General descriptive studies (00350): Previous studies have shown that declines in age-specific lung cancer death rates among women in the United States (US) slowed in women younger than age 50 years. However, in view of substantial geographic differences in anti-tobacco measures and sociodemographic factors that affect smoking prevalence, it is unknown whether this change in the trend was similar across all states in the US. Results of this study showed that age-specific lung cancer deaths rates declined continuously among women in California but less so or even increased in the remaining states, especially in several southern and Midwestern states. This unfavorable lung cancer trend in white women born after circa 1950 in certain states underscores the need for additional interventions to promote smoking cessation in these high-risk populations. Radiation exposure, particularly at a young age, is an established cause of breast cancer. However, it is not known whether radiation-related breast cancer risk varies by molecular subtype. We, characterized the relative risk (RR) of contralateral breast cancer (CBC) related to radiotherapy by histology and estrogen receptor (ER) status of the CBC. Results did not find any clear evidence that radiation-related risk varied by histology or ER status. Burkitts lymphoma (BL) in the general population and immunosuppressed persons with AIDS in the US was previously characterized by three age-specific incidence peaks near 10, 40, and 70 years. We hypothesized that BL from different geographical areas may also exhibit pediatric, adult, and elderly age incidence peaks. We investigated this hypothesis using data on 3,403 cases obtained from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (19632002). Age-specific incidence peaks occurred near 10 and 70 years in all geographic regions. A peak near 40 years of age emerged in the mid-1990s, particularly in men. We used Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program data for 71,446 cases diagnosed during 1975-2008 to classify oral cavity and pharynx cancers (OCPC) by anatomic subsite as potentially HPV-related or not, with oral tongue cancer considered a separate category. Total OCPC rates among men were 2-4 times those among women. Among whites, total OCPC rates rose in the younger age groups due to substantial increases in successive birth cohorts for HPV-related cancers, more rapid among men than women, and oral tongue cancers, more rapid among women than men. Black renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients tend to have poorer prognosis than white patients. We examined whether the racial disparity in RCC patient survival varies by demographic and clinical characteristics. Proportionally more blacks than whites were diagnosed with RCC under age 50 and with localized cancer. Overall, the 5-year relative survival rates were 72.6% (95% confidence interval 72.0% - 73.2%) for white and 68.0% (66.2% - 69.8%) for black patients. In view of mobile phone exposure being classified as a possible human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), we determined the compatibility of two recent reports of glioma risk (forming the basis of the IARCs classification) with observed incidence trends in the United States. Age-specific incidence rates of glioma remained generally constant in 1992-2008 (-0.02% change per year, 95% confidence interval -0.28% to 0.25%), a period coinciding with a substantial increase in mobile phone use from close to 0% to almost 100% of the US population. Since 2001, the World Health Organization (WHO) classification for hematopoietic and lymphoid neoplasms has provided a framework for defining acute leukemia (AL) subtypes, although few population-based studies have assessed incidence patterns and patient survival accordingly. We assessed AL incidence rates (IRs), IR ratios (IRRs), and relative survival in the United States (2001-2007) in one of the first population-based, comprehensive assessments. Most subtypes of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma (ALL/L) predominated among males, from twice higher incidence of T-cell ALL/L among males than among females (IRR=2.20) to nearly equal IRs of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) (IRR=1.08). Compared to non-Hispanic whites, Hispanics had significantly higher incidence of B-cell ALL/L (IRR=1.64) and APL (IRR=1.28);blacks had lower IRs of nearly all AL subtypes. All ALL/L but only some AML subtypes were associated with a bimodal age pattern. Among AML subtypes, survival was highest for APL and AML with inv(16). B-cell ALL/L had more favorable survival than T-cell ALL/L among the young;the converse occurred at older ages. The Armitage Doll model with random frailty can fail to describe incidence rates of rare cancers influenced by an accelerated biological mechanism at some, possibly short, period of life. We propose a new model to account for this influence. Osteosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma are primary bone cancers with characteristic age-incidence patterns that peak in adolescence. We analyzed SEER incidence data for whites younger than 40 years diagnosed during the period 1975-2005, with an Armitage Doll model with compound Poisson frailty. Our results support existing evidence of an underlying susceptibility for the two cancers among a very small proportion of the population. In addition, the modeling results suggest that susceptible individuals with a rapid growth spurt acquire the cancers sooner than they otherwise would have, if their growth had been slower. The new model is suitable for modeling incidence rates of rare diseases influenced by an accelerated biological mechanism. Mortality Rate Generator Software (00390): The online version of the Atlas of Cancer Mortality in the United States, 1950-94, published in 1999, has been updated to include data through 2004 and is publicly available at (http://parsley.cit.nih.gov/ratecalc). Users can create customized maps according to cancer, age groups, sex, and race. US Military Cancer Institute (USMCI)/NCI Collaborative Research Program (10382): To determine the incidence of testicular germ cell tumors among active duty males and compare it with the incidence in the general U.S. population, we used data from the Automated Cancer Tumor Registry and the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program for cases diagnosed from 1990 to 2003 among men aged between 20 and 59 years by histology and stage at diagnosis. Trends in incidence tended to be similar in both the populations. Increases in thyroid papillary carcinoma incidence rates have largely been attributed to heightened medical surveillance and improved diagnostics. We examined papillary carcinoma incidence in an equal-access healthcare system by demographics. Incidence rates during1990-2004 among white and black individuals aged 20-49 years in the military and the general U.S. population were compared using data from the Department of Defenses Automated Central Tumor Registry and the National Cancer Institutes Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER-9) program. Incidence was significantly higher in the military than in the general population among white women [incidence rate ratio (IRR)=1.42, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.25-1.61], black women (IRR=2.31, 95% CI=1.70-2.99), and black men (IRR=1.69, 95% CI=1.10-2.50). Heightened medical surveillance does not appear to fully explain the differences between the two populations or the temporal increases in either population. DCEG and USMCI researchers are also analyzing data on more than 9 million active and retired military personnel and their families to estimate cancer rates as well as study the effects of occupational exposures and lifestyle factors on cancer risk.
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