Female breast cancer burden was increasing during the 40 years in Hebei Province, China: a population-based study

Cancer survival in Cixian of China, 2003-2013: a population-based study

Cixian is one of the high‐risk areas for upper gastrointestinal cancer in China and the world. From 2005, comprehensive population‐based screening for upper gastrointestinal cancers has been conducted in Cixian. The aim of this study was to investigate population‐based cancer survival from 2003 to 2013 and to explore the effect of screening on upper gastrointestinal cancer survival in Cixian. Observed survival was estimated using the life table method. The expected survival from the general population was calculated using all‐cause mortality data from the population of Cixian with the EdererII method. Cixian cancer registry, with a total coverage of 6.88 million person years, recorded 19,628 cancer patients diagnosed during 2003–2013. In Cixian, from 2003 to 2013, there were 19,628 newly cancer cases and 13,984 cancer deaths, with an incidence rate of 285.37/100,000 and mortality rate of 203.31/100,000. The overall five‐year relative cancer survival for patients diagnosed in Cixian in 2003–2013 was 22.53%. The relative survival for all cancers combined in Cixian had an overall upward trend from 2003 to 2013. Among upper gastrointestinal cancer in Cixian, the five‐year relative survival for cardia gastric cancer was highest at 30.42%, followed by oesophageal cancer at 25.37% and noncardia gastric cancer at 18.93%. In 2013, the five‐year relative survival for oesophageal cancer, cardia gastric cancer, and noncardia gastric cancer patients aged 45–69 years was 39.97% (95% CI: 34.52–45.43%), 51.74% (95% CI: 42.09–60.86%), and 37.43% (95% CI: 26.93–48.17%), respectively, the absolute values increasing 14.11%, 16.71%, and 14.92% compared with that in 2003. There is an increasing trend in overall survival for upper gastrointestinal cancer with early screening and treatment of cancer in Cixian.

Ring finger protein 6 promotes breast cancer cell proliferation by stabilizing estrogen receptor alpha

Ring finger protein 6 (RNF6) is a key oncogene in both prostate cancer and leukemia, but its role is elusive in breast cancer. In the present study, we found that RNF6 was overexpressed in more than 70% of breast cancer tissues and it was associated with overall survival. RNF6 increased breast cancer cell proliferation, migration and reduced cell sensitivity to doxorubicin. Further studies showed that RNF6 was closely associated with increased expression of estrogen receptor, a critical factor in the development of breast cancers. RNF6 was found to induce ERα expression and increased its stability. In doxorubicin-resistant breast cancer cells, RNF6 was found to be elevated in association with increased ERα and anti-apoptotic Bcl-xL, but not pro-apoptotic Bim-1. In consistence with this finding, overexpression of ERα led to increased Bcl-xL but had no effects on Bim-1. Therefore, this study demonstrated that there exists an RNF6/ERα/Bcl-xL axle in breast cancer which promotes cancer cell proliferation and survival. Targeting the RNF6/ERα/Bcl-xL axle could be a promising strategy in the treatment of breast cancer.

Exploring association between statin use and breast cancer risk: an updated meta-analysis

PURPOSE

The benefits of statin treatment for preventing cardiac disease are well established. However, preclinical studies suggested that statins may influence mammary cancer growth, but the clinical evidence is still inconsistent. We, therefore, performed an updated meta-analysis to provide a precise estimate of the risk of breast cancer in individuals undergoing statin therapy.

METHODS

For this meta-analysis, we searched PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, and CINAHL for published studies up to January 31, 2017. Articles were included if they (1) were published in English; (2) had an observational study design with individual-level exposure and outcome data, examined the effect of statin therapy, and reported the incidence of breast cancer; and (3) reported estimates of either the relative risk, odds ratios, or hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). We used random-effect models to pool the estimates.

RESULTS

Of 2754 unique abstracts, 39 were selected for full-text review, and 36 studies reporting on 121,399 patients met all inclusion criteria. The overall pooled risks of breast cancer in patients using statins were 0.94 (95% CI 0.86-1.03) in random-effect models with significant heterogeneity between estimates (I ² = 83.79%, p = 0.0001). However, we also stratified by region, the duration of statin therapy, methodological design, statin properties, and individual stain use.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that there is no association between statin use and breast cancer risk. However, observational studies cannot clarify whether the observed epidemiologic association is a causal effect or the result of some unmeasured confounding variable. Therefore, more research is needed.

Cancer incidence and mortality in Hebei province, 2013

To estimate the numbers of new cancer cases and deaths in Hebei province in 2013 and to investigate the real cancer burden in Hebei province to develop strategies for cancer prevention and control.Data on new cancer cases and deaths in 2013 were collected from 31 population-based cancer registries of Hebei province. All data were checked and evaluated based on data quality criteria from the "Chinese Guideline for Cancer Registration" and "Cancer Incidence in Five Continents Volume IX" by the International Agency for Research on Cancer/International Association of Cancer Registration (IARC/IACR). Qualified data from 21 registries were used for analysis after evaluation. Data analysis was stratified by areas (urban/rural), gender, age group, and cancer type. New cancer cases and deaths in Hebei province were estimated using age-specific rates and the corresponding provincial population. The 10 most common cancers in different groups and the cumulative rates were calculated. The Chinese population census in 2000 and the population of Segi were used for age-standardized incidence/mortality rates.The covered populations included 11, 185,626 people (5,709,393 in males and 5,476,233 in females) from 21 qualified cancer registries, accounting for 15.25% of Hebei provincial population. The major indicators of quality control, that is, the percentage of cases morphologically verified (MV%), percentage of cancer cases identified with a death certificate only (DCO%), and the mortality to incidence rate ratio (M/I), were 75.56%, 3.23%, and 0.65, respectively. In 2013, it was estimated that there were approximately 164,100 newly diagnosed cancer cases and 105,200 cancer deaths in Hebei province. The incidence rate of cancer was 225.36/100,000 (248.03/100,000 in males, 201.73/100,000 in females), and the age-standardized incidence rates by Chinese standard population (ASIRC) and the world standard population (ASIRW) were 182.81/100,000 and 181.36/100,000, respectively. The cancer incidence and ASIRC were 225.49/100,000 and 173.84/100,000 in urban areas and 225.27/100,000 and 189.31/100,000 in rural areas, respectively. The cancer mortality rate was 145.46/100,000 (177.85/100,000 in males and 111.70/100,000 in females). Age-standardized mortality rates by Chinese standard population (ASMRC) and world standard population (ASMRW) were 119.09/100,000 and 118.73/100,000, respectively. The cancer mortality rate in rural areas (152.64/100,000) was higher than that in urban areas (135.71/100,000). The most common cancers were lung cancer, stomach cancer, esophageal cancer, liver cancer, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer. Lung cancer, stomach cancer, liver cancer, esophageal cancer, and colorectal cancer were the major causes of cancer death in Hebei province.The coverage of cancer registration population has rapidly increased and may reveal the cancer burden in Hebei province more comprehensively. The cancer burden in Hebei province is heavy, and prevention and control measures should be enhanced.