Highlights of This Issue

Abstract

Studies suggest that antioxidant nutrients may reduce cancer and overall mortality risks, but randomized trials often fail to demonstrate survival benefits. Goyal and colleagues evaluated all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular mortality risks associated with serum antioxidant levels in over 14,000 US adults. The authors report a decrease in cancer and overall mortality risks with higher serum vitamin C levels. In addition, high serum vitamin E levels were also associated with lowered cancer mortality risks. These data support individualized nutrient intervention studies where doses are based on subjects' serum levels.Periareolar fine needle aspiration (FNA) is increasingly used in breast cancer trials for cancer patient assessments. Using 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine–induced gene expression assays, Bu and colleagues identified DNA methylation markers suitable for use in FNA clinical samples. The authors identified genes that were differentially methylated in clinical breast cancer FNA samples compared to benign FNA samples. These breast DNA methylation markers may have value as breast cancer biomarkers in studies using FNA.Cutaneous melanomas could arise through different pathways according to phenotype, body site, and sun exposure. To test this, Kvaskoff and colleagues ascertained Australian melanoma patients using pathology reports, patient-reported phenotypes, and dermatologist-counted melanocytic nevi and solar keratosis (SK). Compared with trunk melanoma patients, those with head/neck melanomas were less likely to have high nevus counts and patients with head/neck melanoma were more likely to have high SK counts. These findings support that melanomas on the trunk arise through a causal pathway associated with nevus propensity, whereas melanomas on the head/neck arise through a pathway associated with cumulative sun exposure.Adult height has been positively associated with prostate cancer risk. However, the association between adolescence height, birth weight, and prostate cancer remains undetermined. Cook and colleagues assessed these relationships using Copenhagen School Health Records. Height was significantly associated with prostate cancer risk at all ages but height at age 13 years was more important than height at age 7 years. Birth weight was not associated with prostate cancer risk. These findings implicate late childhood, adolescence, and adulthood growth periods as critical exposure windows underlying the association between height and prostate cancer.