Premature Mortality Due to Malignancies of the Central Nervous System in Canada, 1980-2010

Average lifespan shortened due to cancer in selected countries of North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania, 2006 and 2016

PURPOSE

We applied a novel measure of average lifespan shortened (ALSS) to examine changes in lifespan among patients who died of cancer over a 10-year period from 2006 to 2016 in 20 selected high-income countries from North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania.

METHODS

We retrieved cancer deaths in each country from the World Health Organization mortality database. We calculated ALSS as a ratio of years of life lost to the expected lifespan among patients who died from cancer.

RESULTS

Between 2006 and 2016, we observed modest changes in ALSS for overall cancer deaths over the study in many countries. The changes in the ALSS over time due to any cancer ranged between -1.7 and +0.4 percentage points (pps) among men and between -1.9 and +0.6 pps among women. Across countries, overall cancer deaths led to an average loss between 16% and 22% of their lifespan in men, and between 18% and 24% in women. Across cancer sites, patients who died of central nervous system cancers, for instance, lost a large proportion of their lifespan.

CONCLUSIONS

In this study, we demonstrated the use of ALSS across selected high-income countries, which enables population-level assessment of premature mortality among cancer patients over time.

Average lifespan shortened due to breast cancer in Australia, 1990-2015

BACKGROUND

This short report aims to investigate changes in lifespan of Australian women with breast cancer using the novel average lifespan shortened (ALSS) measure METHODS: We obtained the mortality data of Australian women with breast cancer from the World Health Organization mortality database for the 1990-2015 period. We calculated the age-standardized rate (ASR) according to the World Standard Population. We estimated the ALSS as a ratio of years of life lost in relation to the expected lifespan to examine changes in lifespan of Australian women with breast cancer over the study period.

RESULTS

Over a 25-year period, the ASR of breast cancer deaths decreased from 20.5 to 12.6 deaths per 100,000 women. We observed a decline in ALSS values from 24.0% of their lifespan in 1990 to 22.0% in 2015.

CONCLUSION

The novel ALSS measure indicates an improvement of two percentage points in the lifespan of Australian women with breast cancer over the study.

Long non-coding RNAs mediate cerebral vascular pathologies after CNS injuries

Central nervous system (CNS) injuries are one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, accompanied with high medical costs and a decreased quality of life. Brain vascular disorders are involved in the pathological processes of CNS injuries and might play key roles for their recovery and prognosis. Recently, increasing evidence has shown that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), which comprise a very heterogeneous group of non-protein-coding RNAs greater than 200 nucleotides, have emerged as functional mediators in the regulation of vascular homeostasis under pathophysiological conditions. Remarkably, lncRNAs can regulate gene transcription and translation, thus interfering with gene expression and signaling pathways by different mechanisms. Hence, a deeper insight into the function and regulatory mechanisms of lncRNAs following CNS injury, especially cerebrovascular-related lncRNAs, could help in establishing potential therapeutic strategies to improve or inhibit neurological disorders. In this review, we highlight recent advancements in understanding of the role of lncRNAs and their application in mediating cerebrovascular pathologies after CNS injury.

Average Lifespan Shortened due to Stroke in Canada: A Nationwide Descriptive Study From 1990 to 2015

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

There are challenges in comparability when using existing life lost measures to examine long-term trends in premature mortality. To address this important issue, we have developed a novel measure termed average lifespan shortened (ALSS). In the present study, we used the ALSS measure to describe temporal changes in premature mortality due to stroke in the Canadian population from 1990 to 2015.

METHODS

Mortality data for stroke were obtained from the World Health Organization mortality database. Years of life lost was calculated using Canadian life tables. ALSS was calculated as the ratio of years of life lost in relation to the expected lifespan.

RESULTS

Over a 25-year timeframe, the age-standardized rates adjusted to the World Standard Population for deaths from all strokes and stroke types substantially decreased in both sexes. The ALSS measure indicated that men who died of stroke lost 12.1% of their lifespan in 1990 and 11.4% in 2015, whereas these values among women were 11.1% and 10.0%, respectively. Patients with subarachnoid hemorrhagic stroke lost the largest portion whereby both sexes lost about one-third of their lifespan in 1990 and one-fourth in 2015. Men with intracerebral hemorrhagic stroke lost around 18% of their lifespan in 1990 and 14% in 2015 as compared to women who lost about 16% and 12% over the same timeframe. The loss of lifespan for patients with ischemic stroke and other stroke types combined was relatively stable at about 10% throughout the study period.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study demonstrated a modest improvement in lifespan among patients with stroke in Canada between 1990 and 2015. Our novel ALSS measure provides intuitive interpretation of temporal changes in lifespan among patients with stroke and helps to enhance our understanding of the burden of strokes in the Canadian population.

Premature Mortality Due to Hodgkin Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, Multiple Myeloma, and Leukemia in Canada: A Nationwide Analysis From 1980 to 2015

Recently, we introduced a novel measure of "average life span shortened" (ALSS) to improve comparability of premature mortality over time. In this study, we applied this novel measure to examine trends in premature mortality caused by hematological cancers in Canada from 1980 to 2015. Mortality data for Hodgkin lymphoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and leukemia were obtained from the World Health Organization mortality database. Years of life lost was calculated according to Canadian life tables. ALSS was defined as the ratio between years of life lost and expected life span. Over the study period, age-standardized rates of mortality decreased for all types of hematological cancers. Our new ALSS measure showed favorable trends in premature mortality for all types of hematological cancers among both sexes. For instance, men with non-Hodgkin lymphoma lost an average of 23.7% of their life span in 1980 versus 16.1% in 2015, while women with non-Hodgkin lymphoma lost an average of 21.7% of their life span in 1980 versus 15.5% in 2015. Results from this study showed that patients with hematological cancers experienced prolonged survival over a 35-year period although the magnitude of these life span gains varied by types of hematological cancers.

Premature Mortality Due to Malignancies of the Kidney and Bladder in Japan, 1980-2010

Background

In the present study, we examined the trends of premature mortality due to kidney and bladder cancers among the Japanese population from 1980 through 2010.

Methods

Mortality data were obtained from the World Health Organization mortality database. Years of life lost (YLL) was estimated using Japanese life tables. Average lifespan shortened (ALSS) was calculated and defined as the ratio of years of life lost relative to the expected lifespan.

Results

Over the study period, the age-standardized rates to the World Standard Population for deaths from kidney and bladder cancers were stable. The average years of life lost (AYLL) measure shows decreases of about 4 and 6 years of life for kidney cancer in men and women, respectively, and decreases of about 2 years of life for bladder cancer in both sexes. The ALSS shows that patients with kidney cancer lost 21.0% and 24.7% of their lifespan among men and women in 1980, whereas respective losses were 15.3% and 15.8% in 2010. Also, patients with bladder cancer on average lost 13.5% in men and 14.2% in women in 1980 and 10.8% in men and 11.1% in women in 2010.

Conclusions

Our study shows favorable trends in premature mortality for kidney and bladder cancers in Japan over a 30-year period; however, patients with bladder cancer on average lost a smaller proportion of their lifespan compared to those with kidney cancer. The development of a novel ALSS measure is convenient in examination of the burden of premature mortality over time.