Prisoners' attitudes towards cigarette smoking and smoking cessation: a questionnaire study in Poland

BACKGROUND: In the last decade Poland has successfully carried out effective anti-tobacco campaigns and introduced tobacco control legislation. This comprehensive strategy has focused on the general population and has led to a considerable decrease in tobacco consumption. Prisoners constitute a relatively small part of the entire Polish population and smoking habits in this group have been given little attention. The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of cigarette smoking in Polish male prisoners, factors determining smoking in this group, prisoners' attitudes towards smoking cessation, and to evaluate prisoners' perception of different anti-tobacco measures. METHODS: An anonymous questionnaire including personal, demographic and smoking data was distributed among 944 male inmates. Of these, 907 men aged between 17 and 62 years (mean 32.3 years) met the inclusion criteria of the study. For the comparison of proportions, a chi-square test was used with continuity correction whenever appropriate. RESULTS: In the entire group, 81% of the subjects were smokers, 12% – ex-smokers, and 7% – never smokers. Current smokers had significantly lower education level than non-smokers (p < 0.0001) and ever-smokers more frequently abused other psychoactive substances than never smokers (p < 0.0001). Stress was reported as an important factor in prompting smoking (77%). Forty-nine percent of daily smokers were aware of the adverse health consequences of smoking. The majority of smokers (75%) had attempted to quit smoking in the past. Forty percent of smoking prisoners considered an award for abstaining from cigarettes as the best means to limit the prevalence of smoking in prisons. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of cigarette smoking among Polish prisoners is high. However, a majority of smokers attempt to quit, and they should be encouraged and supported. Efforts to reduce cigarette smoking in prisons need to take into consideration the specific factors influencing smoking habits in prisons

Cancer of the larynx in non-smoking alcohol drinkers and in non-drinking tobacco smokers

The separate effect of alcohol and tobacco on laryngeal cancer was analysed in two case–control studies from Italy and Switzerland, comprising 40 non-smoking and 68 non-drinking cases, and 160 non-smoking and 161 non-drinking controls. The multivariate odds ratio was 2.46 for heavy drinkers non-smokers, and 9.38 for current smokers non-drinkers

Body size and the risk of biliary tract cancer: a population-based study in China

Though obesity is an established risk factor for gall bladder cancer, its role in cancers of the extrahepatic bile ducts and ampulla of Vater is less clear, as also is the role of abdominal obesity. In a population-based case–control study of biliary tract cancer in Shanghai, China, odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for biliary tract cancer in relation to anthropometric measures, including body mass index (BMI) at various ages and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), adjusting for age, sex, and education. The study included 627 patients with biliary tract cancer (368 gall bladder, 191 bile duct, 68 ampulla of Vater) and 959 healthy subjects randomly selected from the population. A higher BMI at all ages, including early adulthood (ages 20–29 years), and a greater WHR were associated with an increased risk of gall bladder cancer. A high usual adult BMI (⩾25) was associated with a 1.6-fold risk of gall bladder cancer (95% CI 1.2–2.1, P for trend <0.001). Among subjects without gallstones, BMI was also positively associated with gall bladder cancer risk. Regardless of BMI levels, increasing WHR was associated with an excess risk of gall bladder cancer risk, with those having a high BMI (⩾25) and a high WHR (>0.90) having the highest risk of gall bladder cancer (OR=12.6, 95% CI 4.8–33.2), relative to those with a low BMI and WHR. We found no clear risk patterns for cancers of the bile duct and ampulla of Vater. These results suggest that both overall and abdominal obesity, including obesity in early adulthood, are associated with an increased risk of gall bladder cancer. The increasing prevalence of obesity and cholesterol stones in Shanghai seems at least partly responsible for the rising incidence of gall bladder cancer in Shanghai

Cessation of smoking and drinking and the risk of laryngeal cancer

A case–control study was conducted in Italy and Switzerland between 1992 and 2000 on 527 cases of laryngeal cancer and 1297 hospital controls. The risk of laryngeal cancer steadily decreased from 3 years after stopping smoking. Some decline in risk was observed only 20 years or more after stopping drinking

Specific fatty acid intake and the risk of pancreatic cancer in Canada

The possible association of specific fatty acid (FA) intake and pancreatic cancer risk was investigated in a population-based case–control study of 462 histologically confirmed cases and 4721 frequency-matched controls in eight Canadian provinces between 1994 and 1997. Dietary intake was assessed by means of a self-administered food frequency questionnaire. Unconditional logistic regression was used to assess associations between dietary FAs and pancreatic cancer risk. After adjustment for age, province, body mass index, smoking, educational attainment, fat and total energy intake, statistically significant inverse associations were observed between pancreatic cancer risk and palmitate (odds ratios (ORs)=0.73; 95% confidence intervals (CIs) 0.56–0.96; P-trend=0.02), stearate (OR=0.70; 95% CI 0.51–0.94; P-trend=0.04), oleate (OR=0.75; 95% CI 0.55–1.02; P-trend=0.04), saturated FAs (OR=0.67; 95% CI 0.50–0.91; P-trend=0.01), and monounsaturated FAs (OR=0.72; 95% CI 0.53–0.98; P-trend=0.02), when comparing the highest quartile of intake to the lowest. Significant interactions were detected between body mass index and both saturated and monounsaturated FAs, with a markedly reduced risk associated with intake of stearate (OR=0.36; 95% CI 0.18–0.70; P-trend=0.001), oleate (OR=0.36; 95% CI 0.19–0.72; P-trend=0.002), saturated FAs (OR=0.35; 95% CI 0.18–0.67; P-trend=0.002), and monounsaturated FAs (OR=0.32; 95% CI 0.16–0.63; P-trend<0.0001) among subjects who are obese. The results suggest that substituting polyunsaturated FAs with saturated or monounsaturated FAs may reduce pancreatic cancer risk, independently of total energy intake, particularly among obese subjects

Gallstones and the risk of biliary tract cancer: a population-based study in China

We conducted a population-based study of 627 patients with biliary tract cancers (368 of gallbladder, 191 bile duct, and 68 ampulla of Vater), 1037 with biliary stones, and 959 healthy controls randomly selected from the Shanghai population, all personally interviewed. Gallstone status was based on information from self-reports, imaging procedures, surgical notes, and medical records. Among controls, a transabdominal ultrasound was performed to detect asymptomatic gallstones. Gallstones removed from cancer cases and gallstone patients were classified by size, weight, colour, pattern, and content of cholesterol, bilirubin, and bile acids. Of the cancer patients, 69% had gallstones compared with 23% of the population controls. Compared with subjects without gallstones, odds ratios associated with gallstones were 23.8 (95% confidence interval (CI), 17.0–33.4), 8.0 (95% CI 5.6–11.4), and 4.2 (95% CI 2.5–7.0) for cancers of the gallbladder, extrahepatic bile ducts, and ampulla of Vater, respectively, persisting when restricted to those with gallstones at least 10 years prior to cancer. Biliary cancer risks were higher among subjects with both gallstones and self-reported cholecystitis, particularly for gallbladder cancer (OR=34.3, 95% CI 19.9–59.2). Subjects with bile duct cancer were more likely to have pigment stones, and with gallbladder cancer to have cholesterol stones (P<0.001). Gallstone weight in gallbladder cancer was significantly higher than in gallstone patients (4.9 vs 2.8 grams; P=0.001). We estimate that in Shanghai 80% (95% CI 75–84%), 59% (56–61%), and 41% (29–59%) of gallbladder, bile duct, and ampulla of Vater cancers, respectively, could be attributed to gallstones

Genetic variation in five genes important in telomere biology and risk for breast cancer

Telomeres, consisting of TTAGGG nucleotide repeats and a protein complex at chromosome ends, are critical for maintaining chromosomal stability. Genomic instability, following telomere crisis, may contribute to breast cancer pathogenesis. Many genes critical in telomere biology have limited nucleotide diversity, thus, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in this pathway could contribute to breast cancer risk. In a population-based study of 1995 breast cancer cases and 2296 controls from Poland, 24 SNPs representing common variation in POT1, TEP1, TERF1, TERF2 and TERT were genotyped. We did not identify any significant associations between individual SNPs or haplotypes and breast cancer risk; however, data suggested that three correlated SNPs in TERT (−1381C>T, −244C>T, and Ex2-659G>A) may be associated with reduced risk of breast cancer among individuals with a family history of breast cancer (odds ratios 0.73, 0.66, and 0.57, 95% confidence intervals 0.53–1.00, 0.46–0.95 and 0.39–0.84, respectively). In conclusion, our data do not support substantial overall associations between SNPs in telomere pathway genes and breast cancer risk. Intriguing associations with variants in TERT among women with a family history of breast cancer warrant follow-up in independent studies