PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

D T Silverman

Publications and source records attributed to D T Silverman.

71 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

Cancer risk among artistic painters.

An association between bladder cancer and employment as an artistic painter was found in two study populations. A proportionate mortality analysis of death certificates of professional artists indicated a greater than twofold excess for bladder cancer mortality among painters. This association was further investigated in a large case-control interview study of bladder cancer patients where an overall relative risk estimate of 2.5 was found among artistic painters. Excess deaths from leukemia and arteriosclerotic heart disease also occurred in the proportionate mortality study. Information was not available to determine exposure to specific substances that may have been responsible for these observations; however, efforts should be made to limit exposure to art materials known to be hazardous.

Art↗
PubMed1986

Stomach and colorectal cancers in Puerto Rican-born residents of New York City.

Colorectal cancer incidence and mortality rates for Puerto Rican-born residents in New York City (PR-NYC) for 1975-79 were about two times those for Puerto Ricans living in Puerto Rico (PR-PR) and one-half to almost two-thirds those for other whites in New York City. From 1958 to 1979, colon cancer mortality rates for PR-NYC increased dramatically (i.e., 212% in males and 54% in females), whereas in PR-PR, male rates increased only slightly and female rates remained constant. For stomach cancer, incidence rates for male and female PR-NYC were slightly, but not significantly, higher than those for male and female PR-PR. In contrast, stomach cancer mortality rates for PR-NYC were lower than those for PR-PR throughout the survey period, and mortality decreased substantially in all racial-ethnic groups in New York City and Puerto Rico from 1958 to 1979. Results of this study indicated that the changes in colorectal and stomach cancer incidence and mortality in Puerto Rican-born residents after migration to New York City, although not as dramatic as in migrants from Japan and Eastern Europe, were comparable to those observed for Hispanic migrants to New Mexico and Los Angeles.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Motor exhaust-related occupations and bladder cancer.

The relationship between employment in occupations with potential exposure to motor exhaust and bladder cancer risk was examined based on interviews conducted with 1909 white male bladder cancer patients and 3569 population controls during the National Bladder Cancer Study, a population-based, case-control study conducted in ten areas of the United States. Our findings indicated that males usually employed as truck drivers or deliverymen have a statistically significant, 50% increase in risk of bladder cancer. Overall, a statistically significant trend in risk with increasing duration of truck driving was observed. This trend was particularly consistent for drivers first employed at least 50 years prior to diagnosis. Of these, truck drivers employed 25 years or more experienced a 120% increase in risk. Elevations in risk were also suggested for taxicab and bus drivers. These findings, coupled with experimental evidence of the mutagenicity and possible carcinogenicity of motor exhaust emission particulates, suggest a role for motor exhaust exposure in human bladder carcinogenesis.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

The prevalence of coffee drinking among hospitalized and population-based control groups.

Data on coffee-drinking habits obtained from a case-control study conducted in Detroit were used to compare the proportions of coffee drinkers in a hospital and a population control series. The comparison was based on interviews with 262 hospitalized controls and 427 population controls. The overall proportion of coffee drinkers in the total hospital control group was similar to that in the population control group. However, the proportion of moderate-to-heavy coffee drinkers among controls hospitalized for conditions that may have caused them to alter their diet (eg, gastrointestinal disorders and cardiovascular disease) was lower than that among population controls. In contrast, the proportion of moderate-to-heavy coffee drinkers among controls hospitalized for conditions that probably did not cause a change in diet (eg, fractures) was almost identical to that among population controls. These results suggest that, in hospital-based case-control studies of the effects of coffee consumption, it would be prudent to restrict the referent group to those patients hospitalized for conditions that probably did not cause a change in diet. The magnitude of bias resulting from failure to exclude controls hospitalized for diet-altering conditions will depend on two factors that may vary between studies: (1) the distribution of diet-altering conditions among the hospital controls, and (2) the relationship of these diseases to coffee consumption.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Artificial sweeteners and lower urinary tract cancer: hospital vs. population controls.

In a case-control study conducted in 1978 in Detroit, Michigan, as part of the National Bladder Cancer Study, the proportions of artificial sweetener users in a hospital and a population control series were compared. The study was based on interviews with 305 hospital controls and 440 population controls, as well as 391 patients with transitional or squamous cell carcinoma of the lower urinary tract. The proportion of artificial sweetener users among all hospital controls was higher than that among population controls. Among male hospital controls, it was found that 44% had ever used artificial sweeteners, compared to 38% of the male population controls. For females, the corresponding proportions of artificial sweetener users were 55% and 42%. Thus, relative risks estimated using all hospital controls were lower than relative risks estimated using population controls. When controls hospitalized for obesity-related diseases were excluded from the hospital control group, the proportion of artificial sweetener users and the relative risks for males were identical to those estimated with population controls (relative risk = 1.1). These results suggest that restriction of the control group to those patients hospitalized for non-obesity related diseases is a satisfactory procedure for selecting a control group in hospital-based studies of the effects of artificial sweeteners. For females, little or no change in the proportion of artificial sweetener users or in the relative risks was observed after exclusion of controls hospitalized for obesity-related diseases. However, the number of female subjects was small, and the results noted for females may have been due to chance.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Occupation and cancer of the lower urinary tract in Detroit.

The relationship between occupation and cancer of the lower urinary tract in Detroit was examined by means of a population-based case-control study conducted as part of the National Bladder Cancer Study. Three hundred three white male patients with transitional or squamous cell carcinoma of the lower urinary tract and 296 white male controls selected from the general population of the study area were interviewed to obtain lifetime occupational histories. Our findings suggested that truck drivers have a significant increased risk of lower urinary tract cancer [relative risk = 2.1; 95% confidence interval (Cl) = 1.4-4.4]. A significant trend in risk was apparent with increasing duration of employment as a truck driver (P = 0.004); the relative risk estimated for truck drivers employed at least 10 years was 5.5 (Cl = 1.8-17.3). Truck drivers with a history of operating vehicles with diesel engines experienced a significant elevated risk compared to non-truck drivers (relative risk = 11.9; Cl = 2.3-61.1), but whether the increased risk observed among truck drivers was attributable to diesel exposure could not be evaluated. Nonsignificant excess risks were also seen for tool and die makers as well as for workers in several other industries and occupations. Employment in the motor vehicle manufacturing industry was associated with no significant excess risk of lower urinary tract cancer (relative risk = 1.1; Cl = 0.8-1.5).

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Use of hair dyes and risk of bladder cancer.

The relation between use of hair dyes and risk of bladder cancer was assessed using data from a case-control study of bladder cancer. Incident cases (2982) and general population controls (5782) were interviewed. The overall estimate of relative risk of bladder cancer for users of hair dyes was 1.0 (95%) confidence interval, 0.9 to 1.2) compared to nonusers. No consistent pattern of association was detected between bladder cancer risk and various indices of timing or intensity of exposure to hair dyes. Various explanations of the lack of association are discussed.

Female↗
PubMed1980

An occupation and exposure linkage system for the study of occupational carcinogenesis.

Studies of the adverse effects of occupational exposures are most informative when jobs can be classified according to the specific chemical or physical agents involved. However, information sufficiently detailed to permit this is not often available. In such instances a study usually will be based on subjects classified according to industry or task, effectively ignoring the specific agents to which exposure occurred. Such crude classification tends to reduce or obscure associations between specific exposures and disease. In response to this problem, the authors have developed an occupation and exposure linkage system with particular reference to carcinogenesis. Occupations were classified by industry and by task within the industry. Lists of suspect carcinogens were developed and each suspect carcinogen was linked to industries and tasks in which it has been used. These links make it possible to place in the same exposure category all study subjects whose employment history suggests contact with a particular agent. Epidemiologic analysis then can be based on chemical and physical exposures, rather than on industries or tasks. The linkage system enhances the value of information on occupation obtained from death certificates, cancer registries, medical records, and questionnaires.

Amines↗
PubMed1977

A comparison of Hodgkin's disease in Alameda County, California, and Connecticut: histologic subtype and age distribution.

A comparison of the histologic patterns of Hodgkin's disease in Alameda County, California and Connecticut was made in relation to age. All Hodgkin's disease cases from the Alameda County Cancer Registry diagnosed between 1960 and 1969 for which adequate material was available for evaluation were reviewed and histologically subtyped according to the Rye classification (159 cases). The age-specific relative frequencies and incidence rates for the histologic subtypes of Hodgkin's disease in Alameda County were estimated and compared to those estimated for Hodgkin's disease in Connecticut. The morphologic ex pression of Hodgkin's disease in both areas was similar and characteristic of economically developed regions with high living standards. The comparison supports the hypothesis that the host immune capacity, influenced by socioeconomic factors, has a strong and measurable effect on the pathogenesis of Hodgkin's disease.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Estimated median survival times of patients with colorectal cancer based on experience with 9,745 patients.

From the End Results Group file at the National Cancer Institute, 9,745 colorectal cancer patients diagnosed from 1965 through 1971 and classified as adenocarcinoma NOS were selected to evaluate the joint effect of various prognostic factors on MST. A technic was developed which enables a physician to estimate the MST for a patient with a given set of patient/disease characteristics. The results are also summarized in an appendix, allowing the physician to bypass the calculation and refer directly to the MST. These results will aid the physician in determining whether a patient is at sufficiently high risk to warrant adjuvant therapy. The survival experience of this broad historical group of patients with varying prognostic factors can also serve as a basis for comparison of results of studies on highly selected patients treated in various experimental ways.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1977

Maternal smoking and birth weight.

To determine whether it is the smoker or smoking per se that explains the observed reduction in birth weight of infants of mothers who smoked during pregnancy, data collected on 1016 pairs of successive births which occurred between 1946 and 1963 in Washington County, Maryland, were studied. The mean birth weight difference between first and second members of pairs of consecutive live births of the same mother was examined in relation to her smoking habits during both pregnancies. A multiple regression technique was used to simultaneously adjust for the effects of maternal smoking habits during pregnancy, infant sex, maternal age, and birth order on birth weight difference. There were no significant differences in mean birth weight difference among pairs in which the mother smoked throughout both pregnancies, pairs in which the mother was a nonsmoker during both pregnancies, and pairs in which the mother smoked during the second pregnancy of the pair, but not the first. When birth weights of only first members of the pair were studied, the mean birth weight of infants of women who were nonsmokers throughout both pregnancies was higher than that of infants of women who smoked during both pregnancies. Infants of first members of pairs in which the mothers smoked only during the second pregnancy tended to have birth weights which were lower than that of infants of nonsmokers and higher than that of infants of smokers. These findings neither confirm nor deny the hypothesis that the smoker rather than the smoking per se causes a reduction in birth weight.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

Laterality and prognosis in ovarian cancer.

Data from the End Results Group file at the National Cancer Institute indicate that in primary ovarian cancer neither the stage of disease at diagnosis nor patient survival is related to which of the two ovaries is first involved. Women with cancer in both ovaries have lower survival rates than women with unilateral cancer, though if the disease is still limited to the ovaries at the time of diagnosis this difference is small.

Female↗
PubMed1976

The cancer mortality scare. Problems of estimation using monthly data.

Considerable attention has been given recently to an apparent 5.2% rise in cancer mortality, based on data for the first seven months of 1975 as reported to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Later data disclosed that the rise in crude total cancer mortality, while greater than in any recent year, is less than half of the 5.2% originally reported, and the rise in age-adjusted total cancer mortality, while less than 1%, is also higher than the average annual increase from 1968 to 1974. The Monthly Vital Statistics Report provides death rates not standardized for age, race, and sex, and does not include information for specific cancer sites. Therefore, although information in the Monthly Vital Statistics Report is useful for detecting sudden increases in mortality from acute epidemics, it is not appropriate for forecasting trends in cancer mortality.

Humans↗
PubMed1976

Should curative surgery be attempted in patients with cancer of the main stem bronchus?

Among tumors of the lung, main stem bronchial cancer offers a particularly unfavorable prognosis, probably because of its rapid extension to the segmental bronchi, trachea, and extrapulmonary structures. However, analysis of data gathered by the End Results Group indicates that survival among those patients with main stem bronchial cancer whose tumor was resected was virtually the same as that of patients with resectable lung cancer of other sites. From these data it is impossible to assess what role, if any, the resection itself played, and a randomized trial would be necessary to determine whether resection improves the probability of patient survival. On the other hand, it is not now advisable to deny resection to patients with operable main stem bronchial tumors (except oat cell tumors) on the basis of the available nonexperimental evidence alone.

Adenocarcinoma↗