Cancer Prevention: Better Late than Never?

Editorials1 May 1998Cancer Prevention: Better Late than Never?Robert N. Hoover, MD, ScDRobert N. Hoover, MD, ScDNational Cancer Institute; Bethesda, MD 20892Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-128-9-199805010-00012 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail The historical view of cancer etiology has been that the latent period between a carcinogenic exposure and the diagnosis of this disease is typically quite long. This impression has been fueled by numerous epidemiologic studies, including those of occupational cancer (for example, one review reported a 35-year mean difference between asbestos exposure and mesothelioma [1]), radiogenic cancer (another study indicated that excess cases of cancer were still occurring in Japanese survivors of the atomic bomb 40 years later [2]), and early-life risk factors for breast cancer (most studies have found that ages at menarche and first live birth were risk ...References1. Selekoff IJ. Cancer risk of asbestos exposure. In: Hiatt HH, Watson JD, Winston JA, eds. Origins of Human Cancer, v 4. New York: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory; 1997:1765-84. Google Scholar2. Thompson DE, Mabuchi K, Ron E, Soda M, Tokunaga M, Ochikubo S, et al. Cancer incidence in atomic bomb survivors. Part II: Solid tumors, 1958-1987. Radiat Res. 1994; 137(2 Suppl):517-67. Google Scholar3. MacMahon B, Cole P, Brown J. Etiology of human breast cancer: a review. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1973; 50:21-42. Google Scholar4. Hueper WC, Conway WD. Chemical Carcinogenesis and Cancers. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas; 1964. Google Scholar5. Hoover R, Fraumeni JF Jr. Risk of cancer in renal-transplant recipients. Lancet. 1973; 2:55-7. Google Scholar6. Weiss NS, English DR, Szekely DR, Schweid AI. Endometrial cancer in relation to patterns of menopausal estrogen use. JAMA. 1979; 242:261-4. Google Scholar7. Lubin JH, Blot WJ, Berrino F, Flamant R, Gillis CR, Kunze M, et al. Modifying risk of developing lung cancer by changing habits of cigarette smoking. Br Med J. 1984; 288:1953-6. Google Scholar8. Hartge P, Silverman D, Hoover R, Schairer C, Altman R, Austin D, et al. Changing cigarette habits and bladder cancer risk: a case–control study. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1987; 78:1119-25. Google Scholar9. Ziegler RG. Vegetables, fruits, and carotenoids and the risk of cancer. Am J Clin Nutr. 1991; 53:2515-95. Google Scholar10. Koutsky LA, Holmes KK, Critchlow CW, Stevens CE, Paavonen J, Beckman AM, et al. A cohort study of the risk of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or 3 in relation to papillomavirus infection. N Engl J Med. 1992; 327:1272-8. Google Scholar11. Breast cancer and hormone replacement therapy: collaborative reanalysis of data from 51 epidemiological studies of 52,705 women with breast cancer and 108,411 women without breast cancer. Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer. Lancet. 1998; 350:1047-59. Google Scholar12. Ziegler RG, Hoover RN, Nomura AM, West DW, Wu AH, Pike MC, et al. Relative weight, weight change, height, and breast cancer risk in Asian-American women. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1996; 88:650-60. Google Scholar13. Fearon ER, Vogelstein B. A genomic model for colorectal tumorigenesis. Cell. 1990; 61:759-67. Google Scholar14. Grodstein F, Martinez E, Platz EA, Giovannucci E, Colditz GA, Kautzky M, et al. Postmenopausal hormone use and risk for colorectal cancer and adenoma. Ann Intern Med. 1998; 128:705-12. Google Scholar15. Schairer C, Adami HO, Hoover R, Persson I. Cause-specific mortality in women receiving hormone replacement therapy. Epidemiology. 1996; 8:59-65. Google Scholar16. Barrett-Connor E. Postmenopausal estrogen and prevention bias. Ann intern Med. 1991; 115:455-6. Google Scholar17. Matthews KA, Kuller LH, Wing RR, Meilahn EN. Prior to use of estrogen replacement therapy, are users healthier than nonusers? Am J Epidemiol. 1996; 143:971-8. Google Scholar18. Rossouw JE, Finnegan LP, Harlan WR, Pinn VW, Clifford C, McGowan JA. The evolution of the Women's Health Initiatives: perspectives from the NIH. J Am Med Womens Assoc. 1995; 50:50-5. Google Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: National Cancer Institute; Bethesda, MD 20892Corresponding Author: Robert N. Hoover, MD, ScD, National Cancer Institute, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Program, Room 433, 6130 Executive Boulevard, Bethesda, MD 20892. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics Cited BySex differences in colorectal cancer mortality in Europe, 1955–1996 1 May 1998Volume 128, Issue 9Page: 771-772KeywordsBreast cancerCancer epidemiologyCancer preventionCancer risk factorsCancer treatmentCarcinogenesisColorectal cancerHormone replacement therapyResearch laboratoriesRisk management Issue Published: 1 May 1998 CopyrightCopyright © 1998 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF DownloadLoading ...