Rising incidence of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus and gastric cardia

Article Abstract:

An analysis was carried out of epidemiologic data concerning adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma (two histologically distinct types of malignancy) in the esophagus and upper part of the stomach (cardia). The data were obtained from nine cancer registries which cover 10 percent of the US population, for the years 1976 through 1987. The cancers were categorized with respect to histological type and site of occurrence: for instance, esophageal cancers were listed as occurring in the top, middle, or bottom third of the esophagus. Results showed a total of 9,405 esophageal cancers diagnosed among whites and blacks during the period studied, with squamous cell carcinomas comprising 71 percent, and adenocarcinomas, 17 percent. Black men were more likely than white men (ratio, 5.6) to develop squamous cell carcinoma, while the reverse was true for adenocarcinoma (by a factor of 3.1). Similar trends were found for women. White males were 7.6 times more likely than white females to develop this disease; for blacks, the male-to-female ratio was 14. Gastric cardia adenocarcinoma was also more common among whites, and also showed a high male-to-female ratio (5.6 for whites, 3.4 for blacks). The rates for both esophageal and cardia adenocarcinoma increased during the period studied, faster than for any other cancer, including melanoma (a potentially lethal type of skin cancer) and lung cancer. The incidence of these diseases was considerably elevated among men as compared with women, and among whites as compared with blacks. Because esophageal adenocarcinoma and gastric cardia cancer are relatively uncommon, epidemiological studies have not identified risk factors. However, since alcohol intake and cigarette smoking are not known to be higher in white men than black men, it is unlikely that these behaviors are risk factors for adenocarcinoma (as they are for squamous cell carcinoma). Research is needed to understand the causes of these rapidly-increasing malignancies. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Squamous cell carcinoma, Esophageal cancer, Adenocarcinoma

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A cohort study of stomach cancer in a high-risk American population

Article Abstract:

The incidence of stomach cancer is declining in many industrialized countries. The reasons for this decline are not entirely clear, but may include better food preservation. A study was begun in 1966 to follow 17,633 men who was born, or who had a parent who was born in a country where the rate of stomach cancer is high. The subjects for this study were all holders of health insurance policies and lived in the US. After 20 years, a total of 75 deaths due to stomach cancer had been recorded. (Other forms of cancer accounted for 958 deaths during this period.) Subjects who smoked cigarettes had about 2.6 times the risk of stomach cancer than those who did not smoke. Men who smoked more than 30 cigarettes a day had five times the risk of stomach cancer. Stomach cancer was also more common among men who smoked pipes or chewed tobacco. The consumption of alcoholic beverages, however, did not affect the likelihood of stomach cancer. When food consumption was analyzed by examining nine basic food groups, there was no association between food intake and stomach cancer. However, high carbohydrate intake was associated with increased cancer risk. Furthermore, a few individual foods were found to be associated with increased risk of cancer. Salted fish, bacon, cooked cereal, and apples were associated with increased risk of stomach cancer. Researchers were surprised to find an increased risk of stomach cancer associated with eating apples, but a reexamination of the data revealed a clear dose-response effect. That is, not only was the eating of apples associated with increased risk of cancer, but the risk grew in proportion to the increasing number of apples eaten. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

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Contamination of poliovirus vaccines with simian virus 40 (1955-1963) and subsequent cancer rates

Article Abstract:

Polio vaccines contaminated with a simian virus may not have caused cancer in recipients. The polio vaccine used from 1955 to 1963, produced in macaque kidney cells, likely contained live simian virus 40, which can cause cancer in rodents. Researchers compared the rates of some cancers in those exposed to the vaccine as children and those not exposed. Inoculation with the polio vaccine was not associated with higher rates of ependymomas, other brain cancers, osteosarcomas or mesotheliomas during the 30 years of follow-up.

Health aspects, Complications and side effects, Brain cancer, Mesothelioma, Poliomyelitis vaccine, Poliovirus vaccines, Osteosarcoma, SV40 (Virus), Simian virus type 40

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