Itsuro Ogimoto

Coffee and risk of death from hepatocellular carcinoma in a large cohort study in Japan.

We examined the relation between coffee drinking and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) mortality in the Japan Collaborative Cohort Study for Evaluation of Cancer Risk (JACC Study). In total, 110 688 cohort members (46 399 male and 64 289 female subjects) aged 40–79 years were grouped by coffee intake into three categories: one or more cups per day, less than one cup per day and non-coffee drinkers. Cox proportional hazards model by SAS was used to obtain hazard ratio of HCC mortality for each coffee consumption categories. The hazard ratios were adjusted for age, gender, educational status, history of diabetes and liver diseases, smoking habits and alcohol. The hazard ratio of death due to HCC for drinkers of one and more cups of coffee per day, compared with non-coffee drinkers, was 0.50 (95% confidence interval 0.31–0.79), and the ratio for drinkers of less than one cup per day was 0.83 (95% confidence interval 0.54–1.25). Our data confirmed an inverse association between coffee consumption and HCC mortality.

The effect of interaction between hepatitis C virus and cigarette smoking on the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma.

We evaluated the interaction between hepatitis C virus (HCV) and cigarette smoking on death from hepatocellular cancer in The Japan Collaborative Cohort Study. The odds ratio of death from HCC for smoking was 9.60 (1.50–61.35) and 1.71(0.58–5.08) among anti-HCV positive and negative individuals, respectively.

Liver cancer risk, coffee, and hepatitis C virus infection: a nested case–control study in Japan

We examined hepatocellular carcinoma mortality in relation to coffee consumption and anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody seropositivity in a nested case–control study involving 96 cases. The multivariate-adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for daily coffee drinkers vs non-drinkers were 0.49 (0.25–0.96), 0.31 (0.11–0.85), and 0.75 (0.29–1.92) in all cases, in HCV-positive and in HCV-negative individuals, respectively.

World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute of Cancer Research 1997 Recommendations: applicability to digestive tract cancer in Japan

Objectives: This paper reviewed analytic epidemiological studies of the major Japanese digestive tract cancers, i.e. esophageal, stomach, colon and rectal. The applicability of the recommendations for prevention of these cancers by the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute of Cancer Research (W&A) to Japan is considered.Methods: Papers were searched by the MEDLINE for the period 1966 through 1997. Among them, 43 relevant papers including data from Japan were reviewed.Results: Results for 11 lifestyle-related factors were considered. Cigarette smoking was a strong and consistent, thus, convincing, risk factor for esophageal cancer, and a possible risk factor for stomach and colorectal cancer. Excessive consumption of alcohol was a convincing risk factor for esophageal cancer, and a possible risk factor for stomach and colorectal cancer. Excessive salt intake was a risk factor supported by some strong evidence but inconsistent; therefore, it is a probable risk factor for stomach cancer and a possible risk factor for colorectal cancer. Low physical activity was a probable risk factor for colorectal cancer. On the other hand, sufficient intake of vegetables, including green–yellow vegetables, and fruits was regarded as a possible protective factor for these cancers.Conclusions: These observations were mostly consistent with those reported by W&A; therefore the recommendations by W&A for prevention of these cancers may be considered applicable to the current Japanese population.

Risk of death due to hepatocellular carcinoma among drinkers and ex-drinkers. Univariate analysis of JACC study data.

Hazard ratios (HR) of death due to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were analyzed by gender and age strata (40-59 and 60-79) among drinkers and ex-drinkers in 66,974 eligible subjects from a a large cohort of male and female subjects aged 40-79 years, based on information about several drinking related characteristics. The HR of dying from HCC for ex-drinkers was 4 to 8 times higher than for those who had never consumed alcohol at the baseline survey. When the subjects were restricted to those without history of liver disease (LD), the HR was still high for ex-drinkers among younger males, though the difference was not statistically significant. It appeared that the earlier drinking habits were established, the higher the HR, especially for younger males without LD. Among total current drinkers, the amount ingested per occasion and the cumulative amount ingested at the baseline did not show significantly increased HRs. Among subjects without LD, larger amounts ingested per occasion and larger cumulative amount seemed to have higher HRs in older male current drinkers. Frequent drinking and later age (50 to 79) at cessation of drinking were associated with higher HRs among both genders and both age strata. After restricting the analysis to subjects without LD, many of these increased HRs remained among males. The results suggested that the association between alcohol drinking history and HR of HCC differs depending on the presence of LD. Major confounders other than age and gender associated with both drinking and HCC, e.g. smoking, hepatitis virus infection, or history of diabetes, were not considered in this analysis, and the observed associations might be confounded by any of these factors. To clarify the net association between alcohol drinking and HCC, further analysis is needed to control potential confounders, including past history of liver disease, and to consider probable effect modifiers.

Prospective study of vegetable consumption and liver cancer in Japan

We examined the relationship between vegetable consumption and the risk of death from liver cancer in a cohort study in Japan. This analysis is based on data from 6,049 subjects aged 40 to 79 years enrolled in a cohort study conducted in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The follow‐up period was from 1986 to 1999. All liver cancer deaths were recorded. The vegetable consumption was classified into 3 groups: “once per week or less,” “2–4 times per week” and “daily intake.” The Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI). A total of 51 male and 22 female liver cancer deaths were recorded during 62,343 person‐years of follow‐up. The “once per week or less” group was considered the referent group. In males, the multivariate HRs of liver cancer deaths were 0.61 (95% CI: 0.33–1.14) and 0.25 (95% CI: 0.11–0.59) in the “2–4 times per week” and “daily intake” groups, respectively. In females, the multivariate HRs were 0.44 (95% CI: 0.13–1.51) and 0.51 (95% CI: 0.16–1.69), respectively. The multivariate HRs were also reported by history of hepatitis and cirrhosis. In those without a history of these conditions, the multivariate HRs were 0.54 (95% CI: 0.27–1.09) and 0.36 (95% CI: 0.16–0.83). In those with a history of these conditions, the multivariate HRs were 0.58 (95% CI: 0.22–1.56) and 0.37 (95% CI: 0.13–1.06), respectively. Our study reveals an inverse association between vegetable consumption and the risk of death from liver cancer. These results provide further evidence of the protective effect of vegetables against liver cancer.

Years of life lost due to cancer in a cohort study in Japan.

BACKGROUND We estimated the burden of cancer using mortality and years of life lost according to life tables in a cohort study in Japan. METHODS A cohort of 13,270 subjects established in the late 1980s in Japan was followed annually for the vital status of all subjects until 2003. For subjects who died, the underlying cause of death was ascertained from the death certificate. Crude mortality rate from cancer per 100,000 person-years was calculated, and years of life lost (YLL) as well as the average years of life lost (AYLL) were computed using the 1995 life tables in Japan. RESULTS During the follow-up period, we recorded a total 839 cancer deaths (517 men and 322 women), representing 35.5% of deaths from all causes. Overall crude cancer mortality was 654.9 per 100 000 person-years in men and 312.6 in women. Total YLL due to cancer was 7035.3 years in men and 5627.0 years in women. Overall AYLL due to all cancers was 13.6 years less than life expectancy in men and 17.5 years in women. CONCLUSION These results showed that cancer was the leading cause of death in this cohort; with stomach, liver and lung cancer the three most frequent cancers in both sexes. YLL and AYLL reflect the cost of dying from cancer in terms of years of life expectancy lost. The different mortality statistics used here may be useful in public health considerations of cancer burden.

Alcohol drinking frequency is more directly associated with alcohol use disorder than alcohol metabolizing enzymes among male Japanese.

Abstract  The development of alcohol use disorder (AUD) is related to various social, economic, cultural, environmental and hereditary factors. Several potential risk factors have been proposed for AUD in addition to alcohol consumption, including alcohol dehydrogenase2 (ADH2), acetaldehyde dehydrogenase2 (ALDH2), marital status, educational, occupational or past medical history (e.g. diabetes mellitus, hypertension, lung, digestive tract, or chronic liver disease) or smoking habits. The present study was performed to investigate the relationship between the aforementioned potential risk factors and AUD in Japan. A case–control study was performed on 153 male Japanese AUD patients and age‐, gender‐, or other confounder‐matched controls to investigate the relation multivariately between ADH2, ALDH2 or alcohol drinking and AUD. Genomic DNA were extracted from nail clippings by the guanidium method, and genotyping of ADH2 and ALDH2 were performed using polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR‐RFLP) methods. Univariate analyses by the conditional logistic regression model revealed statistically significant odds ratios due to ADH2*1/1 genotype, ALDH2*1/1 genotype, middle school as the final school attended, longest occupations as farmers, fishermen, craftsmen, miners, production process or construction workers, and past histories of chronic liver disease and AUD. However, multivariate analyses under a hierarchically well‐formulated model strategy with interaction and confounding assessment indicated that (i) heavy alcohol intake was a significant risk factor (odds ratio per 1.0 g of daily ethanol intake; 1.096, 95% confidence interval; 1.026–1.171) for developing AUD after adjusting for other confounders; and (ii) ADH2*1/1 genotype and ALDH2*1/1 genotype were not risk factors after adjusting for daily ethanol intake and other confounders. The present study shows that AUD was more directly and strongly associated with alcohol drinking than with alcohol metabolizing enzymes among male Japanese.

[Epidemiological study on socio-psychological factors to affect the change in life style].

A cohort with the general population of 5698 was established to clarify the association between individual life style and health. This study investigated the association between life style and socio-psychological factors by means of a cross-sectional study of 1005 males aged 30 to 59 years. The health practice index consisted of 5 health practices, 1) smoking 2) drinking 3) physical activity 4) Quetelets index, and 5) sleep. The subjects were divided into two groups, group I (aged 30 to 44 years) and group II (aged 45 to 59 years). Path analysis was used to clarify the relationship between various socio-psychological factors relating to the health practice index. In group I, the health locus of control and perceived daily life stress were directly related to the health practice index. In group II, the only health locus of control was directly related to the health practice index. It was found that the social support network formed the basis of these two factors. These results suggested that it is very important to consider individual socio-psychological factors when promoting good health practice.