Liver cirrhosis and the risk of primary liver cancer

The relationship between liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma is recognized, but quantification of risk is still uncertain. Therefore, we analysed data from a case-control study conducted in Italy between 1984 and 1997 on 499 cases of incident, histologically confirmed hepatocellular carcinoma and 1,552 controls in hospital with acute, non-neoplastic disease. Overall, 87 (17.4%) cases vs 10 (0.6%) controls reported clinical history of liver cirrhosis, The corresponding odds ratio (OR) was 27.5 (95% confidence interval (CI), 14.3-15.2) after allowance for sociodemographic factors, and 16.2 (95% CI, 7.9-32.9) after simultaneous allowance for all identified confounding factors, including alcohol consumption and clinical history of hepatitis, The association was of similar magnitude for subjects whose cirrhosis was diagnosed < 55 years (OR = 14.8) or at age 55 or over (OR = 20.0), and the multivariate OR was 33.7 < 5 years after diagnosis of cirrhosis, 37.3 between 5 and 9 years, and 7.6 (95% to 2.7-21.3) greater than or equal to 10 years since diagnosis of cirrhosis, The association was stronger in males (OR = 23.4) than in females (OR = 5,9), similar in various age groups, and somewhat stronger in more educated subjects (OR = 53.7), with history of hepatitis (OR = 33.1), reporting heavy alcohol consumption (OR = 24.9) or high body mass index (OR = 58.1), although the interaction term was significant only for sex. In terms of population attributable risk, 17% of hepatocellular carcinomas in this population can be attributed to clinical history of liver cirrhosis, (C) 1998 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Sexually transmitted diseases and risk of HIV infection.

We have analyzed the association between sexuaUy transmitted diseases (STO) and HIV infection, using data from a crosssectionaI survey of subjects attending STO cIinics in Northern ItaIy conducted since 1988. A totaI of 1,711 subjects (1,259 maIes, 452 females), who had referred themseIves to three STO cIinics in Northern Italy for suspected STO or STO treatment, were included for the study. Out of these, 145 subjects (113 males and 32 females) were Hlv-posit\uecve. A total of 58 mv -positive and 368 mv -negative subjects reported a history of STO; the corresponding odds ratio (OR) was 2.3 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.5-3.6) for subjects reporting a bistory of STO. Considering various STD in detaiIs, tbe estimated OR was 1.8 (95"1. CI 0.8-3.8) for a bistory of gonorrboea and 1.5 (95% CI 0.8-2.7) of syphilis, and tbe OR was 1.8 (95% CI 1.0-3.2) and 2.2 (95% CI 1.3-3.8), respectively, for a positive TPHA and VDRL test. The results of the test for HbsAg were available in 50 Hlv-positive and 1,028 HIVnegative subjects; the OR of HIV infection in subjects with HbSAg was 3.9 (95% CI 1.7-9.0). Presence or geni tal ulcers at clinical examination was not significantIy associated with the risk of HIV infection (OR yes vs no genital uIcers 1.5, 95% CI 0.6-2.8)

Oral bisphosphonates do not increase the risk of severe upper gastrointestinal complications: a nested case-control study

BACKGROUND: Data on the effect of oral bisphosphonates (BPs) on risk of upper gastrointestinal complications (UGIC) are conflicting. We conducted a large population-based study from a network of Italian healthcare utilization databases aimed to assess the UGIC risk associated with use of BPs in the setting of secondary prevention of osteoporotic fractures. METHODS: A nested case-control study was carried out within a cohort of 68,970 patients aged 45 years or older, who have been hospitalized for osteoporotic fracture from 2003 until 2005. Cases were the 804 patients who experienced hospitalization for UGIC until 2007. Up to 20 controls were randomly selected for each case. Conditional logistic regression model was used to estimate odds ratio (OR) associated with current and past use of BPs (i.e. for drug dispensation within 30 days and over 31 days prior the outcome onset, respectively) after adjusting for several covariates. RESULTS: Compared with patients who did not use BPs, current and past users had OR (and 95% confidence interval) of 0.86 (0.60 to 1.22) and 1.07 (0.80 to 1.44) respectively. There was no difference in the ORs estimated according with BPs type (alendronate or risedronate) and regimen (daily or weekly), nor with co-therapies and comorbidities. CONCLUSIONS: Further evidence that BPs dispensed for secondary prevention of osteoporotic fractures are not associated with increased risk of severe gastrointestinal complications is supplied from this study. Further research is required to clarify the role BPs and other drugs of co-medication in inducing UGIC

Oral bisphosphonates do not increase the risk of severe upper gastrointestinal complications: a nested case-control study.

Purpose: Osteoporosis is a chronic disease of the bone, whose incidence increases progressively with aging. The main consequences of osteoporosis are fragility fractures, which have considerable medical, social, and economic implications. Adequate treatment of osteoporosis must be considered as a compelling public health intervention. Bisphosphonates (BPs) represent the most significant advance in this field in the past decade, and they are widely used in the treatment of osteoporosis. However, evidence for their effectiveness is limited to secondary prevention, whereas their effect in primary prevention is uncertain and needs further investigation. Methods: Using administrative data collected in the "Biphosphonates Efficacy-Safety Tradeoff" (BEST) study, a nested case-control study was conducted by including 56,058 participants, aged 55 years who were started on oral BPs from 2003 to 2005. Cases were the 1,710 participants who were hospitalized for osteoporotic fractures until 2007. Up to 20 controls were randomly selected for each case. Conditional logistic regression model was used to estimate odds ratio of fracture associated with categories of treatment duration. Results: Compared with participants assuming BPs for less than 1 year, those who remained on therapy for at least 2 years had a 21 % (95 % confidence interval (CI) 7 to 33 %) fracture risk reduction. Conclusion: This study provides evidence that BPs, dispensed for primary prevention of osteoporotic fractures, are associated with a reduced risk of osteoporotic fractures after at least 2 years of treatmen

Synthetic indicator of the impact of colorectal cancer screening programmes on incidence rates

OBJECTIVE: The impact of a screening programme on colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence in its target population depends on several variables, including coverage with invitations, participation rate, positivity rate of the screening test, compliance with an invitation to second-level assessment and endoscopists' sensitivity. We propose a synthetic indicator that may account for all the variables influencing the potential impact of a screening programme on CRC incidence. DESIGN: We defined the 'rate of advanced adenoma on the target population' (AA-TAP) as the rate of patients who received a diagnosis of advanced adenoma within a screening programme, divided by the programme target population. We computed the AA-TAP for the CRC Italian screening programmes (biennial faecal immunochemical test, target population 50-69 year olds) using the data of the Italian National Survey from 2003 to 2016, overall and by region, and assessed the association between AA-TAP and CRC incidence fitting a linear regression between the trend of regional CRC incidence rates in 50-74 year old subjects and the cumulative AA-TAP. RESULTS: In 2016, the AA-TAP at a national level was 105×100 000, whereas significant differences were observed between the northern and central regions (respectively 126 and 149×100 000) and the South and Islands (36×100 000). The cumulative AA-TAP from 2004 to 2012 was significantly correlated with the difference between CRC incidence rates in 2013-2014 and those in 2003-2004 (p=0.009). CONCLUSION: The AA-TAP summarises into a single indicator the potential impact of a screening programme in reducing CRC incidence rates