Higher parity associated with higher risk of death from gastric cancer

Mortality risk factors in patients with gastric cancer using Bayesian and ordinary Lasso logistic models: a study in the Southeast of Iran

AIM

The aim of this study was to apply two types of statistical models to determine the factors that influence the mortality rate in patients with gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND

In Iran, gastric cancer ranks the first and second most prevalent among men and women, respectively. It is the first cause of death in Iran in both gendersival.

METHODS

In this retrospective study, data were obtained from 339 (216 male) patients diagnosed with gastric cancer in the city of Kerman (South-East of Iran) during 2001-2015. In this study, ordinary and Bayesian Lasso (least absolute shrinkage and selection operator) logistic regression models, with goodness-of-fit indices, were compared and the models' risk factors were also determined.

RESULTS

The mean age of the participants was 62.84 ±14.53 years, and 12.4% of them were younger than 45 years. Also, the mortality rate was 57.7%. Gender, morphology of the tumor, and time of diagnosis were found to be significant factors in the mortality of the patients in both models. This study found that the Bayesian Lasso model had better fitness.

CONCLUSION

The high mortality rate of gastric cancer and its high prevalence at age below 45 years are alarming. Thus, great attention should be paid to prevention, early diagnosis, especially in females, and adenocarcinoma to improve the survival of patients with gastric cancer.

Parity Differently Affects the Breast Cancer Specific Survival from Ductal Carcinoma In Situ to Invasive Cancer: A Registry-Based Retrospective Study from Korea

Purpose:

Multiparity might increase general mortality for women, but has inconclusive in patients with breast cancer. Here, we aim to discover their effect in terms of the breast cancer development hypothesis: from ductal carcinoma in situ to invasive carcinoma.

Methods:

We included 37 947 patients from the web-based breast cancer registration program of the Korean Breast Cancer Society and analyzed survivals using multivariate Cox regression analysis and whether the associations of these factors displayed linear trends. They were divided into the following groups: (1) pure ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), (2) invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) mixed with intraductal component (DCIS-IDC), and (3) node negative pure IDC.

Results:

The mean age was 48.9 ± 9.9 years including premenopausal women was 61.8%. Although patients with parities of 1-3 had better prognosis compared with patients with nulliparous women, high parity (⩾4) increased the hazard ratio (HR) of overall survival (OS) (DCIS: HR, 1.52; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.62-3.78; IDC: HR, 1.43, 95% CI 0.89-2.31; and DCIS-IDC: HR, 1.44, 95% CI 0.45-4.59) during 84.2 (±10.7) months. For breast cancer specific survival (BCSS), the HR of the IDC group (P-value for trend = .04) increased along with increasing parity and was worse than nulliparous patients, and the HR of the DCIS-IDC group increased but was better than nulliparous patients (P-value for trend = .02). Compared with nulliparous patients, any age at first birth (AFB) decreased HR of OS in the DCIS and IDC groups (DCIS: P = .01; IDC: P = .04).

Conclusions:

Parity show dual effects on OS of women with all ductal typed breast cancer but show different effects on BCSS in Korea.

Parity and gastric cancer risk: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies

We performed this meta-analysis of epidemiological studies to comprehensively assess the association between parity and gastric cancer risk, because previous studies have shown conflicting results regarding this topic. Relevant prospective studies were identified by searching the following databases: PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science, and random-effects models were used to estimate summary relative risks (SRRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Our search yielded 10 prospective cohort studies involving a total of 6624 gastric cancer cases and 5,559,695 non-cases. The SRRs for ever parity vs. nulliparous and highest vs. lowest parity number were 0.96 (95%CI = 0.87–1.05, I² = 0%) and 1.03 (95%CI = 0.94–1.13, I² = 0%), respectively. Additionally, the SRR for an increment of one live birth was 1.00 (95%CI = 0.97–1.03, I² = 18.6%). These non-significant associations were observed in all subgroups as stratified by the number of gastric cases, follow-up years, geographic location, menopausal status, anatomic subsite of gastric cancer, and adjustment for potential confounders, as well as in sensitivity analyses. Our meta-analysis found no significant association between parity and gastric cancer risk. However, further studies should be conducted to validate our findings and could provide more detailed results by stratifying their findings by Lauren’s subtype, histology, and anatomic site, as well as fully adjusting for potential confounding factors.

Mortality from cancers of the digestive system among grand multiparous women in Taiwan

The aim of this study is to evaluate the significance of grand multiparous (GM) status in the mortality from cancers of the digestive system among a cohort of GM women in Taiwan during the period 1978-2008. The study cohort consisted of 144,922 women with at least five children (GM women) in the Taiwan Birth Register between 1 January 1978 and 31 December 2003. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) for cancers of the digestive system including esophagus, stomach, colon, rectum, liver, and pancreas were calculated by dividing the numbers of observed cancer deaths to the expected numbers of deaths based on the rates of national female population. Among the 144,922 GM women, a total of 23, 220, 213, 92, 397, and 65 deaths were caused by cancers of the esophagus, stomach, colon, rectum, liver, and pancreas, respectively. The SMRs among GM women were 1.61 (95% confidence intervals (CI): 0.95-2.27) for esophageal cancer, 1.15 (95% CI: 1.00-1.31) for stomach cancer, 1.07 (95% CI: 0.93-1.22) for colon cancer, 0.94 (95% CI: 0.75-1.14) for rectal cancer, 1.18 (95% CI: 1.06-1.30) for liver cancer, and 0.79 (95% CI: 0.60-0.98) for pancreatic cancer. This study provides evidence that grand multiparity may confer a protective effect on the risk of death from pancreatic cancer. However, the results suggest that GM women may increase the risk of death from cancers of the liver and stomach.

Sex hormones, hormonal interventions, and gastric cancer risk: a meta-analysis

Estrogens may influence gastric cancer risk, but published studies are inconclusive. We therefore carried out a meta-analysis addressing the associations of gastric cancer in women with menstrual and reproductive factors and with use of estrogen- and antiestrogen-related therapies. Searches of PubMed up to June, 2011 and review of citations yielded a total of 28 independent studies, including at least one exposure of interest. Random effects pooled estimates of relative risk (RR) and corresponding 95% CIs were calculated for eight exposures reported in at least five studies, including: age at menarche, age at menopause, years of fertility, parity, age at first birth, oral contraceptive use, hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and tamoxifen treatment. Longer years of fertility (RR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.63-0.86) and HRT (RR = 0.77; 95% CI: 0.64-0.92) were each associated with decreased gastric cancer risk. Conversely, tamoxifen treatment was associated with increased risk (RR = 1.82; 95% CI: 1.39-2.38). The other five exposures were not significantly associated. Our analysis supports the hypothesis that longer exposure to estrogen effects of either ovarian or exogenous origin may decrease risk of gastric cancer. Additional studies are warranted to extend this finding and to identify the underlying mechanisms.