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Background: Evidence of the association between chronic low-grade inflammation, as reflected by C-reactive protein (CRP) measurements, and cancer risk is equivocal. Specifically, few studies have examined this in uncommon cancers and Asian populations.Methods: We utilised a case-cohort design consisting of multi-types of cancer (N = 3608), and a random subcohort (N = 4432) in a Japanese large population-based study, with a median follow-up time of 15.6 years, and measured baseline plasma CRP using high sensitivity assay. The hazard ratios (HRs) were estimated using weighted Cox proportional hazards methods.Results: The multivariable-adjusted HR (95% confidence interval) for the top quartile of CRP was 1.28 (1.11‒1.48) (Ptrend < 0.001) for overall cancer compared to the bottom quartile of CRP. Among site-specific cancers, higher CRP levels were associated with an increased risk of colorectal, lung, breast, biliary tract, and kidney cancer, and leukaemia. These positive associations remained among participants after >3 years' follow-up. Furthermore, subgroup analyses for overall cancer robustly showed a positive association with CRP levels, regardless of sex and obesity.Conclusion: Our consistent findings suggested that chronic low-grade inflammation measured by CRP is associated with the risk of cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence rate increased rapidly in Japan between the 1950s and 1990s. We examined the association between rice intake and CRC risk in comparison with bread, noodles and cereal among Japanese adults enrolled in the Japan Public Health Center-based prospective Study.Methods: A total of 73,501 Japanese men and women were followed-up from 1995 to 1999 until the end of 2008 for an average of 11 years. During 801,937 person-years of follow-up, we identified 1276 incident cases of CRC. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) of CRC for rice, noodle, bread and cereal intake were calculated by Cox proportional hazards model.Results: Overall, no significant association was observed for the highest quartile of rice intake compared with the lowest and the risk of CRC and its subsites in men (HR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.56-1.07) and women (HR, 1.10; 95% CI, 0.71-1.68). However, a non-significant inverse trend was observed between rice intake and rectal cancer in men. No clear patterns of association were observed in bread, noodle and cereal intake.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the consumption of rice does not have a substantial impact on the risk of CRC in the Japanese population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Identification of tumour-associated antigens (TAAs) that induce cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) specific to cancer cells is critical for the development of anticancer immunotherapy. In this study, we aimed at identifying a novel TAA of pancreatic cancer for immunotherapy.Methods: On the basis of the genome-wide cDNA microarray analysis, we focused on KIF20A (also known as RAB6KIFL/MKlp2) as a candidate TAA in pancreatic cancer cells. The HLA-A2 (A*02:01)-restricted CTL epitopes of KIF20A were identified using HLA-A2 transgenic mice (Tgm) and the peptides were examined to check whether they could generate human CTLs exhibiting cytotoxic responses against KIF20A(+), HLA-A2(+) tumour cells in vitro.Results: KIF20A was overexpressed in pancreatic cancer and in some other malignancies, but not in their non-cancerous counterparts and many normal adult tissues. We found that KIF20A-2 (p12-20, LLSDDDVVV), KIF20A-8 (p809-817, CIAEQYHTV), and KIF20A-28 (p284-293, AQPDTAPLPV) peptides could induce HLA-A2-restricted CTLs in HLA-A2 Tgm without causing autoimmunity. Peptide-reactive human CTLs were generated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of HLA-A2(+) healthy donors by in vitro stimulation with the three peptides, and those CTLs successfully exhibited cytotoxic responses to cancer cells expressing both KIF20A and HLA-A2.Conclusion: KIF20A is a novel promising candidate for anticancer immunotherapeutic target for pancreatic cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a population-based prospective study of 19,998 Japanese individuals, consumption of vegetables, green-yellow and green leafy vegetables was inversely associated with the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (101 cases), with multivariable hazard ratios for the highest vs lowest tertile of 0.61 (95% confidence interval (CI)=0.36-1.03, P(trend)=0.07), 0.65 (95% CI=0.39-1.08, P(trend)=0.06) and 0.59 (95% CI=0.35-1.01, P(trend)=0.04), respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the association between plasma 25(OH)D and the subsequent colorectal cancer incidence risk by a nested case-control study in The Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study, covering 375 newly diagnosed cases of colorectal cancer from 38 373 study subjects during a 11.5-year follow-up after blood collection. Two controls were matched per case on sex, age, study area, date of blood draw, and fasting time. In a conditional logistic regression model with matched pairs adjusted for smoking, alcohol consumption, body mass index, physical exercise, vitamin supplement use, and family history of colorectal cancer, plasma 25(OH)D was not significantly associated with colorectal cancer in men or in women. However, the lowest category of plasma 25(OH)D was associated with an elevated risk of rectal cancer in both men (odds ratio (OR), 4.6; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.0-20) and women (OR, 2.7, 95% CI, 0.94-7.6), compared with the combined category of the other quartiles. Our results suggest that a low level of plasma 25(OH)D may increase the risk of rectal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted a cohort study of alcohol consumption and total cancer incidence and mortality in 73,281 subjects (35,007 men and 38,274 women) aged 40-59 years old at baseline over a 10-year follow-up period. During 1990-2001, a total of 3403 cases of newly diagnosed cancer and 1208 cancer deaths were identified. In men, the lowest risk of developing cancer was observed among occasional drinkers, and a linear positive association with increased ethanol intake was noted (hazard ratio 1.18 for 1-149 g per week, 1.17 for 150-299 g per week, 1.43 for 300-449 g per week, 1.61 for > or = 450 g per week, P for trend < 0.001). The positive relation was similar for cancer incidence and mortality, but was more striking among current smokers and alcohol-related cancers. Relatively few women were regular drinkers. Our results suggest that increased ethanol intake linearly elevates the risk of cancer, and that nearly 13% of cancers among males in this study were due to heavy drinking (> or = 300 g per week of ethanol), to which smoking substantially contributed. The simultaneous reduction of smoking is therefore important for reducing the effect of alcohol on cancer risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a population-based prospective study of 49 850 Japanese men, body mass index and height were not significantly associated with risk of prostate cancer (311 cases), although small positive effects could not be ruled out in advanced cases (91 cases).British Journal of Cancer (2006) 94, 740–742. doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6602983 www.bjcancer.com Published online 7 February 2006 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Vegetable and fruit consumption may have a protective effect against several types of cancer. However, evidence suggesting that increased intake of vegetables and fruits, their subtypes, or the antioxidant nutrients they contain in abundance decreases the risk of bladder cancer is limited., Methods: This study included 80,952 participants from the Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study, who responded to a food frequency questionnaire in a 5-year follow-up survey in 1995-1998 and were followed up until December 2015 to investigate the associations between intake of vegetables and fruits, their subtypes, or the antioxidant nutrients and bladder cancer risk using Cox proportional hazards regression models., Results: Within 1,287,514 person-years of follow-up, 401 bladder cancer cases (307 men and 94 women) were diagnosed. No association was found between intake of total vegetable and fruit, total vegetable, total fruit, subtypes of vegetables and fruits, or antioxidant nutrients and bladder cancer risk in both men and women, even in the analyses conducted among men stratified by smoking status., Conclusions: In this population, the consumption of vegetables and fruits was not associated with the risk of bladder cancer., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)

Background: Although physical activity has been reported as a protective factor for kidney and bladder cancer in epidemiological studies, it is not clear., Methods: In a population-based prospective study of 76,795 Japanese aged 45-74 years, participants were evaluated physical activity by self-administered questionnaire. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of the risk of urological cancer were calculated by the Cox proportional hazards models., Results: During the 15.1-year follow-up, 202 kidney, 373 bladder and 83 upper urinary tract cancer cases were identified. Physical activity was not significantly associated with kidney, bladder and upper urinary tract cancer risks, with multivariate HRs in the highest versus lowest group of 1.05 (95% CI: 0.74-1.49), 1.06 (95% CI: 0.81-1.39) and 0.80 (95% CI: 0.48-1.35), respectively., Conclusions: Physical activity was not associated with the risk of urological cancer in the Japanese population.

Background: The influence of body mass index (BMI) change during adulthood on the development of oesophageal squamous-cell carcinoma (ESCC) is unknown., Methods: Based on the Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study, we enrolled 103 238 participants from 1990 to 1994. Anthropometric data at age 20 years, baseline, and 5- and/or 10-year follow-up surveys were collected by questionnaire. The effect of BMI change between age 20 years and baseline on ESCC risk was estimated by Cox proportional hazards regression models. The updated BMI was taken into account by fitting a simple linear regression model for each individual, where the slope was incorporated into regressions as a time-varying variable., Results: After excluding the first 5 years of observation, we identified 342 newly diagnosed ESCC cases. An increase in BMI during adulthood was linked with a decreased risk of ESCC development, with each 1% increase per 5 years corresponding to a 15% decrease in ESCC risk (95% confidence interval 9-21%). Identical estimates were obtained from time-dependent models. The importance of BMI change was not modified by gender, smoking, or alcohol drinking but confined to participants assessed as non-overweight at baseline., Conclusions: An increase in BMI during adulthood is associated with a lower risk of developing ESCC among non-overweight subjects.

Background: Small bowel adenocarcinoma (SBA) is a rare malignancy that accounts for 1-2% of gastrointestinal tumours. We investigated the clinical characteristics, outcomes, and prognostic factors of primary SBA., Methods: We retrospectively analysed the characteristics and clinical courses of 205 SBA patients from 11 institutions in Japan between June 2002 and August 2013., Results: The primary tumour was in the duodenum and jejunum/ileum in 149 (72.7%) and 56 (27.3%) patients, respectively. Sixty-four patients (43.0%) with duodenal adenocarcinoma were asymptomatic and most cases were detected by oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD), which was not specifically performed for the detection or surveillance of duodenal tumours. In contrast, 47 patients (83.9%) with jejunoileal carcinoma were symptomatic. The 3-year survival rate for stage 0/I, II, III, and IV cancers was 93.4%, 73.1%, 50.9%, and 15.1%, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed performance status 3-4, high carcinoembryonic antigen, high lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), low albumin, symptomatic at diagnosis, and stage III/IV disease were independent factors for overall survival (OS). Ten patients (18.5%) with stage IV disease were treated with a combination of resection of primary tumour, local treatment of metastasis, and chemotherapy; this group had a median OS of 36.9 months., Conclusions: Although most SBA patients were diagnosed with symptomatic, advanced stage disease, some patients with duodenal carcinoma were detected in early stage by EGD. High LDH and symptomatic at diagnosis were identified as novel independent prognostic factors for OS. The prognosis of advanced SBA was poor, but combined modality therapy with local treatment of metastasis might prolong patient survival.