ABSTRACT
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is one of the common cancers in Asian population but israre in Western countries. In Thailand, the incidence of NPC in 1999 was 2.8/100,000 among malesand 1.4/ 100,000 among females. The objective of the study was to investigate the importance ofenvironmental factors, as well as viral infection. This case-control study was conducted at UdonthaniRegional Cancer Centre during October 2007- October 2009. Ninety seven patients withhistopathologically confirmed NPC and 127 controls were included in the study. Information wascollected by interviewer about demographic variables, cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, eatinghabits, past history of disease, family history of cancer and a lifetime history of every job that washeld for one year or longer. The participants were also asked to donate a blood sample for virologyand genetic study. The result indicated that smoking and alcohol consumption were associated withan increase risk of NPC (OR=1.40, 95%CI 0.97-3.53 and OR=2.60, 95%CI 1.25-5.56, respectively),while salted fish and fermented consumption were not associated with NPC. Past history of sinusitiswas also associated with an increase risk of NPC (OR=18.5, 95%CI 2.50-148.87). Our resultssuggest a strong effect of EBV infection on NPC risk (OR=39.3, 95%CI 16.64-91.23). In summary,our results suggest that many risk factors such as EBV infection, smoking, alcohol consumption orsinusitis may play an important role in NPC pathogenesis.Keywords: nasopharyngeal cancer, risk factors, case-control study
ABSTRACT
Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is one of the most common cancers in northeastern Thailand, especially Udon Thani Province. The major cause of CCA has been associated with infestation by the liver fluke Opisthorchis viverrini (OV). In northeast Thailand, the tradition of eating raw freshwater fish daily exposes the local population repeatedly to liver-fluke infection. Although the government campaign warns "Do not eat raw fish", the incidence rate is still high in Thailand. The objective of this study was to evaluate behaviors and attitudes in the Udon Thani population related to eating raw freshwater fish. A total of 968 subjects (age range: 15-80 years; mean age: 46 years) were recruited, comprising 659 subjects from Nonghan District and 309 from Khukaw District. A trained interviewer interviewed each participant, and stool samples were collected for laboratory examination. The results indicated that 59.0% of the subjects knew that eating raw freshwater fish was a cause of opisthorchiasis, but a significant proportion did not realize this behavior could result in cholangiocarcinoma (19.9%). Most of the subjects thought that eating raw freshwater fish occasionally (29.8%), or eating a small amount (22.9%), were not risk factors for OV infection. The results showed that the subjects had misunderstandings about opisthorchiasis and cholangiocarcinoma. Therefore, encouraging people to avoid eating raw fish should be undertaken more rigorously, such as by promoting knowledge of the negative effects of eating raw freshwater fish, and supporting local communities to find ways to change eating behaviors. (Thai Cancer J 2009;29:162-175.)
ABSTRACT
To our knowledge, only two reports concerning association between GSTO1 polymorphism and breast cancer risk have been revealed, but no association between GSTO1 polymorphism and clinicopathological features of patients with breast cancer have previously been reported. Therefore, in this study, the association of GSTO1 genotypes with a number of clinical parameter was investigated in 101 patients with breast cancer diagnosed and treated at the National Cancer Institute. DNA extracted from buffy coats of the cases was used to determine the genotypes by polymerase chain reaction-restriction-fragment length polymorphism. Our findings revealed that wild-type GSTO1 gene (A140/A140) significantly correlated with advanced-stage breast cancer (P=0.008). Form the literature, GSTO1 appears to be involved in drug and xenobiotic metabolism, it would be of great interest to investigate further whether resistance to radiation or chemotherapy occurs in carriers of wild-type GSTO1 gene, particularly those with advanced-stage breast cancer. Elucidating this relationship should lead to the improved clinical management of these patients.