April 2009 CEBP Highlights

PDF Version for Printing

Selected Articles from the April 1, 2009 Issue

The articles referenced in this Highlights section will be available online in HTML and PDF formats to all interested users at no charge until the next issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention is published. Click on the article title to view the complete article.

View the Table of Contents for the April 2009 issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention

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Survivors of Childhood Cancer

Mariotto et al.

Page 1033

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Cervical Cancer Risk Factors

Appleby et al.       Page 1060

Edelstein et al.     Page 1070

Cervical cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide. Two important studies in this issue access the number of sexual partners and the age of first intercourse (AFI) as risk factors for the development of cervical cancer. Edelstein and colleagues report a population-based study among cervical cancer cases diagnosed between 1986 and 2004 in the metropolitan Seattle area (n = 333). They report that the age of cervical cancer diagnosis was 3.1 years younger for cases reporting AFI <15 years, compared with AFI ≥ 19. The report finds several cases where the interval between AFI and cervical cancer diagnosis was ≤ 10 years, consistent with rapid-onset cervical cancer. This study supports recommendations for HPV vaccination during early adolescence and the initiation of Pap smears no earlier than 3 years following AFI. In a larger collaborative reanalysis, Appleby and colleagues from The International Collaboration of Epidemiological Studies of Cervical Cancer, combined data from 21 studies to evaluate AFI and number of sexual partners as risk factors for cervical carcinoma. This study included over 15,000 cases of invasive cervical carcinoma or cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3. Appleby and colleagues report that the risks of invasive carcinoma increase with higher numbers of sexual partners. In addition, they report that cervical cancer risks increase with younger AFI, consistent with the study from Edelstein and colleagues.

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Physical Fitness and Digestive System Cancers

Peel et al.

Page 1111

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Oral Contraceptive Use and Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Dolle et al.

Page 1157

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) refers to tumors lacking estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, and HER2. Unfortunately, the most successful treatments for breast cancer target these three receptors. The etiology of TNBC appears unique from non-TNBC, but few studies have evaluated these etiological differences. Dolle and colleagues evaluated risk factors for TNBC in women under 45, with respect to demographics, reproductive histories and oral contraceptive (OC) use. This study found that OC use ≥ 1 year was associated with increased risk for TNBC but not for non-TNBC and illustrates important differences in the risk of OC use for specific breast cancer subtypes. 

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