Increasing the Contribution of Epidemiology to the Primary Prevention of Cancer

Lorenzo Tomatis [1929–2007] devoted his private and professional life to the betterment of mankind. As a physician, scientist, and humanitarian he championed against the plight of social injustice and promoted the obvious benefits of primary prevention of diseases compared to treatments that prevent or delay disease progression, especially occupational cancers. An avowed student and scholar of literature, the arts, the history of medicine and science, and chemical carcinogenesis, he believed in and wrote about these issues throughout his storied life. Some of his achievements, with excerpts from his writings, especially on primary prevention and on social injustice, are highlighted herein.

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Folate-fortified hormonal contraceptives in the strategy of primary prevention of cancer among women of reproductive age (a review)

Problemy reproduktsii ◽

10.17116/repro20182406151 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 24 (6) ◽

pp. 51

Author(s):

N. I. Tapil'skaya ◽

R. I. Glushakov

Keyword(s):

Primary Prevention ◽

Reproductive Age ◽

Hormonal Contraceptives ◽

Women Of Reproductive Age ◽

Prevention Of Cancer

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Treating obesity as primary prevention of cancer.

Journal of Clinical Oncology ◽

10.1200/jco.2020.38.15_suppl.e13556 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 38 (15_suppl) ◽

pp. e13556-e13556

Author(s):

Chowdhury Ferdous ◽

Tareq Islam

Keyword(s):

Primary Prevention ◽

P Value ◽

Hispanic Population ◽

Obesity Prevalence ◽

Current Increase ◽

Migration Effect ◽

Final Sample ◽

Seer Data ◽

Prevalence Of Obesity ◽

Prevention Of Cancer

e13556 Background: Prevalence of obesity in Hispanic population has been increasing. Obesity is a ‘super carcinogen’ and largely modifiable factor. We hypothesize due to current increase in prevalence of obesity there will be similar change in trend of malignancy among Hispanics and treating obesity can lead to decrease prevalence of both health conditions. Methods: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from year 1999 through 2016 was used to analyze obesity prevalence across different races. Surveillance Epidemiology and End Result (SEER) data was analyzed for racial distribution of overall and different kind of malignancies stratified by different races from 1999 through 2016. Differences of prevalence among different groups were calculated using likelihood ratio. Results: After exclusion criteria final sample size was 48,816 from NHANES and 6,868,226 from SEER dataset. Prevalence of obesity steadily increased in all races with highest change in Hispanics (31.7% in 1999-2000 to 47.3% in 2015-2016). Proportion of Hispanics with cancer also steadily increased from 7.5% in 1999-2000 to 11.3 in 2015-2016 in SEER dataset. States with high Hispanic population (New Mexico, California and New Jersey) had higher proportion of breast cancer (15.4%) compared to other states (14.5%) (p-value < 0.0001). Conclusions: Upward trend of obesity and malignancy is evident among Hispanic population. Hispanic populated states are showing higher prevalence of certain metabolically active malignancies. This increase in prevalence can be explained by “Migration Effect”. By intervening obesity 18% population attributable factor (PAF) is achievable. Opportunity exists to change this increasing trend in cancer epidemiology by treating obesity as primary prevention.

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Using Communicative Action in the Primary Prevention of Cancer

Health Education & Behavior ◽

10.1177/109019810002700407 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 27 (4) ◽

pp. 442-453 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Lynne Baillie ◽

Joan Bassett-Smith ◽

Sandra Broughton

Keyword(s):

Primary Prevention ◽

Communicative Action ◽

Prevention Of Cancer

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