Background: Individual studies have suggested that circulating carotenoids, retinol, or tocopherols may be associated with prostate cancer risk, but the studies have not been large enough to provide precise estimates of associations, particularly by stage and grade of disease. Objective: The objective of this study was to conduct a pooled analysis of the associations of the concentrations of 7 carotenoids, retinol, a-tocopherol, and g-tocopherol with risk of prostate cancer and to describe whether any associations differ by stage or grade of the disease or other factors. Design: Principal investigators of prospective studies provided individual participant data for prostate cancer cases and controls. Risk by study-specific fifths of each biomarker was estimated by using multivariable-adjusted conditional logistic regression in matched case-control sets.

Published literature provides little evidence to support a major role of vitamin D in preventing prostate cancer or its progression.

Around one-third of men spontaneously adopted a healthier diet and also consumed more 'prostate-healthy' foods following a diagnosis of PC. Dietary choices also differed by radical or monitoring treatments, indicating that men undergoing active surveillance may be more likely to pursue dietary changes as an adjunct therapy. PC survivors can adopt healthier diets, thus providing clinicians with opportunities to support PC survivorship by providing targeted advice beneficial to general and potentially prostate-specific health.

There is currently no means of primary prevention for prostate cancer. Increased exposure to ultraviolet-radiation may be protective, but the literature is inconclusive. We investigated associations of life course exposure to sunlight with prostate cancer. The study design was a UK-wide nested case-control study, based on 1,020 prostate specific antigen-detected cases and 5,044 matched population controls and a systematic review with meta-analysis. Men with olive/brown skin (OR 5 1.47; 95% CI: 1.00 to 2.17), men who burnt rarely/never (OR 5 1.11; 0.95 to 1.29) and men with the lowest levels of intense sun exposure in the 2 years prior to diagnosis (OR 5 1.24; 1.03 to 1.50) had an increased prostate cancer risk. However, amongst men with prostate cancer, spending less time outside was associated with a reduced risk of advanced cancer (OR 5 0.49; 0.27 to 0.89) and high Gleason grade (OR 5 0.62; 0.43 to 0.91), and men who burnt rarely/never had a reduced risk of advanced cancer (OR 5 0.71; 0.47 to 1.08). The meta-analysis provided weak evidence that men with the lowest (versus highest) sunlight exposure had an increased prostate cancer risk (4 studies, random-effects pooled relative risk 5 1.13; 0.98 to 1.29) and higher advanced or fatal prostate cancer risk (6 studies, randomeffects pooled relative risk 5 1.14; 0.98 to 1.33). Our data and meta-analyses provide limited support for the hypothesis that increased exposure to sunlight may reduce prostate cancer risk. The findings warrant further investigation because of their implications for vitamin D chemoprevention trials. ' UICCKey words: prostate cancer; sun exposure; pigmentation Worldwide over 220,000 men die annually from prostate cancer.1,2 Known risk factors are age, ethnicity and family history 3,4 but as these risk factors are not modifiable, control through primary prevention is not an option. It is, therefore, important to identify modifiable lifestyle or environmental factors that may decrease the risk of prostate cancer. A number of ecological studies have reported an inverse correlation between sunlight levels and prostate cancer mortality. 5,6 This association may reflect an inverse association of vitamin D with prostate cancer, 7-10 because vitamin D status is strongly determined by the amount of sun exposure and the capacity of the skin to synthesize it and, in turn, vitamin D regulates cellular growth and differentiation. 7,11 There is evidence from individualbased epidemiological studies that risk of cancer, including of the prostate, is decreased in men with high sun exposure, 10,12,13 and that pigmentary characteristics that may inhibit vitamin D synthesis, such as dark skin 10,14 or tanning easily, 15 are positively associated with prostate cancer. However, there is also contradictory ecological evidence that high levels of exposure to ultra-violet radiation are associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer mortality. 16 We tested the hypothesis that increased sun exposure during the life course is associated with reduced prostate canc...

a b s t r a c tCommonly used methods for diagnosing Onchocerca volvulus infections (microscopic detection of microfilariae in skin snips and nodule palpation) are insensitive. Improved methods are needed for monitoring and evaluation of onchocerciasis elimination programmes and for clinical diagnosis of individual patients. A sensitive probe-based qPCR assay was developed for detecting O. volvulus DNA, and this was tested with samples collected from an endemic area in eastern Côte d'Ivoire. The new test was evaluated with dried skin snip pairs from 369 subjects and compared to routine skin snip microscopy and nodule palpation results from the same individuals. Onchocerciasis prevalence for these samples by qPCR, skin snip microscopy, and nodule palpation were 56.9%, 26.0%, and 37.9%, respectively. Furthermore, the combination of all three tests produced an infection prevalence of 72.9%, which was significantly higher than 53.1% detected by microscopy plus nodule palpation without qPCR. However, the qPCR assay was negative for 54 of 229 individuals with palpable nodules. qPCR could be a useful tool for detecting residual O. volvulus infections in human populations as prevalence decreases in areas following community-directed treatment with ivermectin.