Research Methods and Procedures:We used cross-sectional data from 7503 adults of Mexican descent residing in Harris County, TX, to evaluate the relationships among BMI, birthplace, and years of residency in the U.S., controlling for demographic characteristics, physical activity level, and acculturation level. Results: U.S.-born adults had an increased risk (between 34% and 65%) of obesity compared with their Mexicanborn counterparts. After controlling for recognized confounders and risk factors, this association was maintained in the highly acculturated only. Among highly acculturated obese U.S.-born men, 6% of the cases were attributable to the joint effect of birthplace and acculturation; in women, this proportion was 25%. Among Mexican-born women, there was an increasing trend in mean BMI with increasing duration of residency in the U.S.. Compared with immigrants who had lived in the U.S. for Ͻ5 years, Mexicanborn women who had resided in the U.S. for Ն15 years had an adjusted BMI mean difference of 2.12 kg/m 2 (95% confidence interval, 1.53-2.72). Discussion: Mexican-born men and women have a lower risk of obesity than their U.S.-born counterparts, but length of U.S. residency among immigrants, especially in women, is directly associated with risk of obesity. Development of culturally specific interventions to prevent obesity in recent immigrants may have an important public health effect in this population.

Purpose To understand the mechanism through which obesity in breast cancer patients is associated with poorer outcome, we evaluated body mass index (BMI) and response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NC) in women with operable breast cancer. Patients and Methods From May 1990 to July 2004, 1,169 patients were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and received NC before surgery. Patients were categorized as obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2), overweight (BMI of 25 to < 30 kg/m2), or normal/underweight (BMI < 25 kg/m2). Logistic regression was used to examine associations between BMI and pathologic complete response (pCR). Breast cancer–specific, progression-free, and overall survival times were examined using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards regression analysis. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results Median age was 50 years; 30% of patients were obese, 32% were overweight, and 38% were normal or underweight. In multivariate analysis, there was no significant difference in pCR for obese compared with normal weight patients (odds ratio [OR] = 0.78; 95% CI, 0.49 to 1.26). Overweight and the combination of overweight and obese patients were significantly less likely to have a pCR (OR = 0.59; 95% CI, 0.37 to 0.95; and OR = 0.67; 95% CI, 0.45 to 0.99, respectively). Obese patients were more likely to have hormone-negative tumors (P < .01), stage III tumors (P < .01), and worse overall survival (P = .006) at a median follow-up time of 4.1 years. Conclusion Higher BMI was associated with worse pCR to NC. In addition, its association with worse overall survival suggests that greater attention should be focused on this risk factor to optimize the care of breast cancer patients.

Few studies have examined exercise in relation to risk of renal cell cancer. We examined the association between leisure-time and occupational physical activity and renal cell cancer in a cohort of 29,133 male smokers 50 -69 years of age in the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene (ATBC) Cancer Prevention Study. Physical activity was assessed at baseline using a self-administered questionnaire that inquired about usual level of physical activity during leisure-time and at work during the past year. Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to adjust simultaneously for known or suspected risk factors for renal cell cancer. Key words: physical activity; RCC; smokersThe incidence of renal cell cancer, the most common form of kidney cancer, has been increasing in the United States (US), 1 other Western countries 2,3 and worldwide. 4 In the US, incidence rates for renal cell cancer have risen about 2% per year among the major race groups since 1970. 5 Renal cell cancer also now accounts for approximately 2% of cancers in the US 6 as well as worldwide. 4 Renal cell cancer is more common among men than women and the incidence rates vary more than 10-fold in the world. The highest rates are found in North America and Europe and the lowest in Asia. 4 The causes of renal cell cancer are poorly understood. Smoking 7,8 and obesity 8 are established risk factors. Several epidemiological studies have reported that obesity is related to an increased risk of renal cell cancer among women and men, although the evidence is stronger for women. 8 Because energy expenditure is an important determinant of weight gain and obesity, physical activity may play a protective role in the development of renal cell cancer. Very few studies have examined the relationship between physical activity and renal cell cancer, however, and in these studies, the association remains unclear. Four case-control studies 9 -12 have been reported to date. Of these, one 10 showed an inverse association with occupational physical activity whereas 3 9,11,12 showed no association with either occupational or leisure-time physical activity. Three prospective cohort studies [13][14][15] have also assessed physical activity in relation to renal cell cancer, and one 14 showed an inverse association with occupational physical activity whereas the others 13,15 showed no association with leisure time physical activity. Of these 7 reported studies, only 4 10 -12,15 controlled for body mass and only one 9 accounted for diet as a potential confounding variable.We examined the relationship between leisure-time and occupational physical activities and risk of renal cell cancer in a large prospective cohort of middle-aged Finnish male smokers, with detailed information on body mass index (BMI), diet and life-style factors. MATERIAL AND METHODS Study populationThe ATBC study was a randomized, double-blind, placebocontrolled, two-by-two factorial design, primary prevention trial that tested whether alpha-tocopherol (50 mg/day) and beta-carotene (20 mg/day) reduced the incidence of...

When using 3 of the 4 questionnaire methods, postmenopausal women overestimated EEs. Of all women, obese women overestimated daily EE the most.

Background: Both obesity and sex hormones are known risk factors for postmenopausal breast cancer. Although adiposity and sex hormones have been studied in the past, previous reports in postmenopausal women have not been conducted under carefully controlled dietary conditions. In this study, we investigated the usefulness of body mass index (BMI) as a sufficient adiposity measurement to assess associations with sex hormone levels. Methods: This study was conducted as a cross-sectional analysis within the control segment (0 g alcohol group) of a randomized, crossover design, in which 51 postmenopausal women consumed 0 (control), 15 (one drink), and 30 (two drinks) g alcohol (ethanol)/d for 8 weeks each as part of a controlled diet. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scans were administered to the women during the control (0 g alcohol) segment, and a blood sample was drawn at the end of that diet period for hormone analysis.

Objective: To assess the associations between serum folate concentration and measures of adiposity in postmenopausal women. Design: This study was conducted as a cross-sectional analysis within the control segment of a randomized, crossover trial in which postmenopausal women (n ¼ 51) consumed 0 g (control), 15 g (one drink) and 30 g (two drinks) alcohol (ethanol)/day for 8 weeks as part of a controlled diet. Subjects in one treatment arm were crossed-over to another arm after a 2-to 5-week washout period. Body mass index (BMI) was measured, and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan administered to the women during the control (0 g alcohol) treatment, and a blood sample from this group was collected at baseline and week 8 of each diet period and analyzed for folate, B12, homocysteine and methylmalonic acid. Setting: This study was conducted at the Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, MD, USA. Results: In multivariate analysis, women who were overweight had a 12% lower, and obese women had a 22% lower serum folate concentrations compared to normal weight women (P-trend ¼ 0.02). Vitamin B12 also decreased with increasing BMI (P-trend ¼ 0.08). Increased BMI, percent body fat, and absolute amounts of central and peripheral fat were all significantly associated with decreased serum folate, but were unrelated to serum B12, homocysteine or methylmalonic acid. Conclusions: Our data show that adiposity is associated with lower serum folate levels in postmenopausal women. With obesity at epidemic proportions, these data, if confirmed by prospective or randomized controlled studies, have important public health implications.

Background: Using data from a case-control study, we previously reported that low dietary intakes of magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), but not selenium (Se) and calcium (Ca), were associated with increased lung cancer risk. Due to dietary recall bias in case-control studies, our objective was to assess whether these findings hold in a prospective cohort study.Methods: We analyzed data from the NIH-American Association of Retired Persons Diet and Health study of 482,875 subjects (288,257 men and 194,618 women) who were cancer-free and completed a food frequency questionnaire at enrollment between 1995 and 2003. Cox proportional hazards models were computed to estimate the relative risk adjusted for potential confounders.Results: During a mean follow-up of 7 years, 7,052 lung cancer cases were identified. For all subjects, we observed no significant associations between total (diet + supplement) Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu, Se, and Zn intakes and lung cancer risk. Total Ca intake was protective (P trend < 0.05) for current smokers and subjects with adenocarcinomas. Total Mg intake increased risk (P trend < 0.05) in men and current smokers. Total Fe intake was inversely associated with risk in women (P trend < 0.01). For dietary minerals, Mg increased risk (P trend < 0.05) in all subjects, among men and current smokers. Increased dietary Ca intake reduced risk in women (P trend = 0.05). Dietary Fe decreased risk in all subjects and among women (P trend < 0.05). Mineral intake from supplements did not affect lung cancer risk.Conclusions: Dietary minerals are risk factors for lung cancer. Impact: Dietary mineral consumption may influence lung cancer risk, but the associations differ by type of mineral and population subgroups. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 19(8); 1976-83. ©2010 AACR.

TXZinc, copper and selenium are important cofactors for several enzymes that play a role in maintaining DNA integrity. However, limited epidemiologic research on these dietary trace metals and lung cancer risk is available. In an ongoing study of 1,676 incident lung cancer cases and 1,676 matched healthy controls, we studied the associations between dietary zinc, copper and selenium and lung cancer risk. Using multiple logistic regression analysis, the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of lung cancer for all subjects by increasing quartiles of dietary zinc intake were 1.0, 0.80 (0.65-0.99), 0.64 (0.51-0.81), 0.57 (0.42-0.75), respectively (p trend 5 0.0004); similar results were found for men. For dietary copper, the ORs and 95% CI for all subjects were 1.0, 0.59 (0.49-0.73), 0.51 (0.41-0.64), 0.34 (0.26-0.45), respectively (p trend < 0.0001); similar reductions in risk and trend were observed by gender. Dietary selenium intake was not associated with risk, except for a significant inverse trend (p 5 0.04) in men. Protective trends (p < 0.05) against lung cancer with increased dietary zinc intake were also found for all ages, BMI > 25, current smokers, pack-years 30, light drinkers and participants without emphysema. Increased dietary copper intake was associated with protective trends (p < 0.05) across all ages, BMI, smoking and vitamin/ mineral supplement categories, pack-years 30 and 30.1-51.75 and participants without emphysema. Our results suggest that dietary zinc and copper intakes are associated with reduced risk of lung cancer. Given the known limitations of case-control studies, these findings must be interpreted with caution and warrant further investigation. ' 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.