Lung Cancer Characteristics in the World Trade Center Environmental Health Center.

The destruction of the World Trade Center (WTC) towers on 11 September 2001 resulted in acute and chronic dust and fume exposures to community members, including local workers and residents, with well-described aerodigestive adverse health effects. This study aimed to characterize lung cancer in the WTC Environmental Health Center (WTC EHC) focusing on gender and smoking history. WTC EHC patients undergo an initial evaluation that includes WTC exposure information, demographics, and tobacco use. Detailed cancer characteristics are recorded from pathology reports. As of 31 December 2019, 248 WTC EHC patients had a diagnosis of lung cancer. More patients with lung cancer were women (57%) compared to men (43%). Many cases (47% women, 51% men) reported acute dust cloud exposure. Thirty-seven percent of lung cancer cases with available smoking history were never-smokers (≤1 pack-years) and 42% had a ≤5 pack-year history. The median age of cancer diagnosis in never-smoking women was 61 years compared to 66 years in men. Adenocarcinoma was more common in never-smokers compared to ever-smokers (72% vs. 65%) and in women compared to men (70% vs. 65%). We provide an initial description of lung cancers in local community members with documented exposure to the WTC dust and fumes.

The Development of a WTC Environmental Health Center Pan-Cancer Database.

(1) Background: Recent studies have reported elevated risks of multiple cancers in the World Trade Center (WTC) affected community members (also called WTC "Survivors"). The large variety of WTC-cancers created a need to develop a comprehensive cancer database. This paper describes the development of a pan-cancer database at the WTC Environmental Health Center (EHC) Data Center. (2) Methods: A new REDCap-based pan-cancer database was created using the pathology reports and available biomarker data of confirmed cancer cases after review by a cancer epidemiologist, a pathologist, physicians and biostatisticians. (3) Results: The WTC EHC pan-cancer database contains cancer characteristics and emerging biomarker information for cancers of individuals enrolled in the WTC EHC and diagnosed after 11 September 2001 and up to 31 December 2019 obtained from WTC EHC clinical records, pathological reports and state cancer registries. As of 31 December 2019, the database included 3440 cancer cases with cancer characteristics and biomarker information. (4) Conclusions: This evolving database represents an important resource for the scientific community facilitating future research about the etiology, heterogeneity, characteristics and outcomes of cancers and comorbid mental health conditions, cancer economics and gene-environment interaction in the unique population of WTC survivors.

Characteristics of Cancer Patients in the World Trade Center Environmental Health Center.

The destruction of the World Trade Center (WTC) towers on 11 September 2001 released many tons of aerosolized dust and smoke with potential for carcinogenic exposures to community members as well as responders. The WTC Environmental Health Center (WTC EHC) is a surveillance and treatment program for a diverse population of community members ("Survivors"), including local residents and workers, present in the NYC disaster area on 9/11 or in the days or weeks following. We report a case series of cancers identified in the WTC EHC as of 31 December 2019. Descriptive characteristics are presented for 2561 cancer patients (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) and 5377 non-cancer WTC-EHC participants who signed informed consent. We identified a total of 2999 cancer diagnoses in 2561 patients: 2534 solid tumors (84.5%) and 465 lymphoid and hematopoietic tissue cancers (15.5%) with forty-one different cancer types. We describe the distribution, frequency, median age of cancer diagnosis and median latency from 9/11 by cancer site. In addition to common cancer types, rare cancers, including male breast cancers and mesotheliomas have been identified. The current study is the first report on cancer characteristics of enrollees at WTC EHC, a federally designated treatment and surveillance program for local community members affected by the 9/11 terrorist attack on the WTC.

The effect of photobiomodulation on root resorption during orthodontic treatment.

Photobiomodulation is used to accelerate tooth movement during orthodontic treatments. The changes in root morphology in a group of orthodontic patients who received photobiomodulation were evaluated using the cone beam computed tomography technique. The device used is called OrthoPulse, which produces low levels of light with a near infrared wavelength of 850 nm and an intensity of 60 mW/cm(2) continuous wave. Twenty orthodontic patients were recruited for these experiments, all with class 1 malocclusion and with Little's Irregularity Index (>2 mm) in either of the arches. Root resorption was detected by measuring changes in tooth length using cone beam computed tomography. These changes were measured before the orthodontic treatment and use of low-level laser therapy and after finishing the alignment level. Little's Irregularity Index for all the patients was calculated in both the maxilla and mandible and patients were divided into three groups for further analysis, which were then compared to the root resorption measurements. Our results showed that photobiomodulation did not cause root resorption greater than the normal range that is commonly detected in orthodontic treatments. Furthermore, no correlation between Little's Irregularity Index and root resorption was detected.

Acceleration of tooth movement during orthodontic treatment--a frontier in orthodontics.

Nowadays, there is an increased tendency for researches to focus on accelerating methods for tooth movement due to the huge demand for adults for a shorter orthodontic treatment time. Unfortunately, long orthodontic treatment time poses several disadvantages like higher predisposition to caries, gingival recession, and root resorption. This increases the demand to find the best method to increase tooth movement with the least possible disadvantages. The purpose of this study is to view the successful approaches in tooth movement and to highlight the newest technique in tooth movement. A total of 74 articles were reviewed in tooth movement and related discipline from 1959 to 2013. There is a high amount of researches done on the biological method for tooth movement; unfortunately, the majority of them were done on animals. Cytokine, PTH, vitamin D, and RANKL/RANK/OPG show promising results; on the other hand, relaxin does not accelerate tooth movement, but increases the tooth mobility. Low-level laser therapy has shown positive outcome, but further investigation should be done for the best energy and duration to achieve the highest success rate. Surgical approach has the most predictable outcomes but with limited application due to its aggressiveness. Piezocision technique is considered one of the best surgical approaches because it poses good periodontal tissue response and excellent aesthetic outcome. Due to the advantages and disadvantages of each approach, further investigations should be done to determine the best method to accelerate tooth movement.

Use of causal language in observational studies of obesity and nutrition.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the inappropriate use of causal language in studies on obesity and nutrition. METHODS: Titles and abstracts of 525 peer-reviewed papers in the 4 leading journals in the fields of obesity and nutrition were scrutinized for language implying causality in observational studies published in 2006. RESULTS: Such misleading language appeared in 161 papers (31%) independent of funding source. Remarkably 49% of studies lacking statistically significant primary outcomes used misleading language compared to 29% of those with p values ≤0.05 (chi square p < 0.001). Exculpatory language was present in the body of the text in 19%; of the 161 studies. CONCLUSION: We suggest that editors and reviewers evaluate submissions for misleading reporting.