A comparison of patient and tumour characteristics in two UK bladder cancer cohorts separated by 20 years.

OBJECTIVES: To compare patient and tumour characteristics at presentation from two large bladder cancer cohorts, with recruitment separated by 15-20 years To identify significant differences in the West Midlands' urothelial cancer of the bladder (UCB) population during this period. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data were collected prospectively from 1478 patients newly diagnosed with UCB in the West Midlands from January 1991 to June 1992 (Cohort 1), and from 1168 patients newly diagnosed with UBC within the same region from December 2005 to April 2011 (Cohort 2). Gender, age, smoking history, and tumour grade, stage, type, multiplicity and size at presentation were compared using a Pearson chi-square test or Cochran-Armitage trend test, as appropriate. RESULT: Cohort 2 had a higher proportion of male patients (P = 0.021), elderly patients (P < 0.001), grade 3 tumours (P < 0.001), Ta/T1 tumours (P = 0.008), multiple tumours (P < 0.001), and tumours of ≤2 cm in diameter (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: There were significant differences between the cohorts. These differences are potentially explained by an ageing population, changes in grading practices, improved awareness of important symptoms, improved cystoscopic technology, and reductions in treatment delays. Regional cohorts remain important for identifying changes in tumour and patient characteristics that may influence disease management in the UK and beyond.

Genetic marker polymorphisms on chromosome 8q24 and prostate cancer in the Dutch population: DG8S737 may not be the causative variant.

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men in Europe and Northern America. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have detected an association with markers on chromosome 8q24. Allele -8 of microsatellite DG8S737 with 22 repeats and allele A of the single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs1447295 have been found to be significantly associated with prostate cancer. As GWAS are subjected to type 1 error, confirmation studies are required to validate the results. Here, we analysed the same markers in 277 cases and 282 controls from the Netherlands using a nested case-control study. Incident prostate cancer cases and controls selected were identified in the population of the Netherlands Cohort Study. We also investigated clinical features of the disease by stratifying by tumour stage. We did not replicate the association with the SNP rs1447295-A allele (P=0.10), although the effect estimate was in the same direction as previous studies (odds ratio (OR), 1.38). Interestingly a statistically significant decreased risk was observed for DG8S737 allele -8 (OR, 0.62; P=0.03). The apparent protective effect of the DG8S737 -8 allele observed in this study contrasts with the Amundadottir study. This suggests that DG8S737 and rs1447295 might be tightly linked markers flanking the actual causative variant and that there may be potentially more than one high-risk haplotype present in the Caucasian population. This short report highlights the importance of validation, although further confirmation is still needed.