http://www.mdpi.com/journal/cancers/special_issues/cancer-epidem-research/ Dear Colleagues, In regards to research on the epidemiologic of cancer, possible topics of interest may include: prevalence, incidence, mortality of overall and site-specific cancers (including trends and disparities); recurrence and progression of disease; risk factors (e.g., environmental, genetic, behavioral, medical conditions/co-morbidities, and medication use); trends in disease severity (e.g., stage, metastases); role of prevention, screening, and surveillance (including new diagnostic tests) on the epidemic; clinical and economic consequences; and prognosis and survival. Dr. Denise Boudreau Guest Editor Submission Information All manuscripts should be submitted to cancers@mdpi.com with a copy to the Guest Editor. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website. Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cancers is an international peer-reviewed Open Access monthly journal published by MDPI. For the first two issues, to be published in 2009 and 2010, the Article Processing Charges (APC) will be waived for well-prepared manuscripts. English correction and/or formatting fees of 250 CHF (Swiss Francs) will be charged in certain cases for those articles accepted for publication that require extensive additional formatting and/or English corrections. http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/2/3/1644/ Germline mutations in BRCA1/2 genes are responsible for a large proportion of hereditary breast and/or ovarian cancers. Many highly penetrant predisposition alleles have been identified and include frameshift or nonsense mutations that lead to the translation of a truncated protein. Other alleles contain missense mutations, which result in amino acid substitution and intronic variants with splicing effect. The discovery of variants of uncertain/unclassified significance (VUS) is a result that can complicate rather than improve the risk assessment process. VUSs are mainly missense mutations, but also include a number of intronic variants and in-frame deletions and insertions. Over 2,000 unique BRCA1 and BRCA2 missense variants have been identified, located throughout the whole gene (Breast Cancer Information Core Database (BIC database)). Up to 10–20% of the BRCA tests report the identification of a variant of uncertain significance. There are many methods to discriminate deleterious/high-risk from neutral/low-risk unclassified variants (i.e., analysis of the cosegregation in families of the VUS, measure of the influence of the VUSs on the wild-type protein activity, comparison of sequence conservation across multiple species), but only an integrated analysis of these methods can contribute to a real interpretation of the functional and clinical role of the discussed variants. The aim of our manuscript is to review the studies on BRCA VUS in order to clarify their clinical relevance. http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/2/3/1644/ Fri, 10 Sep 2010 00:00:00 CEST Cancers 2010-09-10 2 3 Review 1644 1660 2072-6694 The Clinical Significance of Unknown Sequence Variants in BRCA Genes 2010-09-10 doi: 10.3390/cancers2031644 Valentina Calò Loredana Bruno Laura La Paglia Marco Perez Naomi Margarese Francesca Di Gaudio Antonio Russo http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/2/3/1379/ The two main histological esophageal cancer types, adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, differ in incidence, geographic distribution, ethnic pattern and etiology. This article focuses on epidemiology with particular reference to geographic and temporal variations in incidence, along with a review of the evidence supporting environmental and genetic factors involved in esophageal carcinogenesis. Squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus remains predominantly a disease of the developing world. In contrast, esophageal adenocarcinoma is mainly a disease of western developed societies, associated with obesity and gastro-esophageal reflux disease. There has been a dramatic increase in the incidence of adenocarcinoma in developed countries in parallel with migration of both esophageal and gastric adenocarcinomas towards the gastro-esophageal junction. http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/2/3/1379/ Mon, 28 Jun 2010 00:00:00 CEST Cancers 2010-06-28 2 3 Review 1379 1404 2072-6694 The Changing Face of Esophageal Cancer 2010-06-28 doi: 10.3390/cancers2031379 Melhado Alderson Tucker http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/2/1/143/ The case definition for inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is controversial. The American Joint Committee on Cancer defines IBC as redness, warmth and edema involving at least half the breast. The SEER program relies on a pathologic finding of dermal lymphatic invasion and recently added those with clinical involvement of more than 3/4 of the breast. We established a registry to collect information and specimens from IBC patients to clarify the epidemiology and biology of these tumors. The goals of this report are to suggest improvements regarding case definitions and provide data on the variety of presentations relevant to early diagnosis. http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/2/1/143/ Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 CET Cancers 2010-03-03 2 1 Article 143 152 2072-6694 What Is Inflammatory Breast Cancer? Revisiting the Case Definition 2010-03-03 doi: 10.3390/cancers2010143 Paul H. Levine Ladan Zolfaghari Heather Young Muhannad Hafi Timothy Cannon Chitra Ganesan Carmela Veneroso Rachel Brem Mark Sherman http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/2/1/51/ Dietary fats are thought to be important in the etiology of colon cancer. However, the evidence linking them is inconclusive. Studies on dietary protein, cholesterol and carbohydrate and the risk of colon cancer are also inconsistent. This study examined the association between dietary intake of protein, fats, cholesterol and carbohydrates, and the risk of colon cancer. Mailed questionnaires were completed by 1731 individuals with histologically confirmed cases of colon cancer and 3097 population controls between 1994 and 1997 in seven Canadian provinces. Measurements included socio-economic status, lifestyle habits and diet. A 69-item food frequency questionnaire was used to provide data on eating habits from two years before the study. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were computed using unconditional logistic regression. The nutrients were categorized by quartiles based on the distributions among the controls. Intake of polyunsaturated fat, trans-fat and cholesterol were significantly associated with the risk of colon cancer; the ORs for the highest quartiles were 1.36 (95% CI, 1.02–1.80), 1.37 (95% CI, 1.10–1.71) and 1.42 (95% CI, 1.10–1.84), respectively. The association was stronger with proximal colon cancer (PCC). An increased risk was also observed with increasing intake of sucrose for both proximal and distal colon cancers; the ORs for the highest quartiles were 1.67 (95% CI, 1.22–2.29) for PCC and 1.58 (95% CI, 1.18–2.10) for distal colon cancer (DCC). An elevated risk of PCC was also found with increased lactose intake. Our findings provide evidence that a diet low in fat and sucrose could reduce the risk of various colon cancers. http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/2/1/51/ Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:00:00 CET Cancers 2010-02-10 2 1 Article 51 67 2072-6694 Nutrients and Risk of Colon Cancer 2010-02-10 doi: 10.3390/cancers2010051 Jinfu Hu Carlo La Vecchia Eva Negri Les Mery