Risk Of Cancer In Japan Research Articles

No association of the 5' promoter region polymorphism of CYP17 with breast cancer risk in Japan.

To examine the association between breast cancer risk and a T‐to‐C substitution polymorphism at the 5′promoter region of CYP17, a case‐control study was conducted at Aichi Cancer Center Hospital in Japan. Subjects were 144 histologically confirmed breast cancer patients diagnosed in the past 4 years and 166 hospital controls without cancer. Allele frequency among controls was 44.9% (95% confidence interval; 39.5–50.2) for C allele. Odds ratio (OR) of the polymorphism relative to TT‐genotype was 0.97 (0.58‐1.64) for TC‐genotype and 0.81 (0.39–1.68) for CC‐genotype. Subgroup analyses revealed that the OR was not statistically significant for the subgroups stratified by interval after diagnosis, age at menarche, age at first birth, menopausal status, body mass index, and mother/sisters’ history of breast cancer. Consistent with previous studies conducted in other countries, the 5′promoter region polymorphism of CYP17 affected breast cancer risk of Japanese women to a limited extent. Although this is not a large‐scale case‐control study with population controls, these findings provide enough information to discourage further studies on the association between this polymorphism and breast cancer risk in Japan at large, and suggest that this polymorphism is useless for breast cancer risk estimation.

Family History of Breast Cancer and Breast Cancer Risk in Japan.

We studied 132 families with a family history of breast cancer (familial aggregation cases, FA cases) to assess the breast cancer risk presented by such a family history. For comparison with these FA cases, we randomly selected 132 control families of sporadic cases (SP controls) by adjusting for the age of the proband at surgery. Information on family history was collected for all first-degree female relatives and maternal and paternal grandmothers. Japanese women with a first-degree relative affected by breast cancer were found to have an increased risk of the disease. The odds ratio (OR) for women with a family history of breast cancer was 1.99 (95% confidence interval [ CI ], 1.48-2.66). The OR for FA-case doughters of women with breast cancer was 1.54 (95% CI, 0.91-2.63). A higher risk was not observed if a woman's mother had breast cancer. If the proband had a sister with breast cancer, a slightly increased risk of other cancers of the proband was observed (OR, 1.85 [ 0.87-3.92]). These results suggest that a family history of breast cancer in Japanese women may affect their risk of developing cancer of the breast and other organs.

Birth season and breast cancer risk in Japan.

Recent studies suggest that prenatal or early post-natal factors may influence future breast cancer risk. To investigate whether month of birth is a risk factor for breast cancer, we analyzed the distribution of month of birth for 81,162 women died of breast cancer and 1,334,650 women died of cancers at all sites, who were reported to the Ministry of Health and Welfare from 1972-90 in Japan. After considering each birth year seasonal variations in month of birth were not shown statistically significant in any age-group through using chi 2 test (df = 11). The negative results were also confirmed in residential area and period category.

Alcohol Consumption and Risk of Esophageal Cancer in Japan: A Case-control Study in Seven Hospitals

In a multi-center case-control study, we evaluated the risk of esophageal cancer in the Japanese population. All patients and controls were inpatients in the surgical departments of seven hospitals nationwide. Patients eligible for the study were those newly diagnosed as having primary esophageal cancer. One control per case was selected from among patients admitted to the same hospital, and 141 male pairs were analyzed using logistic regression analysis. The results showed dose-response relation between the risk of esophageal cancer and both the quantity (g/week) and frequency (times/week) of alcohol drinking (P value for trend = 0.0001). Although a statistically significant risk increase was shown among moderate to heavy smokers (15 < or = cigarette/day < 25) (odds ratio, 4.35:95% confidence interval, 1.81-10.49), the dose-response for cigarette smoking was unclear (P value for trend = 0.07). No combined effect of alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking was found. A frequent intake of fruit was associated with a decreased risk (P value for trend = 0.02). After adjustment for alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking and fruit intake were found not to be associated with the risk, whereas a preference for high-temperature food and drink showed a statistically significant positive association (P value for trend = 0.02). Drinkers who consumed shochu most frequently showed a three-fold increased risk over that for beer consumers, although the association disappeared after adjusting for the amount of alcohol consumed. The present results confirm alcohol intake and a preference for high-temperature food to be associated with an increased risk of esophageal cancer and show the amount of alcohol consumed, rather than the type of alcoholic beverage, to be the main risk determinant.

Risk of Gastric Remnant Cancer in Japan

Risk of Gastric Remnant Cancer in Japan

Geographical Variance in the Risk of Gastric Stump Cancer: No Increased Risk in Japan?

Geographical differences may exist in the risk of gastric stump cancer. Therefore, we performed meta‐analysis of literature reports in Japan (n=3), the USA (n=4), and Europe (n = 20) on the risk of postgastrectomy cancer. The weighted mean relative risk of stump cancer in Japan was 0.28, 95% confidence limits 0.21–0.38 as compared to 1.53, 95% confidence limits 0.98–2.41 in the USA and 1.66, 95% confidence limits 1.55–1.79 in Europe. Thus, the risk of gastric cancer in the postgastrectomy patient seems decreased in Japan and is significantly less than in the USA or Europe, where an increased risk exists. Since there is a high risk of gastric cancer of the intact stomach in Japan, the discovery of a low cancer risk in the gastric stump may provide evidence that these gastric cancers are two different entities.

Clinical Trials and Cancer Risk in Japan&lt;xref ref-type="fn" rid="FN1"&gt;1&lt;/xref&gt;

This paper presents the results of a clinical trial with vitamin A that was performed in Japan for the treatment of various cancers. The results of epidemiologic studies on the relationship between food intake and development of lung cancer in Japan also are reported. Several Japanese groups are studying the combined effect of vitamin A and its derivatives and anticancer chemotherapeutic agents on the in vitro and in vivo growth of various cancer cells, however, few clinical trials of these combinations for cancer treatment have been conducted. The results of these few studies are reviewed.