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Genotype-cigarette smoke interaction shown in breast cancer 

Cigarette smoke exposure substantially increases the risk for developing breast cancer among premenopausal women with certain polymorphisms in interleukin 6 (IL6) and estrogen receptor alpha (ESR1), results of a case-control study demonstrate.

The findings add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that genotype and cigarette smoke can interact to increase the risk for breast cancer. One study recently reported by MedWire News found that smokers with the slow-metabolizing N-acetyltransferase 2 genotype face an increased risk for the disease compared with non-smokers.

For the present study, Martha Slattery (University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA) and colleagues enrolled 3128 non-Hispanic White women, including 1527 with breast cancer and 1601 controls, along with 798 cases and 924 controls of Hispanic/American Indian ethnicity. . . .

Notably, exposure to more than 10 hours of passive smoke per week was associated with a 3.0- and 4.4-fold increased breast cancer risk in Hispanic/American Indian and non-Hispanic White premenopausal GG rs2069832 carriers, respectively, compared with women with the wild-type genotype who reported less than 1 hour of exposure.

In addition women of either ethnicity group who smoked more than 15 cigarette pack-years and had the ESR1 Xba1 AA genotype faced a 3-fold increased risk for breast cancer compared with nonsmokers with the wild-type allele.

"Our data suggest that this risk may be influenced by underlying genetic susceptibility and that mechanisms involving both estrogen and inflammation may be important in defining risk," Slattery and colleagues conclude in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.

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Lecture ties secondhand smoke to breast cancer 

Secondhand smoke increases the risk of breast cancer in young women, although many experts still refuse to accept the research, published by the California Environmental Protection Agency in 2006, because no study has conclusively linked direct smoke inhalation to breast cancer, Dr. Stan Glantz, director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco, claimed in his Thursday lecture at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.

Glantz likened the breast cancer researchers who doggedly oppose the California EPA’s findings to “religious fanatics,” referring to their unwillingness to accept the findings.

The link between smoke inhalation and breast cancer, which Glantz called “the most important scientific development in the last 10 years,” follows logically, according to Glantz, because cigarettes contain many known mammary carcinogens, such as benzene.

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Cancer Facts & Figures 2008 (PDF) 

Can Cancer Be Prevented?

All cancers caused by cigarette smoking and heavy use of alcohol could be prevented completely. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2008 about 170,000 cancer deaths are expected to be caused by tobacco use.

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Cancer Facts & Figures for Hispanics 2006-2008 (PDF) (COPY PROTECTED) 

Cancer Facts & Figures for Hispanics 2006-2008 Summarizes recent information on cancer occurrence and cancer screening in the Hispanic/Latino population, estimating the number of new cancer cases and deaths for 2006. Includes sections on use of cancer screening examinations, and cancer risk factors such as tobacco use and obesity.

File Format: Adobe Acrobat

File Size: 500k

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CANCER FACTS AND FIGURES FOR AFRICAN-AMERICANS 2008 (PDF) (COPY-PROTECTED) 

Estimates the number of new cancer cases and deaths for 2007 and provides the most recent statistics on cancer incidence, mortality, and five-year relative survival. Also includes sections on cancer risk factors such as tobacco use, physical activity, and use of cancer screening examinations.

File Format: Adobe Acrobat

File Size: 500k

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CANCER FACTS AND FIGURES 2008 (PDF) 

Lung and Bronchus New cases: An estimated 215,020 new cases are expected in 2008, accounting for about 15% of cancer diagnoses. The incidence rate is declining significantly in men, from a high of 102 cases per 100,000 in 1984 to 73.6 in 2004. In women, the rate is approaching a plateau after a long period of increase. Lung cancer is classified clinically as small cell (13%) or non-small cell (87%) for the purposes of treatment. Deaths: Lung cancer accounts for the most cancerrelated deaths in both men and women. An estimated 161,840 deaths, accounting for about 29% of all cancer deaths, are expected to occur in 2008. Since 1987, more women have died each year from lung cancer than from breast cancer. Death rates among men decreased by 1.3% per year from 1990-1994 and by 2.0% per year from 1994- 2004. Female lung cancer death rates are approaching a plateau after continuously increasing for several decades. These trends in lung cancer mortality reflect the decrease in smoking rates over the past 30 years. . . .

Survival: The 1-year relative survival for lung cancer has slightly increased from 35% in 1975-1979 to 41% in 2000- 2003, largely due to improvements in surgical techniques and combined therapies. However, the 5-year survival rate for all stages combined is only 15%. The survival rate is 49% for cases detected when the disease is still localized, but only 16% of lung cancers are diagnosed at this early stage.

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Lights at Night Are Linked to Breast Cancer 

Women who live in neighborhoods with large amounts of nighttime illumination are more likely to get breast cancer than those who live in areas where nocturnal darkness prevails, according to an unusual study that overlaid satellite images of Earth onto cancer registries.

The finding adds credence to the hypothesis that exposure to too much light at night can raise the risk of breast cancer by interfering with the brain's production of a tumor-suppressing hormone. . . .

They obtained satellite data from NASA that showed in great detail how much light was emitted spaceward from neighborhoods throughout Israel. . . .

The team then overlaid that map with local statistics on cases of breast cancer and, for comparison, lung cancer, which is caused mostly by smoking and so would not be expected to be linked to light. . . .

the researchers found no link between night lighting and lung cancer, they report in this week's online issue of the journal Chronobiology International.

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• Common gene boosts breast cancer risk in smokers  

Researchers have confirmed yet another ill effect of smoking cigarettes: it increases the risk of breast cancer in women with a common genetic variation.

The gene involved, N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2), is believed to help clear the body of aromatic amines, a major carcinogen in tobacco smoke. The researchers found that women with the slower-acting form of this gene -- who represent 50 percent to 60 percent of the white population and 35 percent to 40 percent of African-Americans -- are more likely to get breast cancer if they smoke.

But the study's lead author said the finding shouldn't motivate people to undergo; instead, she said, it should spur them to quit smoking. "We still know very little about what these genes do and how they might affect risk-we think the most important thing for people to do is to live a healthy lifestyle," Dr. Christine B. Ambrosone of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, told Reuters Health.

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• Smoking Increases Breast Cancer Risk Based On Genes, Study Shows 

Women who smoke and have a specific genetic makeup are at significant risk for the development of breast cancer, according to a recent study published by the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.

A research group led by Christine Ambrosone, PhD, Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences Program, Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) and Jenny Chang-Claude, PhD, Professor in Epidemiology at University of Heidelberg analyzed data from 10 of the 13 studies published in the last 10 years in which they evaluated genetic information, smoking habits and breast cancer risk in 4,889 premenopausal and 7,033 postmenopausal women.

Analysis demonstrated a significant interaction between breast cancer risk, smoking, and a specific gene called the NAT2 that produces the enzyme, N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2).

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• Smoking ups risk with radiation for breast cancer  

Cigarette smoking dramatically increases the risk that a woman who has undergone radiation treatment for breast cancer will develop lung cancer later on, a new study shows.

Radiation after mastectomy may be considered for some high-risk breast cancer patients, Dr. Elizabeth L. Kaufman and colleagues from Columbia University in New York City point out in their report. However, radiation can cause many complications, including increasing the likelihood that a patient will develop lung cancer 10 or more years after treatment, they add.

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• Cigarette link to breast cancer 

SMOKING more than doubles the risk of developing breast cancer among women with a strong family history of the disease, a study of Australians has revealed.

The major international review is the first to show a connection between the disease and tobacco in women with the highest risk breast cancer genes, BRCA1 or BRCA2.

About half of women with faulty versions of these genes will develop cancer by the age of 70. . . .

The review, published in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, analysed data collected from 780 women involved in large breast cancer trials, including more than 300 from the Melbourne-based Australian Breast Cancer Family study.

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Smoking and risk of breast cancer in carriers of mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2 aged less than 50 years 

Conclusions

These results indicate that smoking is associated with increased risk of breast cancer before age 50 years in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers. If confirmed, they provide a practical way for carriers to reduce their risks. Previous studies in prevalent mutation carriers have not shown smoking to increase risk of breast cancer, but are subject to bias, because smoking decreases survival after breast cancer.

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• Smoking doubles danger of developing breast cancer for high risk women, says new international study 

Women who carry a faulty BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene - which puts them at high risk of developing breast cancer - will further double their risk if they smoke, says a new international study.

University of Melbourne researchers were key collaborators on the study, currently published online in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.

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• Breast cancer gene, smoking link 'high'  

Smoking more than doubles the risk of developing breast cancer among women with a strong family history of the disease, a study of Australians has revealed.

The major international review is the first to show a connection between the disease and tobacco in women with the highest risk breast cancer genes, BRCA1 or BRCA2.

About half of women with faulty versions of these genes will develop cancer by the age of 70.

The new research has found the risk is as low as 35 per cent among the non-smokers, rising to almost double, 65 per cent, among smokers with a mutation. . . .

The review, published in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, analysed data collected from 780 women involved in large breast cancer trials, including more than 300 from the Melbourne-based Australian Breast Cancer Family study.

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A Midpoint Assessment of the American Cancer Society Challenge Goal to Decrease Cancer Incidence by 25% Between 1992 and 2015  

Cancer incidence during the time period from 1992 to 2004 has been decreasing, due mostly to a favorable trend among men and among those aged older than 65 years. However, there is considerable variation across cancer sites in both the magnitude and the direction of cancer incidence trends over this time period. Here we discuss the likely reasons for variations in incidence trends and speculate on the changes that can be expected between now and the year 2015. We first discuss trends by specific cancer sites and then by cross-cutting issues of tobacco, obesity, screening, and race/ethnicity. . . .

Lung Cancer. The lung is the second leading site for cancer incidence and the leading site for cancer death among both US men and women.1 Lung cancer incidence rates are approximately 1.7 times higher in men than in women. The downward trend of lung cancer incidence in men is exceeding the 25% reduction goal, but the trends among women are not (see Figure 1). The primary cause of lung cancer is tobacco use, so incidence trends are largely a reflection of tobacco-use trends over the preceding 20-year period.32,33 The prevalence of smoking declined from 52% to 33% among men and from 34% to 28% among women during the time period from 1965 to 1985. Between 1985 and 1995, there was about a 5% decrease in the prevalence of tobacco use among both men and women.34 Despite a persistently higher rate of lung cancer among African Americans than among Whites, a steeper decline has been observed for African Americans compared with Whites over this time period, likely due to historical changes in smoking. Declines in lung cancer incidence have also been observed due to reductions in occupational carcinogen exposures; however, the relative contribution to overall lung cancer rates of these exposures is small compared with tobacco use.32 Screening is not recommended for lung cancer in the general population, but low-dose computed tomography (CT), chest x-ray, sputum cytology, molecular sputum testing, or a combination of these tests are still under investigation and, therefore, may hold promise.24,35–40 Promising findings for screening with spiral CT scans have led to the implementation of large randomized clinical trials (RCTs) now underway that will be completed by 2010.37 Apart from possible effects of screening, the incidence rates for lung cancer will likely decline in the coming decade as a consequence of past tobacco trends. If CT screening begins to be used widely, then incidence rates will substantially increase as an artifact of the initiation of screening and the detection of prevalent cases, as was observed for prostate cancer in the early 1990s. Apart from this potential artifact of screening, the major factor that will determine lung cancer incidence in the coming decade is the past history of tobacco use. Incidence will, therefore, likely continue to decline among men and soon begin to decline among women. . . .

Tobacco. Tobacco usage has been demonstrated to be either the primary or contributing factor for numerous cancers, including lung, oral, bladder, pancreas, esophagus, stomach, and many others.66 Declines in incidence and mortality for tobacco-related cancers92 have been observed following declines in smoking prevalence, primarily due to smoking cessation, between 5 and 20 years previously. Recently, the trends in current smoking prevalence have been stable (Table 3), though smokers are smoking fewer cigarettes per day. Recent leveling of tobacco-use prevalence raises concern that the downward trends in tobacco-related cancers may eventually flatten as well. Clearly, tobacco remains the most modifiable factor for cancer prevention, thus US public policy to further discourage tobacco use is the most important continuing opportunity to decrease future cancer incidence.

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