Cancer Causes & Control

To examine age group differences in predictors of mammography screening in women with a first-degree female relative (FDFR) with recent diagnosis of breast cancer. A cohort study of 577 women ages 18 and over with a FDFR diagnosed with incident stage 0-III breast cancer was conducted. Telephone interviews were conducted at baseline, 6 months and 12 months. Logistic regression was used to model factors associated with mammography screening since diagnosis. Mammography rates were 32%, 71% and 75% for women aged 18–39, 40–49 and 50 and above, respectively. Among the youngest group, belief in cancer screening effectiveness, mammography history and MD recommendation predicted mammography. For those 40–49, excellent self-rated health, perceived similarity of personality to the patient and higher intrusive thoughts predicted mammography. Perceived similarity of health care utilization to the patient and higher risk perceptions were associated with mammography among women aged 50 and above. Mammography rates were high among women aged 40–49 and 50 and above, and considerable among women aged 18–30, even in view of the lack of evidence-based guidelines. Continued attention should be paid to the 25–30% of older women who do not report screening.

Oral microbiome plays an important role in oral health and systemic diseases, including cancer. We aimed to prospectively investigate the association of oral microbiome with lung cancer risk. We analyzed 156 incident lung cancer cases (73 European Americans and 83 African Americans) and 156 individually matched controls nested within the Southern Community Cohort Study. Oral microbiota were assessed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing in pre-diagnostic mouth rinse samples. Paired t test and the permutational multivariate analysis of variance test were used to evaluate lung cancer risk association with alpha diversity or beta diversity, respectively. Conditional logistic regression models were used to evaluate the association of individual bacterial abundance or prevalence with lung cancer risk. No significant differences were observed for alpha or beta diversity between lung cancer cases and controls. Abundance of families Lachnospiraceae_[XIV], Peptostreptococcaceae_[XI], and Erysipelotrichaceae and species Parvimonas micra was associated with decreased lung cancer risk, with odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of 0.76 (0.59–0.98), 0.80 (0.66–0.97), 0.81 (0.67–0.99), and 0.83 (0.71–0.98), respectively (all p < 0.05). Prevalence of five pre-defined oral pathogens were not significantly associated with overall lung cancer risk. Prevalence of genus Bacteroidetes_[G-5] and species Alloprevotella sp._oral_taxon_912, Capnocytophaga sputigena, Lactococcus lactis, Peptoniphilaceae_[G-1] sp._oral_taxon_113, Leptotrichia sp._oral_taxon_225, and Fretibacterium fastidiosum was associated with decreased lung cancer risk, with ORs and 95% CIs of 0.55 (0.30–1.00), 0.36 (0.17–0.73), 0.53 (0.31–0.92), 0.43 (0.21–0.88), 0.43 (0.19–0.94), 0.57 (0.34–0.99), and 0.54 (0.31–0.94), respectively (all p < 0.05). Species L. sp._oral_taxon_225 was significantly associated with decreased lung cancer risk in African Americans (OR [95% CIs] 0.28 [0.12–0.66]; p = 0.00012). Results from this study suggest that oral microbiota may play a role in the development of lung cancer.

Invasive cervical cancer (ICC) rates have tremendously declined in the United States, yet new cases consistently occur in Maryland and throughout the United States. We hypothesized that although rates have generally declined, this decline is uneven across counties and over time. Space–time cluster detection analysis was conducted to evaluate clusters of ICC incidence at the county level within Maryland between 2003 and 2012. The most likely cluster was a cluster of low incidence, which included 6 counties in eastern Maryland for the period 2009–2012. A secondary cluster of low rates, comprising 2 metropolitan counties in northern Maryland, was observed for the period 2009–2012. Two of the three clusters of high ICC rates occurred in 2009–2012 in the large metropolitan area of Baltimore City and another cluster in Frederick County, in rural western Maryland. The third cluster of high rates was observed 2005–2008, in western Maryland. In recent periods, some Maryland counties have experienced anomalously high or low ICC incidence. Clusters of high incidence are not explained by differences in screening rates and may be due to failures in follow-up care for cervical abnormalities that need to be investigated. Clusters of low incidence may represent areas of successful ICC control.

Increased physical activity (PA) is associated with a reduced risk of several cancers. PA may reduce cancer risk by changing endogenous hormones levels, but relatively little research has focused on this topic. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the relation between PA and endogenous hormone concentrations. A cross-sectional analysis of 798 pre- and 1,360 post-menopausal women included as controls in case–control studies on endogenous hormones (steroids, progesterone, sex-hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), and growth factors) levels, and cancer risk nested within European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort was performed. Multivariate regression analyses were performed to compare geometric mean levels of hormones and SHBG by categories of PA. In pre-menopausal women, active women had 19 % significantly lower concentrations of androstenedione, 14 % lower testosterone, and 20 % lower free testosterone than inactive women, while no differences were observed for estrogens, progesterone, SHBG, and growth factors. In post-menopausal women, active women had 18 % significantly lower estradiol and 20 % lower free estradiol concentrations than inactive women, while no differences were observed for the other hormones and SHBG. More vigorous forms of physical activity were associated with higher insulin-like growth factor-I concentrations. Adjustment for body mass index did not alter the associations. Overall, the percentage of variance in hormone concentrations explained by PA levels was <2 %. Our results support the hypothesis of an influence, although small in magnitude, of PA on sex hormone levels in blood, independent of body size.