situation in the region and elimination of exposure to many chemical carcinogens. This factor, in combination with the improvement of oncological care, might be expected to have lead to a decline of cancer incidence and mortality in the region. To assess trends of cancer incidence and mortality in Kemerovo Region, we therefore carried out an analysis of relevant epidemiological data during 1991-2010. In fact, a significant increase of cancer incidence overall was revealed during 2001-2010. Male cancer incidence was significantly higher than female cancer incidence. Regarding gastric cancer incidence, statistically significant differences during 2001-2010 were found only for men, and male incidence exceeded female incidence. Concerning colorectal cancer incidence, it was lower during 2001-2005 and 2006-2010 as compared to the period of 1991-1996. Lung cancer incidence was significantly higher during 1991-2000 compared to 2001-2010. Among urban populations, cancer incidence was higher in comparison with rural population, but a gradual steady convergence of trends of cancer incidence among urban and rural populations was noted. Lung cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, non-melanoma skin cancer, and gastric cancer are the most prevalent cancer forms in Kemerovo Region. There were no differences in cancer mortality between 2001-2005 and 2006-2010; however, male cancer mortality exceeded female cancer mortality. A similar situation was observed for gastric cancer, colorectal cancer, and lung cancer. Cancer mortality among urban populations exceeded mortality among rural population, for both genders. We suggest that these data can be used for development of modern programs of cancer prevention and early diagnostics in industrial regions of Siberia.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.3393-3402
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• 2013

The increasing scourge of cancer epidemiology is a global concern. With WHO emphasizing that 40% of all cancer cases are preventable, exposure to known and suspected carcinogens must be discouraged. The battle with communicable diseases and other third world challenges has greatly de-emphasized anti-cancer campaigns in sub-Saharan Africa. The abundant deposit of mineral resources in sub-Saharan Africa has attracted high mining activity with its negative environmental aftermath. Poor regulatory mechanisms have led to environmental contamination by products of mining including heavy metals. In addition to poor urban planning, the springing up of settlements in industrial areas has led to generation and exposure to more hazardous wastes consequent on poor disposal systems. Studies establishing close association between exposure to heavy metals and cancer epidemiology in sub-Saharan Africa are increasing. The current review assesses the level of environmental pollution by heavy metals in sub-Saharan Africa, and brings to the fore available evidence implicating such in the increasing cancer epidemiology in the sub-continent.

• Proceedings of the Ginseng society Conference
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• 1990.06a
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• pp.95-95
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• 1990

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.7251-7256
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• 2013

Objectives: To estimate the proportion of liver cancer cases and deaths due to infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), aflatoxin exposure, alcohol drinking and smoking in China in 2005. Study design: Systemic assessment of the burden of five modifiable risk factors on the occurrence of liver cancer in China using the population attributable fraction. Methods: We estimated the population attributable fraction of liver cancer caused by five modifiable risk factors using the prevalence data around 1990 and data on relative risks from meta-analyses, and large-scale observational studies. Liver cancer mortality data were from the 3rd National Death Causes Survey, and data on liver cancer incidence were estimated from the mortality data from cancer registries in China and a mortality/incidence ratio calculated. Results: We estimated that HBV infection was responsible for 65.9% of liver cancer deaths in men and 58.4% in women, while HCV was responsible for 27.3% and 28.6% respectively. The fraction of liver cancer deaths attributable to aflatoxin was estimated to be 25.0% for both men and women. Alcohol drinking was responsible for 23.4% of liver cancer deaths in men and 2.2% in women. Smoking was responsible for 18.7% and 1.0%. Overall, 86% of liver cancer mortality and incidence (88% in men and 78% in women) was attributable to these five modifiable risk factors. Conclusions: HBV, HCV, aflatoxin, alcohol drinking and tobacco smoking were responsible for 86% of liver cancer mortality and incidence in China in 2005. Our findings provide useful data for developing guidelines for liver cancer prevention and control in China and other developing countries.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.2809-2813
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• 2014

Background: This study was conducted to investigate the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) and cleft lip and palate transmembrane1-like (CLPTM1L) and lung cancer risk in a Chinese population. Methods: We performed a hospital-based case-control study, including 980 lung cancer cases and 1000 cancer-free controls matched for age and sex. Each case and control was interviewed to collect information by well-trained interviewers. A total of 5 ml of venous blood was collected for genotype testing of TERT rs2736098 and CLPTM1L rs401681 using TaqMan methodology. Results: The results revealed that the variant homozygote TERT rs2736098TT was associated with an increased risk of lung cancer (OR=2.017, 95%CI=1.518-2.681), especially lung adenocarcinoma (OR=2.117, 95%CI=1.557-3.043) and small cell carcinoma (OR=1.979, 95%CI: 1.174-3.334), compared with the TERT rs2736098CC genotype. Similar results were observed in non-smokers. Conclusion: The TERT rs2736098 polymorphism might affect the susceptibility to lung cancer in Chinese populations. The associations need to be verified in larger and different populations.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.4409-4413
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• 2013

Background: Cigarette smoking is a well-established risk factor of pancreatic cancer (PC). Although an association between nicotine dependence phenotype, namely time to first cigarette (TTFC) after waking, and the risk of several smoking-related cancers has been reported, an association between TTFC and PC risk has not been reported. We assessed the impact of smoking behavior, particularly TTFC, on PC risk in a Japanese population. Materials and Methods: We conducted a case-control study using 341 PC and 1,705 non-cancer patients who visited Aichi Cancer Center in Nagoya, Japan. Exposure to risk factors, including smoking behavior, was assessed from the results of a self-administered questionnaire. The impact of smoking on PC risk was assessed with multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusted for potential confounders to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: Cigarettes per day (CPD) and/or smoking duration were significantly associated with PC risk, consistent with previous studies. For TTFC and PC risk, we found only a suggestive association: compared with a TTFC of more than 60 minutes, ORs were 1.15 (95%CI, 0.65-2.04) for a TTFC of 30-60 minutes and 1.35 (95%CI, 0.85-2.15) for that of 0-30 minutes (p trend=0.139). After adjustment for CPD or smoking duration, no association was observed between TTFC and PC. Conclusions: In this study, we found no statistically significant association between TTFC and PC risk. Further studies concerning TTFC and PC risk are warranted.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.22
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• pp.10003-10008
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• 2014

Background: Cervical cancer has been a leading female cancer in Thailand for decades, and has been second to breast cancer after 2007. The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has provided opportunistic screening with Pap smears for more than 30 years. In 2002, the MoPH and the National Health Security Office provided countrywide systematic screening of cervical cancer to all Thai women aged 35-60 years under universal health care coverage insurance scheme at 5-year intervals. Objectives: This study characterized the cervical cancer incidence trends in Songkhla in southern Thailand using joinpoint and age period cohort (APC) analysis to observe the effect of cervical cancer screening activities in the past decades, and to project cervical cancer rates in the province, to 2030. Materials and Methods: Invasive and in situ cervical cancer cases were extracted from the Songkhla Cancer Registry from 1990 through 2010. Age standardized incidence rates were estimated. Trends in incidences were evaluated by joinpoint and APC regression models. The Norpred package was modified for R and was used to project the future trends to 2030 using the power of 5 function and cut trend method. Results: Cervical cancer incidence in Songkhla peaked around 1998-2000 and then dropped by -4.7% per year. APC analysis demonstrated that in situ tumors caused an increase in incidence in early ages, younger cohorts, and in later years of diagnosis. Conclusions: Both joinpoint and APC analysis give the same conclusion in continuation of a declining trend of cervical cancer to 2030 but with different rates and the predicted goal of ASR below 10 or even 5 per 100,000 women by 2030 would be achieved. Thus, maintenance and improvement of the screening program should be continued. Other population based cancer registries in Thailand should analyze their data to confirm the success of cervical cancer screening policy of Thailand.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.3121-3123
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• 2015

The main objective of this paper was to assess the influence of educational level on the survival of uterine cervix cancer patients in our population. A total of 224 patients were registered in our registry, of which 178 had information on stage and different educational levels. The overall median survival (MS) was 23 months, with values of 18.5, 20.7 and 41.3 months for the illiterate, literate and qualified groups, respectively. In the illiterate patients, stage I was seen in 2.6% and stage IV in 11.8%, while in other 2 groups stage I was seen in 10% to 17% of patients at the time of diagnosis. The survival probability at around 50 months was around 42%, 30% and 26% (approximately) for qualified, literates and illiterates respectively [Log Rank (Mantel-Cox) showed p=0.023]. Emphasis on imparting education to females can be a part of comprehensive cancer control programme for improving the overall survival in patients with carcinoma of the uterine cervix in our population.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.4723-4726
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• 2015

Background: The survival of patients with hypopharyngeal cancer is low amongst head and neck cancer cases. The incidence rates of hypopharyngeal cancers in our population are amongst the highest in the world and there are limited data available on the literature on varied responses to first course of treatment with radiotherapy (RT) and concurrent chemo-radiotherapy (CRT) in our population. Materials and Methods: Clinical characteristics and initial responses to treatment in patients who had received radiotherapy and chemo-radiotherapy in a regional cancer center from January 2010 to December 2013 were evaluated. The data were obtained from the hospital cancer registry, and analysis was carried using descriptive statistics. Pearson's chi-square was used to test for differences in the variables and p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 554 patients were included in the analysis, 411 (74.2%) receiving RT and 143 (25.8%) being given CRT. There was significantly lower number of patients above 70 years with a higher proportion of patients below 50 years who had received CRT (p<0.05). Some 79.3% and 84.6% of patients in the RT and CRT groups respectively presented with a favorable performance status, and in the RT group 240 (58.4%) showed complete response (CR), and in the CRT group 103 (72.0%) showed CR at the first follow-up (p<0.05). Conclusions: Concurrent chemo-radiotherapy gives better short term response to treatment in locally advanced hypopharyngeal cancers.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.4025-4029
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• 2015

Background: Gastrointestinal tract cancers are among the most common cancers in Iran and comprise approximately 38% of all the reported cases of cancer. This study aimed to describe the epidemiology and to investigate spatial clustering of common cancers of the gastrointestinal tract across the counties of Iran using full Bayesian smoothing and Moran I Index statistics. Materials and Methods: The data of the national registry cancer were used in this study. Besides, indirect standardized rates were calculated for 371 counties of Iranand smoothed using Winbug 1.4 software with a full Bayesian method. Global Moran I and local Moran I were also used to investigate clustering. Results: According to the results, 75,644 new cases of cancer were nationally registered in Iran among which 18,019 cases (23.8%) were esophagus, gastric, colorectal, and liver cancers. The results of Global Moran's I test were 0.60 (P=0.001), 0.47 (P=0.001), 0.29 (P=0.001), and 0.40 (P=0.001) for esophagus, gastric, colorectal, and liver cancers, respectively. This shows clustering of the four studied cancers in Iran at the national level. Conclusions: High level clustering of the cases was seen in northern, northwestern, western, and northeastern areas for esophagus, gastric, and colorectal cancers. Considering liver cancer, high clustering was observed in some counties in central, northeastern, and southern areas.