Overall and abdominal obesity and prostate cancer risk in a West African population: An analysis of the Ghana Prostate Study

Obesity has been associated with an increased risk of advanced prostate cancer. However, most studies have been conducted among North American and European populations. Prostate cancer mortality appears elevated in West Africa, yet risk factors for prostate cancer in this region are unknown. We thus examined the relationship between obesity and prostate cancer using a case-control study conducted in Accra, Ghana in 2004 to 2012. Cases and controls were drawn from a population-based sample of 1037 men screened for prostate cancer, yielding 73 cases and 964 controls. An additional 493 incident cases were recruited from the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. Anthropometric measurements were taken at enrollment. We used logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for associations between body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-hip ratio (WHR) and prostate cancer, adjusting for potential confounders. The mean BMI was 25.1 kg/m2 for cases and 24.3 kg/m2 for controls. After adjustment, men with BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 had an increased risk of prostate cancer relative to men with BMI < 25 kg/m2 (OR 1.86, 95% CI 1.11-3.13). Elevated WC (OR 1.76, 95% CI 1.24-2.51) and WHR (OR 1.46, 95% CI 0.99-2.16) were also associated with prostate cancer. Associations were not modified by smoking status and were evident for low- and high-grade disease. These findings indicate that overall and abdominal obesity are positively associated with prostate cancer among men in Ghana, implicating obesity as a potentially modifiable risk factor for prostate cancer in this region

Detectable clonal mosaicism and its relationship to aging and cancer

In an analysis of 31,717 cancer cases and 26,136 cancer-free controls from 13 genome-wide association studies, we observed large chromosomal abnormalities in a subset of clones in DNA obtained from blood or buccal samples. We observed mosaic abnormalities, either aneuploidy or copy-neutral loss of heterozygosity, of >2 Mb in size in autosomes of 517 individuals (0.89%), with abnormal cell proportions of between 7% and 95%. In cancer-free individuals, frequency increased with age, from 0.23% under 50 years to 1.91% between 75 and 79 years (P = 4.8 × 10(-8)). Mosaic abnormalities were more frequent in individuals with solid tumors (0.97% versus 0.74% in cancer-free individuals; odds ratio (OR) = 1.25; P = 0.016), with stronger association with cases who had DNA collected before diagnosis or treatment (OR = 1.45; P = 0.0005). Detectable mosaicism was also more common in individuals for whom DNA was collected at least 1 year before diagnosis with leukemia compared to cancer-free individuals (OR = 35.4; P = 3.8 × 10(-11)). These findings underscore the time-dependent nature of somatic events in the etiology of cancer and potentially other late-onset diseases

Age at menarche and age at menopause in relation to hepatocellular carcinoma in women.

OBJECTIVES: To assess whether age at menarche, age at menopause, parity, and selected blood hormones are associated with risk of hepatocellular carcinoma among women. DESIGN: Case-control. SAMPLE: and setting Data collected from 50 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma among women and 62 female controls with minor trauma or surgical conditions who attended one of three hospitals in Athens, Greece between 1995 and 1998. METHODS: Researchers collected information on Reproductive variables and assayed sera samples for blood hormone levels and for chronic infection with Hepatitis B and C viruses. RESULTS Individuals with hepatocellular carcinoma had a lower mean age at menarche and a significantly higher mean age at menopause. After adjusting for potential confounding, age at menopause remained an important and significant predictor, increasing the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma 24% for each later year of menopause (P < 0.001). For each year that menarche was delayed, risk of hepatocellular carcinoma declined 21% (P = 0.100). Mean levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 and its binding protein were significantly reduced in cases compared with controls, while levels of oestradiol, testosterone and sex hormone binding globulin were somewhat higher among the cases. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides indirect, but converging evidence that steroid hormones in general, and oestrogens in particular, play an important role in the aetiology of hepatocellular carcinoma among women

Anthropometric and Hormonal Risk Factors for Male Breast Cancer: Male Breast Cancer Pooling Project Results

The etiology of male breast cancer is poorly understood, partly because of its relative rarity. Although genetic factors are involved, less is known regarding the role of anthropometric and hormonally related risk factors. In the Male Breast Cancer Pooling Project, a consortium of 11 casecontrol and 10 cohort investigations involving 2405 case patients (n 1190 from casecontrol and n 1215 from cohort studies) and 52013 control subjects, individual participant data were harmonized and pooled. Unconditional logistic regression generated study designspecific (casecontrol/cohort) odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), with exposure estimates combined using fixed effects meta-analysis. All statistical tests were two-sided. Risk was statistically significantly associated with weight (highest/lowest tertile: OR 1.36; 95% CI 1.18 to 1.57), height (OR 1.18; 95% CI 1.01 to 1.38), and body mass index (BMI; OR 1.30; 95% CI 1.12 to 1.51), with evidence that recent rather than distant BMI was the strongest predictor. Klinefelter syndrome (OR 24.7; 95% CI 8.94 to 68.4) and gynecomastia (OR 9.78; 95% CI 7.52 to 12.7) were also statistically significantly associated with risk, relations that were independent of BMI. Diabetes also emerged as an independent risk factor (OR 1.19; 95% CI 1.04 to 1.37). There were also suggestive relations with cryptorchidism (OR 2.18; 95% CI 0.96 to 4.94) and orchitis (OR 1.43; 95% CI 1.02 to 1.99). Although age at onset of puberty and histories of infertility were unrelated to risk, never having had children was statistically significantly related (OR 1.29; 95% CI 1.01 to 1.66). Among individuals diagnosed at older ages, a history of fractures was statistically significantly related (OR 1.41; 95% CI 1.07 to 1.86). Consistent findings across casecontrol and cohort investigations, complemented by pooled analyses, indicated important roles for anthropometric and hormonal risk factors in the etiology of male breast cancer. Further investigation should focus on potential roles of endogenous hormones