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Residential particulate matter and distance to roadways in relation to mammographic density: results from the Nurses’ Health Studies
Background: High mammographic density is a strong, well-established breast cancer risk factor. Three studies conducted in various smaller geographic settings reported inconsistent findings between air pollution and mammographic density. We assessed whether particulate matter (PM) exposures (PM2.5, PM2.5–10, and PM10) and distance to roadways were associated with mammographic density among women residing across the United States. Methods: The Nurses’ Health Studies are prospective cohorts for whom a subset has screening mammograms from the 1990s (interquartile range 1990–1999). PM was estimated using spatio-temporal models linked to residential addresses. Among 3258 women (average age at mammogram 52.7 years), we performed multivariable linear regression to assess associations between square-root-transformed mammographic density and PM within 1 and 3 years before the mammogram. For linear regression estimates of PM in relation to untransformed mammographic density outcomes, bootstrapped robust standard errors are used to calculate 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Analyses were stratified by menopausal status and region of residence. Results: Recent PM and distance to roadways were not associated with mammographic density in premenopausal women (PM2.5 within 3 years before mammogram β = 0.05, 95% CI –0.16, 0.27; PM2.5–10 β = 0, 95%, CI –0.15, 0.16; PM10 β = 0.02, 95% CI –0.10, 0.13) and postmenopausal women (PM2.5 within 3 years before mammogram β = –0.05, 95% CI –0.27, 0.17; PM2.5–10 β = –0.01, 95% CI –0.16, 0.14; PM10 β = –0.02, 95% CI –0.13, 0.09). Largely null associations were observed within regions. Suggestive associations were observed among postmenopausal women in the Northeast (n = 745), where a 10-μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 within 3 years before the mammogram was associated with 3.4 percentage points higher percent mammographic density (95% CI –0.5, 7.3). Conclusions: These findings do not support that recent PM or roadway exposures influence mammographic density. Although PM was largely not associated with mammographic density, we cannot rule out the role of PM during earlier exposure time windows and possible associations among northeastern postmenopausal women. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13058-017-0915-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users
Corpora amylacea in prostatectomy tissue and associations with molecular, histological, and lifestyle factors
Background: Corpora amylacea are amyloid bodies commonly found adjacent to damaged prostate epithelium. Little is known about their formation or function. The current study sought to characterize corpora amylacea in prostate tissue and to describe their relationship with clinical, histological, molecular, and lifestyle factors, especially with chronic inflammation which is associated with aggressive disease. Methods: We studied a cohort of 355 men with prostate cancer and tissue specimens from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. Pathologists examined H&E slides and undertook a standardized review for histologic data and inflammation. Trained observers counted corpora amylacea within the benign and predominately tumor areas. Immunohistochemistry biomarkers were available from tissue microarrays. We used multivariable logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) to assess associations of chronic inflammation, clinical, histological, molecular, and lifestyle factors with the presence of corpora amylacea. Results: Corpora amylacea were present in benign tissue area for 298 men (84%). Specimens with moderate-to-severe chronic inflammation were more likely to have corpora amylacea in benign regions (OR=5.4 95%CI 1.9, 15.6). Moreover, corpora amylacea were more common in men with higher body mass index (OR=1.13 95%CI 1.01, 1.26). In contrast, Gleason grade (OR=0.4 95%CI 0.2, 0.8), proliferation index (OR=0.6 95%CI 0.3, 1.2) and the presence of the TMPRSS2:ERG fusion (OR=0.4 95%CI 0.2, 0.8) were inversely associated with corpora amylacea presence. TURP specimens were less likely to have corpora amylacea than prostatectomy specimens (OR=0.12 95%CI 0.03, 0.47). Age, PSA, stage, biomarkers of angiogenesis and PTEN, and vasectomy were not significantly associated with corpora amylacea. Conclusion: Corpora amylacea were common among men with prostate cancer and were associated with pro-inflammatory factors, some markers of less aggressive disease, and lack of the TMPRSS2:ERG fusion