PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

F Lucchini

Publications and source records attributed to F Lucchini.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

Food groups and oesophageal cancer risk in Vaud, Switzerland.

The influence of food groups on oesophageal cancer risk was analysed using data from a case-control study conducted between 1992 and 1999 in the Swiss Canton of Vaud on 101 incident, histologically confirmed cases (92 squamous cell, 9 adenocarcinomas) and 327 controls admitted to hospital for acute, non-neoplastic conditions. Multivariate odds ratios (OR) were computed after allowance for age, sex, tobacco, alcohol and non-alcohol energy. Significant increased risks emerged for red meat (OR = 1.7 for an increase of one serving per day), pork and processed meat (OR = 1.6), and eggs (OR = 1.5), whereas inverse associations were observed for milk (OR = 0.7), raw and cooked vegetables (OR = 0.5), citrus and other fruits (OR = 0.5), as well as for a more varied diet (OR = 0.5). Most associations were apparently stronger in heavy alcohol drinkers, suggesting an interaction between poor diet and alcohol drinking in oesophageal carcinogenesis.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Recent declines in worldwide mortality from cutaneous melanoma in youth and middle age.

Trends in age-standardised death-certification rates for skin cancer [mainly cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM)] over the period 1955-1995 were considered for 22 developed countries (18 from Europe, Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand) on the basis of the World Health Organization database. Between 1955 and 1984, mortality from CMM has been rising in both young adults (20 to 44 years) and middle aged population (45 to 64 years) in most European countries, North America and Australia. Between 1985 and 1995, CMM mortality rates were still rising in several countries for middle-aged males, though, to a lesser extent, they were more favourable in middle-aged women and declined in young adults in most countries, particularly in northern Europe.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Occupational and leisure time physical activity and the risk of breast cancer.

The relationship between occupational and leisure-time activity and the risk of breast cancer was analysed using data from a case-control study conducted in the Swiss Canton of Vaud between 1993 and 1998 on 246 incidents, histologically confirmed breast cancer cases and 374 controls below the age of 75 years, admitted to the same network of hospitals for acute, non neoplastic non hormone-related conditions. For occupational physical activity, the multivariate odds ratios (OR) for the highest versus the lowest level of physical activity were 0.6 (95% confidence interval, CI = 0.35-1.04) when aged 15 to 19 years, 0.5 (95% CI = 0.26-0.98) when aged 30 to 39 years, and 0.68 (95% CI = 0.36-1.28) when aged 50 to 59. For leisure time physical activity, the ORs were 0.4 (95% CI = 0.26-0.69), 0.5 (95% CI = 0.30-0.81), and 0.4 (95% CI = 0.22-0.80) for the highest versus the lowest level, respectively, in the three age groups, and an inverse trend in risk was significant in all groups. This study, based on one of the few European datasets on the issue, further suggests that physical activity is a favourable indicator of breast cancer risk.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Cancer mortality in Europe, 1990-1994, and an overview of trends from 1955 to 1994.

Mortality data, abstracted from the WHO database, are presented in tabular form for 26 cancer sites or groups of sites, plus total cancer mortality, in 35 European countries during the period 1990-1994. Trends in mortality are also given in graphical form for 24 major countries over the period 1955-1994. In most western European countries total cancer mortality was--for the first time--moderately downwards in the early 1990s. Such favourable trends included some decline in lung cancer mortality for males, the persistent decline in stomach cancer for both sexes, and of cervical cancer for women, as well as some decline in breast and colorectal cancers, plus other neoplasms (testis, lymphoid neoplasms), whose treatment has further improved over the last few years. However, cancer mortality was still upwards in a few southern and eastern European countries, including Hungary and Poland, where total cancer mortality rates in middle-aged males are now the highest ever registered in Europe. The favourable trends in western Europe over the recent years are similar to those observed in the U.S.A.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Food groups and colorectal cancer risk.

Most studies of diet and colorectal cancer have considered nutrients and micronutrients, but the role of foods or food groups remains open to debate. To elucidate the issue, we examined data from a case-control study conducted between 1992 and 1997 in the Swiss canton of Vaud. Cases were 223 patients (142 men, 81 women) with incident, histologically confirmed colon (n= 119) or rectal (n= 104) cancer (median age 63 years), linked with the Cancer Registry of the Swiss Canton of Vaud, and controls were 491 subjects (211 men, 280 women, median age 58 years) admitted to the same university hospital for a wide spectrum of acute non-neoplastic conditions unrelated to long-term modifications of diet. Odds ratios (OR) were obtained after allowance for age, sex, education, smoking, alcohol, body mass index, physical activity and total energy intake. Significant associations were observed for refined grain (OR = 1.32 for an increase of one serving per day), and red meat (OR = 1.54), pork and processed meat (OR = 1.27), alcohol (OR = 1.28), and significant protections for whole grain (OR = 0.85), raw (OR = 0.85) and cooked vegetables (OR = 0.69), citrus (OR = 0.86) and other fruits (OR = 0.85), and for coffee (OR = 0.73). Garlic was also protective (OR = 0.32 for the highest tertile of intake). These findings in a central European population support the hypothesis that a diet rich in refined grains and red meat increases the risk of colorectal cancer; they, therefore, support the recommendation to substitute whole grains for refined grain, to limit meat intake, and to increase fruit and vegetable consumption.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Aggregation of sow lactobacilli with diarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli.

A total of 20 strains of lactobacilli were isolated from the oesophagus and vagina of 20 sows at the time of partus. Aggregation activity was seen between six homofermentative autoaggregative lactobacilli and three strains of pathogenic Escherichia coli with F4, F5 and F6 fimbriae. The highest aggregation activity was observed between vaginal Lactobacillus acidophilus PV 32 or oesophageal OE 2/1 and E. coli with F4 (K88). The presence of aggregation-promoting factor (APF) was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with primers of a specific fragment the apf gene derived from human L. gasseri 4B2 in one oesophageal L. acidophilus strain OE 2/1. We propose that autoaggregative lactobacilli that aggregate with diarrhoeagenic E. coli can express a class of APF proteins that exhibit the function of an aggregation mediator.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Worldwide patterns of cancer mortality, 1990-1994.

Histograms of age-standardized (world standard) death certification rates from 24 cancers or groups of cancers and total cancer mortality for the 5-year calendar period 1990-94 were provided for 55 countries of the world: 35 countries in Europe, two in North America, nine in Latin America, two in Africa, five in Asia and two in Oceania. The highest male lung cancer mortality rates worldwide were registered in Hungary (82/100000), the Czech Republic and the Russian Federation, followed by other eastern European countries. Other major tobacco- (and alcohol)-related neoplasms also showed exceedingly high rates in Eastern Europe. For females, the highest lung cancer rates were in Scotland (29/100000), the United States (26/100000) and Denmark, reflecting the different spread of tobacco smoking in the two sexes. The highest rates for stomach cancer were in Latin America, the Russian Federation and Japan, and for colorectal cancer in the Czech Republic (37/100000 males, 20/100000 females) and Hungary. The highest breast cancer mortality rates were in Malta (30/100000 females), followed by Denmark and Britain, and for cancer of the prostate in Norway (23/100000), Switzerland and Sweden. With reference to total cancer mortality, the highest rates for males were in Hungary (262/100000), the Czech Republic (238/100000) and the Russian Federation (224/100000), and the lowest ones in Israel (127/100000), and Sweden (130/100000). In females, the highest total cancer mortality rates were in Denmark (142/100000), Scotland and Hungary, and the lowest ones in Greece (78/100000), France and Spain. These patterns of total cancer mortality for the two sexes reflect the major impact of tobacco-related neoplasms, and underline the substantial excess rates in most eastern European countries.

Africa↗
PubMed1999

Occupational and leisure-time physical activity and the risk of colorectal cancer.

The relation between various measures of physical activity and colorectal cancer risk was considered in a case-control study conducted between 1992 and 1997 in the Swiss canton of Vaud. Cases were 223 patients (142 men, 81 women) below age 75, with colon (n = 119) or rectal (n = 104) cancer; controls were 491 patients (211 men, 280 women) admitted to hospital for acute, non-neoplastic conditions. Compared with the lowest level of physical activity at age 30-39 years, the odds ratios (OR) of colorectal cancer for the highest level were 0.44 (95% confidence interval, CI, 0.26-0.73) for occupational and 0.53 (95% CI 0.33-0.86) for leisure-time activity. An inverse association was also observed for physical activity at age 15-19 and 50-59 years. The inverse relation between physical activity and colorectal cancer was observed across strata of sex, age, education, body mass index and alcohol drinking; was somewhat stronger in subjects reporting high total energy, and low vegetable and fibre intakes; and was observed across various colon subsites and rectum. In terms of population attributable risk, increasing physical activity would avoid one-fifth to one-third of incident colorectal cancer cases.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Trends in childhood cancer mortality as indicators of the quality of medical care in the developed world.

BACKGROUND: Mortality from childhood cancer in general and childhood leukemia in particular has sharply declined in economically developed countries over the last 30 years, whereas the incidence of these diseases has remained essentially unaltered. Therefore, childhood malignancies can be used as tracers of accessibility to and effectiveness of medical care. The objective of this study was to compare the reduction of mortality from childhood cancer in general, and childhood leukemia in particular, in four economically developed areas of the world, to assess accessibility to and effectiveness of technologically advanced medical care. METHODS: The authors used data from the World Health Organization to compare the evolution over time of gender specific, age-adjusted mortality from childhood cancer in general and childhood leukemia in particular in the childhood (birth to age 14 years) populations of North America, western Europe, Japan, and Australia and New Zealand during the period 1960-1993. They assessed the evolution over time and the cumulative percentage representing the decline in mortality from childhood cancer and childhood leukemia in the four aforementioned areas of the world. RESULTS: The decline in mortality from both the disease entities considered and for both genders has been more pronounced in North America than in other economically developed areas of the world. CONCLUSIONS: When disease control depends on technologically advanced medical care, as in the case of cancer, the North American population is benefited by earlier and effective introduction of new therapeutic approaches. This conclusion does not apply to other childhood diseases, the incidence of which is higher among low-income groups and control of which depends on prevention rather than treatment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Food groups and risk of oral and pharyngeal cancer.

The role of specific food groups and diet variety on the risk of oral and pharyngeal cancer has been considered using data from a case-control study conducted between 1992 and 1997 in the Swiss Canton of Vaud. Cases were 156 patients (126 males, 30 females) aged under 75 (median age 56) years with incident, histologically confirmed cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx, and controls were 284 subjects (246 males, 38 females, median age 57 years), admitted to the same university hospital for a wide spectrum of acute, non-neoplastic conditions unrelated to tobacco and alcohol consumption or to long-term modification of diet. After allowance for education, alcohol, tobacco and total energy intake, significant trends of increasing risk with more frequent intake emerged for eggs (OR = 2.3 for the highest tertile), red meat (OR = 2.1) and pork and processed meat (OR = 3.2). Inverse trends in risk were observed for milk (OR = 0.4 for the highest tertile), fish (OR = 0.5), raw vegetables (OR = 0.3), cooked vegetables (OR = 0.1), citrus fruit (OR = 0.4) and other fruits (OR = 0.2). The addition of a serving per day of fruit or vegetables was associated with an about 50% reduction in oral cancer risk. The most favourable diet for oral cancer risk is therefore given by infrequent consumption of red and processed meat and eggs and, most of all, frequent vegetable and fruit intake. Diet diversity was inversely related to oral and pharyngeal cancer: ORs were 0.35 for the highest tertile of total diversity, 0.24 for vegetable and 0.34 for fruit diversity. In terms of attributable risk, high meat intake accounted for 49% of oral and pharyngeal cancers in this population, low vegetable intake for 65% and low fruit intake for 54%.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Specific detection of a probiotic Lactobacillus strain in faecal samples by using multiplex PCR.

Lactobacillus gasseri 4B2 is a human isolate characterised by a strong autoaggregating phenotype mediated by APF (aggregation-promoting factor), a secreted protein. Two primer pairs were developed for simultaneous amplification of a specific fragment of the APF gene and a highly conserved region of the 16S rRNA gene. The specificity of this protocol was checked in DNA samples isolated from single and mixed cultures of Lactobacillus. The same amplification protocol was successfully used directly adding whole bacterial cells to PCR reaction tubes. The suitability of this method for in vivo studies was investigated through feeding L. gasseri 4B2 to mice and analysing colony forming units obtained by plating faecal samples on selective medium. The methodology allows a fast and reliable identification of the target strain without any DNA extraction procedure.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Gpc3 expression correlates with the phenotype of the Simpson-Golabi-Behmel syndrome.

Interest in glypican-3 (GPC3), a member of the glypican-related integral membrane heparan sulfate proteoglycans (GRIPS) family, has increased with the finding that it is mutated in the Simpson-Golabi-Behmel overgrowth syndrome (Pilia et al. [1996] Nat. Genet. 12:241-247). The working model suggested that the membrane-bound protein acts locally to limit tissue and organ growth and that it may function by interacting with insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) to limit its local effective level. Here we have tested two predictions of the model. In situ hybridization with the mouse gene cDNA was used to study the expression pattern during embryonic and fetal development. In agreement with predictions, the gene is expressed in precisely the organs that overgrow in its absence; and the patterns of expression of Gpc3 and those reported for Igf2 are strictly correlated.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗
PubMed1998

Trends in mortality from major diseases in Europe, 1980-1993.

Trends in age-standardized death certification rates from all causes, coronary heart disease (CHD), cerebrovascular diseases, all neoplasms and lung cancer were analysed over the period 1980-1993 in 20 major European countries. There were steady and substantial declines of overall mortality in all western European countries for both sexes, although appreciable geographic differences persisted. These favourable trends reflect a decline in CHD mortality in most western countries, besides a persisting fall in cerebrovascular disease, and a substantial stability (with some decline in a few northern and central European countries) in cancer mortality. In contrast, in eastern European countries appreciable rises were registered in mortality from major causes of death considered for males. For females, only moderate declines were observed in Eastern Europe. In the early 1990s, overall mortality was 30 to 100% higher for males and 20 to 100% higher for females as compared to Western Europe. As indicated by the trends in lung cancer death rates, this reflects a major impact of the tobacco-related disease epidemic in subsequent cohorts, as well as more unfavourable lifestyle factors (i.e. aspects of diet, other environmental factors), and a delayed control of hypertension in Eastern Europe, together with a substantial excess of suicides, (road) accidents, homicides and alcohol-related diseases, and the delayed introduction of rational treatment for some conditions. An indication of reversal of mortality trends was evident in the early 1990s only in Poland. In conclusion, there is ample scope for intervention on avoidable mortality in eastern European countries.

Cerebrovascular Disorders↗
PubMed1997

Trends in neonatal and infant mortality in five continents.

Trends in the mortality rates for the periods 0-6, 7-27, 28-365 and 0-365 days after birth have been analysed in 48 European, American, African, Asian and Australian countries included in the World Health Organization (WHO) mortality database. From the late 1960s to the early 1990s infant mortality rates declined steadily and markedly in most countries worldwide. Only three countries (Bulgaria, Dominican Republic and Ecuador) showed some increase in rates in the late 1980s after, however, appreciable decreasing trends in earlier calendar periods. In the late 1980s or early 1990s three Latin American countries (Ecuador, Colombia and Dominican Republic) showed the highest rates in all the indicators considered, with the exception of 0-6 days of life mortality, where Sri Lanka ranked second in mortality rates. Intermediate rates (around 10-25/1000 live births for 0-365 days of life mortality) were reported by a number of Latin American, Asian and Central European countries. Rates lower than 10/1000 live births for the 0-365 days of life mortality were reported from the USA. Canada, most western European countries and four Asian countries (Israel, HongKong, Singapore and Japan, which registered the lowest rate). The major decreases were observed in the 0-6 days mortality rates. The proportional reductions were comparable for the period 7-27 and 28-365 days of life in several countries, and generally did not show a consistent pattern, some countries showing greater reduction for 7-27 days of life mortality rates and others vice versa. Thus, in the late 1960s in most countries the large majority of infant deaths occurred in the first month of life, but in the early 1990s this proportion had declined, and the 0-6/7-365 days of life rates ratios were below unity in most countries. In most South American countries, however, the ratio was generally close to unity in both calendar periods.

Birth Rate↗