Pathology - Cancer rate disparity

Author

Cancer rate disparity

ironjustice@aol.com

2006-06-15, 2:27 am

Seems like we may have just found .. why? .. the cancer rate disparity

..=2E in Pacific Islanders?

Pacific Asians have higher cancer rates and ALSO .. "surprisingly" ..
higher .. iron .. levels ..

Since iron is KNOWN to cause .. and feed ..cancer ..

And remember .. ? .. iron chelators in .. cancer .. ?

Pac Health Dialog. 2004 Sep;11(2):233-8. Related Articles, Links

Addressing the cancer control needs of Pacific Islanders: experience of

the Pacific Islander Cancer Control Network.

Hubbell FA, Luce PH, Afeaki WP, Cruz LA, Gumataotao T, McMullin JM,
Pouesi J, Reyes ML, Taumoepeau LT, Tu'ufuli GM, Wenzel L.

Center for Health Policy and Research, university of California,
Irvine, CA, USA. fahub...@uci.edu

PURPOSE: This paper describes the accomplishments of the Pacific
Islander Cancer Control Network (PICCN). PICCN's objectives fall under
two broad categories: increasing cancer awareness and enhancing cancer
control research among Samoans, Tongans, and Chamorros. METHODS: PICCN
established an infrastructure for addressing the goals that include the

University of California, Irvine; the UCI Chao Family Comprehensive
Cancer Center; and community-based organizations (CBOs) in areas where
large numbers of Pacific Islanders live. Activities that increase
cancer awareness include assessing existing cancer education materials,

developing new culturally-sensitive materials, and distributing the
materials in a culturally-sensitive manner. Activities that enhance
cancer control research include training Pacific Islander investigators

and providing them with mentors to help with the development of
research projects. RESULTS: During the four project years, PICCN has
conducted more than 180 cancer awareness activities in its six study
sites: Carson, CA; San Mateo, CA; San Diego, CA; Salt Lake City, UT;
American Samoa; and Guam. PICCN members have also participated in
conferences and lead discussions about the importance of clinical
trials for Pacific Islanders. In addition, the Network has trained nine

Pacific Islander investigators (three individuals from each ethnic
group) in its cancer control academy. Finally, PICCN investigators are
conducting pilot research projects that will answer important questions

regarding the cancer control needs of these Pacific Islanders and set
the stage for interventions aimed at addressing the needs. CONCLUSION:
PICCN is advancing the national goal of eliminating cancer-related
health disparities through its cancer awareness and research activities

for Pacific Islanders.

PMID: 16281706 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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Public release date: 27-Apr-2005

Contact: Hank Black
hbl...@uab.edu
205-934-8938
University of Alabama at Birmingham

'Surprising' findings reported about iron overload
Asians, Pacific Islanders have highest blood iron levels
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UAB and international scientists studying
iron-overload disorders have made the unexpected discovery that Asians
and Pacific Islanders have the highest levels of iron in their blood of

all racial/ethnic groups who were screened.
Individuals who develop hemochromatosis/iron overload absorb an
excessive amount of iron from food and supplements ingested. The
abnormality affects many people worldwide, is prevalent in the South,
and sometimes causes organ damage when severe iron deposition occurs
due to inadequate control of iron absorption by the small intestine.

The first major report of findings in the five-year, 100,000-person
study will be published tomorrow, April 28, in The New England Journal
of Medicine (NEJM). The university of Alabama at Birmingham received
$3.1 million of study funds to screen 20,000 people for the group of
disorders called hemochromatosis and iron overload.

Ronald T. Acton, Ph.D., professor of microbiology and director of the
UAB Immunogenetics Program, is principal investigator for the
Birmingham Field Center that did the screening. James C. Barton, M.D.,
director of the Southern Iron Disorders Center and UAB clinical
professor of medicine, is co-principal investigator. They exceeded the
goal of screening 10,000 African-Americans and 10,000 whites for blood
iron levels or the presence of mutations in a gene, called the HFE
gene, which evidence suggests regulates iron absorption.

"Hemochromatosis and iron overload are easily treatable if diagnosed
early, but the simple blood test that could detect these conditions is
not performed as part of routine medical exams," said Acton. Delaying
treatment - the weekly removal of a pint of blood by phlebotomy -
can permit the progressive accumulation of iron deposits in target
organs that may result in complications such as cirrhosis of the liver,

liver cancer, arthritis, diabetes, impotence and heart failure.

"The finding that Asians and Pacific Islanders have high levels of iron

in the blood is surprising because they also have the lowest prevalence

of the particular gene mutation that is found in Caucasians with the
typical form of hemochromatosis," he said. "This may mean that the
Asians and Pacific Islanders have a different genetic mutation that has

not yet been discovered, or that they do not, for some reason, develop
hemochromatosis/iron overload despite their high blood levels of iron."

He said that the NEJM paper is the first report from analysis of the
massive data arising from the study, called the Hemochromatosis and
Iron Overload Screening (HEIRS) Study. The study is funded by the
National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the National Human Genome
Research Institute.

The other HEIRS Study Field Centers were located at university of
California, Irvine; London Health Sciences Centre, Ontario, Canada;
Howard University, Washington, D.C.; and Kaiser Permanente Center for
Health Research (Oregon and Hawaii). Wake Forest university in
Winston-Salem, N.C. coordinated the Study, and the Study's Central
Laboratory is located at the university of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

At the beginning of the study in 2000, it was known that most cases of
hemochromatosis in Caucasians resulted from common mutations in the HFE

gene, first discovered in 1996. At that time, little was known about
the causes of iron overload in other racial/ethnic groups.

Major findings of the study include:

Caucasians had the highest prevalence of persons who had two copies of
the C282Y mutation of the HFE gene (4.4 per 1,000 people).
Prevalence of two copies of the C282Y mutation of the HFE gene in other

racial/ethnic groups were: Native Americans (1.1 per 1,000), Hispanics
(2.7 per 10,000), African-Americans (1.4 per 10,000), Pacific Islanders

(1.2 per 10,000) and Asians (3.9 per 10 million).
Most participants who had two copies of the C282Y mutation of the HFE
gene also had elevated levels of iron in their blood.
Men who had two copies of the C282Y mutation of the HFE gene were more
likely to report a history of liver disease than participants without
HFE mutations.
"Our findings in Caucasians confirm reports from previous smaller
studies," said Acton. "Our findings in non-Caucasians help everyone
understand the prevalence of these conditions in other racial/ethnic
groups."

He added that many white Alabamians have Celtic origins, with some
counties reporting Irish ancestry in 17 percent of the population. "The

hemochromatosis C282Y mutation is thought to have occurred among Celtic

or Scandinavian populations 1,500-3,000 years ago, and the mutation may

have helped them survive iron-poor diets."

Hemochromatosis or iron overload occur in 0.3-0.5 percent of white
persons of northern, central, and western European descent. In fact, a
health-screening program conducted by Barton and Acton at an Alabama
forest products mill detected the disorder in 0.39 percent of all white

participants, and 0.53 percent of white men.

Acton and Barton said they hope that results of the study will prompt
more primary care physicians to consider hemochromatosis and iron
overload as a diagnosis. Nationwide studies indicate it takes an
average of nine years and three physicians to obtain a correct
diagnosis, partly because physicians incorrectly believe that such
disorders are rare, or that they affect only older men. A previous UAB
study found that primary care physicians provided fewer than 70 percent

correct responses about screening at-risk populations for
hemochromatosis, iron overload, and associated abnormalities.

As the HEIRS Study shows, iron overload was mistakenly believed to be a

disorder that is limited to Caucasians, said Acton. He, Barton, and
others have begun studying the role of iron overload and HFE mutations
in the development of type 2 diabetes in persons of various
racial/ethnic groups.

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monty1945@lycos.com

2006-06-15, 2:27 am

"Pacific Asians have higher cancer rates..."

Higher than whom? And where exactly does it say this in your cut and
paste passage? What is the source of this claim?

babawali@worldd.com

2006-06-15, 4:26 pm

"Individuals who develop hemochromatosis/iron overload absorb an
excessive amount of iron from food and supplements ingested."

in t Another nail, made of iron, in the iron causes all disease because
people eat meat notion. The study was about a genetic disorder and not
usual iron levels among meat eaters.