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Biomedical subjects

S Graham

Publications and source records attributed to S Graham.

At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Comparison of three methods of teaching women how to perform breast self-examination.

This paper presents results from an experimental study designed to evaluate the relative effectiveness of three methods of teaching women how to do breast self-examination (BSE). Frequency of BSE, confidence in examination performance, proficiency of BSE technique, and lump detection performance were the main outcome variables assessed. The three training methods compared in this study were provision of a pamphlet describing how to do BSE, having women view a videotape depicting proper performance of BSE, and having women practice doing BSE on a life-like breast model. Results showed that passive methods of BSE instruction such as the use of pamphlets or films were of little value in helping women develop the tactile skills necessary for proficient BSE. Three months after training, it was found that lump detection performance, as measured on silicone breast models, was significantly higher among those women who had been given an opportunity to practice doing the breast examination on a breast model with corrective feedback given by a BSE instructor. The opportunity to practice doing the examination with corrective feedback on performance appears to be a critical variable in the acquisition of BSE skill.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Lysis of human cytomegalovirus infected fibroblasts by natural killer cells: demonstration of an interferon-independent component requiring expression of early viral proteins and characterization of effector cells.

We investigated the susceptibility of cells infected with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) to lysis by human natural killer (NK) cells, examining in particular its relationship to sequential viral protein expression, interferon (IFN), and the nature of the effector cells. HCMV-infected fibroblasts were lysed by peripheral blood mononuclear cells from normal seronegative individuals. The effector cells were large granular lymphocytes of Leu-7+, Leu-11+, and to a lesser extent Leu-7- phenotype. Depletion studies suggested they were the same population of NK cells that lyse uninfected fibroblasts, but a subset of NK cells that lyse K562 cells. HCMV-infected cells treated with phosphonoformate and cells infected for 16 hr that only express the nonstructural HCMV immediate early and early proteins and not the late (structural) proteins were susceptible to lysis by IFN-pretreated effector cells, whereas cells expressing immediate early antigens alone were not. This enhanced susceptibility to lysis was associated with increased effector:target binding in target cell binding assays, and was competitively inhibited by uninfected fibroblasts in cold target competition assays. It was independent of IFN release from the infected target cells or effector cells. These results suggest that the increased susceptibility to lysis by NK cells produced by a human herpes virus HCMV i) is manifest when early viral proteins are expressed, ii) is related to enhanced expression of a target structure likely to be present on uninfected fibroblasts, and iii) has a major component that is independent of IFN.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Dietary fat consumption and survival among women with breast cancer.

An historical prospective study was conducted to examine the relationship of dietary fat intake to disease progression and length of survival of 953 women with breast cancer. Estimates of monthly fat intake were based on patient responses about usual frequency of consuming 33 foods and beverages prior to symptom onset. Average estimated monthly fat intake did not vary by stage of disease at diagnosis. When controlling for disease stage and patient age at diagnosis, the estimated risk of death at any time increased 1.4-fold for each 1,000 g in monthly fat intake. Separate analysis by disease stage showed this association to be most pronounced for subjects with advanced disease. The need for future studies to incorporate clinical and pathologic factors in the analysis, to distinguish between sources of dietary fat intake, and to ascertain dietary patterns subsequent to breast cancer diagnosis was noted.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Use of dual responses to increase validity of case-control studies.

It has been demonstrated that randomly distributed inaccuracy of dichotomous reports in case-control studies biases estimates of the effects of exposure toward one. We show that a simple procedure involving the use of dual exposure reports may lessen this bias. The use of this procedure is illustrated with a data set in which the actual relative risk associated with dichotomous exposure is 4.0. We observe that, if exposure is reported with 60% accuracy and the observed relative risk is approximately 1.3, an additional set of equally accurate exposure reports can be used to uncover an assessed relative risk as high as 1.7. The supplementing of exposure reports with 90% accuracy by an additional set of equally accurate reports can be used to uncover an assessed relative risk as as high as 1.7. The supplementing of exposure reports with 90% accuracy by an additional set of equally accurate exposure reports can increase the observed relative risk from 3.0 to as high as 3.9. We conclude that using dual reports could be valuable in strengthening the inference of case-control studies assessing the effects of dietary, occupational, or other exposures.

Disease↗
PubMed1984

Dietary vitamin A and lung cancer risk: an analysis by histologic subtypes.

A case-control study was conducted based on 427 white males with lung cancer of the squamous, small cell, and adenocarcinoma histologic subtypes and 1,094 white male controls admitted to Roswell Park Memorial Institute between the years 1957 and 1965. The relation between selected dietary factors and lung cancer risk was examined for each histologic subtype while controlling for past cigarette use. Dietary vitamin A was found to be negatively associated with risk for squamous cell and small cell carcinoma, but not for adenocarcinoma of the lung. No significant association was observed, however, between dietary vitamin C, fats, or fiber and any of the lung cancer subtypes. These results suggest that the apparent protective effect of vitamin A in lung cancer may be histologic type-specific.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1984

Effects of sex and label on performance ratings, children's test scores, and examiners' verbal behavior.

The effects of sex and label on performance ratings, test scores, and verbal behavior were examined. Forty preschool children were randomly assigned by sex to one of four expectancy conditions: normal male, normal female, developmentally delayed male, and developmentally delayed female. All children were, in fact, nonhandicapped and had no diagnosis or record of learning problems. Ten examiners were randomly assigned one child from each of the four expectancy conditions. After hearing a description (labeled or nonlabeled) of the child's developmental status, each examiner administered the Animal House and Block Design subtests of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence to their respective child. Directions for administering the subtests were modified by encouraging the examiner to prompt the child verbally when necessary. The examiner rated the child's overall performance and scored the two subtests. Each testing session was video taped so that verbal prompts could be counted. The results of a multivariate analysis of variance indicated that the child's sex and the interaction between sex and label did not influence performance ratings, test scores, or the examiners' verbal behavior. The label "developmentally delayed," however, had a negative impact on children's test scores and performance ratings. The number of verbal prompts was not differentially affected by the child's developmental status.

Child↗
PubMed1984

Epidemiology of retinoids and cancer.

A variety of in vitro and in vivo inquiries suggests that retinoids of various sorts may reduce the risk of cancer at various sites. Epidemiologic studies done by a number of different investigators similarly show a reduction in risk with increases in ingestion of vitamin A-containing diets. These reductions in risk are primarily of the squamous cell types of cancer: lung, larynx, mouth, cervix, and bladder cancers. Retinoids, particularly beta-carotene, may have a risk-reducing function for such sites. However, evidence has also been found that retinoids under certain conditions may increase the risk of prostate cancer as well as of Hodgkin's disease and leukemia. It is not an impossibility that, although beta-carotene could reduce risk under most circumstances, under certain other circumstances it could increase risk for different cancers. Obviously, more research is necessary, particularly with the carotenoids.

Beverages↗
PubMed1983

Dietary history from the distant past: a methodological study.

One of the major concerns regarding case-control studies of diet and cancer is that dietary measures based on current habits may not accurately reflect dietary intake from the time period of cancer initiation and early promotion in the more distant past. Thus, the extent to which current diet correlates with past diet and the reliability of retrospective estimates of past diet are important questions for researchers investigating dietary factors in cancer causation. For these reasons, we conducted this study of the reliability of dietary history as recalled from the distant past. Individuals (N = 175) who completed dietary interviews between the years 1957 and 1965 were reinterviewed in 1982. Subjects were asked to report the usual frequency of intake of selected food items, both at the time of their original interview in the 1957-1965 era as well as at the current time. Dietary histories as recalled from the distant past more closely agreed with those originally recorded than did current diets. The diets as recalled from the distant past appeared to be biased, however, by current dietary habits. The implications of these findings for diet and cancer research are discussed.

Aged↗
PubMed1983

Toward a dietary prevention of cancer.

I have attempted to address in brief fashion the question as to whether we can recommend a dietary prevention of cancer. This same question was explored in hundreds of pages recently by the large number of advisors assembled by the National Academy of Sciences to assess the animal, cell culture, and human data with regard to diet and cancer (52). My brief assessment has resulted in recommendations to the scientific community not unlike those of the National Academy, but without their clear-cut recommendation against dietary fat. It is obvious that we need a great deal more research on the factors evaluated here, that is, fiber, ascorbic acid, retinoids, the cruciferae, nitrates, alcohol, coffee, saccharine, alpha-tocopherol, aflatoxins, selenium, and saturated and polyunsaturated fats. These factors need assessment not only as they might affect the incidence of any single cancer, but also in relationship to at least the incidence of the cancers that frequently occur in humans. The human epidemiologic inquires have barely begun. We have a few studies of cancer of the colon and of cancer of the lung, and only one or two studies of such important sites as cancer of the larynx, oropharynx, stomach, and breast. Not only have the studies of specific sites been lamentably too few, but only a small number of nutrients have been evaluated. To make matters worse, we have little notion as to the competing risk of different cancers and of other diseases associated with various nutrients. There may be factors that enhance the risk of some diseases at the same time they reduce the risk of others. It is not outside the realm of possibility that the relationship discovered to date with regard to serum cholesterol, heart disease, and cancer may continue to be replicated and may be found related to ingestion of dietary fats. If such should be the case, and the potential is there, we would need to weigh the risks associated with reducing dietary fats for cancer as well as for coronary disease. Questions will need to be answered. For example, what is the optimum level of serum cholesterol to lower the risk of heart disease and at the same time not to enhance the risk of cancer. The same may be said for the association of alcohol with the risk of coronary disease compared to the risk of cancer of the upper alimentary tract.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1983

Diagnosis of peritoneal mesothelioma: computed tomography, sonography, and fine-needle aspiration biopsy.

The diagnosis of peritoneal mesothelioma was made prospectively and noninvasively in four patients with the use of sonography, computed tomography, and sonographically guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy. The imaging methods revealed information similar to the operative findings, with clear superiority of computed tomography over sonography. These noninvasive methods may be used as screening tools, especially among groups or in regional areas with a high risk for asbestos exposure. The findings included soft-tissue masses with invariable involvement of the omentum; small intraperitoneal nodules; thickened peritoneum, mesentery, and bowel wall; pleural plaques; and usually minimal, if any, ascites. Since the differential diagnosis from peritoneal carcinomatosis may be difficult, sonographically (or CT) guided aspiration biopsy is needed to produce diagnostic cytologic specimens. The use of this type of biopsy should obviate surgical exploration.

Aged↗
PubMed1983

Diet in the epidemiology of carcinoma of the prostate gland.

In vivo, in vitro, prospective, and retrospective epidemiologic inquiries have suggested that retinoids inhibit cancer, and fats have been hypothesized to enhance and ascorbic acid to reduce cancer risk. Comparison of 260 patients from Buffalo with cancer of the prostate gland was made with two different control series of similar size and age distribution. Regardless of the control group, risk of prostate cancer gained with increases in ingestion of retinoids, animal fats, and vitamin C. These anomalous findings may be due to peculiarities in methodology. From the possible specificity of effect of the nutrients studied, as shown in experimental animals and in vitro, a hypothesis could be made that a substance like vitamin A or C, which may inhibit certain cancers, also may enhance risk of other cancer types or have neither effect.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Diet and smoking in the epidemiology of cancer of the cervix.

This study of 513 white cervical cancer patients and 490 white hospitalized controls considered, with adjustment for marital history and parity, the effects of smoking and dietary characteristics on the relative risk of developing cervical cancer. Although smoking was shown to be positively associated with risk, no dose-response relationship was evident. The frequency of consumption of cruciferous vegetables was positively associated with risk. Respondent reports of the frequency of prior ingestion of several food items were used in constructing crude indices of exposure to basic nutrients; the index of beta-carotene exposure was negatively associated with risk, whereas the index of fat consumption was positively associated with risk.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1983

A case-control study of dietary and nondietary factors in ovarian cancer.

A case-control study is presented that estimates ovarian cancer risk for various factors, including diet. Data collected by interview between 1957 and 1965 for 274 white women aged 30-79 years with epithelial carcinoma of the ovary are compared to data similarly collected for 1,034 hospital controls. Relative risk estimates are presented for the total group as well as for premonopausal (ages 30-49) and postmenopausal (ages 50-79) are groups. In the total group, cancer risk increased with increasing age at first marriage (P less than .01) and previous history of benign breast disease (P less than 0.1), and risk decreased with increasing number of previous pregnancies (P less than .01). In the 50- to 79-year age group, a marginally significant trend for decreasing risk with increasing obesity was observed (P less than .10). There was no significant risk (i.e., P less than .10) associated with the consumption of alcohol, cigarettes, coffee, tea, total dietary protein, vitamin C, or fat at any age. In the 30- to 49-year age group only, increased risk (P less than .01) was seen in women reporting diets low in fiber and vitamin A from fruit and vegetable sources. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that the apparent protective effect of vitamin A in the 30- to 49-year age group (but not dietary fiber) was independent of the nondietary factors analyzed in this study (P less than .05).

Adult↗