Journal of the National Cancer Institute
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J. Natl. Cancer Inst. · Apr 2005
Plasma sex hormone concentrations and subsequent risk of breast cancer among women using postmenopausal hormones.
Sex hormone concentrations are associated with breast cancer risk among women not using postmenopausal hormones (PMH); however, whether a relationship exists among PMH users is unknown. Therefore, we conducted a prospective, nested case-control study within the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) cohort to examine the association between plasma sex hormone concentrations and postmenopausal breast cancer among women using PMH at blood collection. ⋯ Although women using PMH have a different hormonal profile than those not using PMH, plasma sex hormone concentrations appear to be associated with breast cancer risk among PMH users.
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J. Natl. Cancer Inst. · Apr 2005
Review Meta AnalysisRecombinant human erythropoietin and overall survival in cancer patients: results of a comprehensive meta-analysis.
Anemia associated with cancer and cancer therapy is an important clinical and economic factor in the treatment of malignant diseases. ⋯ Erythropoietin treatment may reduce the risk for blood transfusions and improve hematologic response in cancer patients. However, our favorable survival outcome is in contrast to two large (N = 351 and 939) recently published randomized controlled trials in which erythropoietin-treated patients had statistically significantly worse survival than untreated patients. Possible reasons for the disparity with our results include differences in study population and design, higher target hemoglobin levels and higher risk of thromboembolic complications, and concerns that erythropoietin may stimulate tumor growth.
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J. Natl. Cancer Inst. · Apr 2005
Sequence variants in Toll-like receptor gene cluster (TLR6-TLR1-TLR10) and prostate cancer risk.
Chronic inflammation plays an important role in several human cancers and may be involved in the etiology of prostate cancer. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are important in the innate immune response to pathogens and in cross-talk between innate immunity and adaptive immunity. Our previous finding of an association of TLR4 gene sequence variants and prostate cancer risk provides evidence for a role of TLRs in prostate cancer. In this study, we investigated whether sequence variants in the TLR6-TLR1-TLR10 gene cluster, residing within a 54-kb region on 4p14, were associated with prostate cancer risk. ⋯ The observed multiple associated SNPs at the TLR6-TLR1-TLR10 gene cluster were dependent and suggest the presence of a founder prostate cancer risk variant on this haplotype background. The TLR6-TLR1-TLR10 gene cluster may play a role in prostate cancer risk, although further functional studies are needed to pinpoint the disease-associated variants in this gene cluster.