0000000000921729
AUTHOR
Christa Stegmaier
Effects of record linkage errors on registry-based follow-up studies
The importance of reliable record linkage for high quality-population-based disease registration is widely recognized. Systematic methodologic work is lacking, however, on the effects of record linkage errors on the use of disease registries for epidemiologic purposes. The present paper provides algebraic models describing the effects of record linkage errors on monitoring survival of registered patients, which is commonly performed by matching registry records against a database of death certificates, and on registry-based incidence follow-up of external cohorts. Homonym errors, that is, erroneous linkage of records that pertain to distinct individuals, lead to underestimation of survival …
Multiple independent variants at the TERT locus are associated with telomere length and risks of breast and ovarian cancer
Journal article TERT-locus SNPs and leukocyte telomere measures are reportedly associated with risks of multiple cancers. Using the Illumina custom genotyping array iCOGs, we analyzed ~480 SNPs at the TERT locus in breast (n = 103,991), ovarian (n = 39,774) and BRCA1 mutation carrier (n = 11,705) cancer cases and controls. Leukocyte telomere measurements were also available for 53,724 participants. Most associations cluster into three independent peaks. The minor allele at the peak 1 SNP rs2736108 associates with longer telomeres (P = 5.8 × 10!-7), lower risks for estrogen receptor (ER)-negative (P = 1.0 × 10!-8) and BRCA1 mutation carrier (P = 1.1 × 10!-5) breast cancers and altered promot…
Quality of life in long-term breast cancer survivors - a 10-year longitudinal population-based study.
Breast cancer survivors may experience adverse effects of cancer and/or treatment years after completion of therapy, which can considerably decrease quality of life (QoL). Little is known about the time course of QoL in breast cancer survivors beyond the fifth year post-diagnosis, when routine follow-up care has usually terminated. We therefore explored in detail whether and to what extent restrictions in breast cancer survivors persist and whether changes or aggravations in QoL occurred over time.QoL was assessed 1, 3, 5, and 10 years post-diagnosis in a population-based cohort of initially 387 female breast cancer patients from Saarland (Germany), using the EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BR23. Tim…
Genome-wide association studies identify four ER negative-specific breast cancer risk loci
Estrogen receptor (ER)-negative tumors represent 20-30% of all breast cancers, with a higher proportion occurring in younger women and women of African ancestry. The etiology and clinical behavior of ER-negative tumors are different from those of tumors expressing ER (ER positive), including differences in genetic predisposition. To identify susceptibility loci specific to ER-negative disease, we combined in a metaanalysis 3 genome-wide association studies of 4,193 ER-negative breast cancer cases and 35,194 controls with a series of 40 follow-up studies (6,514 cases and 41,455 controls), genotyped using a custom Illumina array, iCOGS, developed by the Collaborative Oncological Gene-environm…
Subtype-specific incidence of testicular cancer in Germany: a pooled analysis of nine population-based cancer registries.
Summary Comparisons of incidence estimates of testicular cancer subtypes beyond seminoma and non-seminoma are virtually missing in the epidemiologic literature. We analysed incidence data from population-based German cancer registries to provide subtype-specific incidences of testicular cancer. We pooled data from nine cancer registries from 1998 to 2003. We estimated incidence and mortality time trends of West and East Germany. Incidence and mortality were standardized by the European standard population. The annual percentage incidence change from 1961 through 1989 was 4.9% in East Germany and 3.0% from 1970 through 2004 in Saarland. Incidence increases were the most pronounced among adol…