Germany is a country known for immigration. In 2015, 21% of the general population in Germany consisted of individuals with a migration background. This article focuses on cancer-specific incidence and mortality among one of the biggest migrant groups in Germany: the resettlers. Resettlers are ethnic Germans who mainly immigrated from the Russian federation and other countries of the former Soviet Union after its collapse in 1989. We investigated differences between resettlers and the general German population, regarding (i) incidence and mortality of malignant neoplasms, (ii) time trends of the corresponding incidence and mortality, and (iii) cancer stage at diagnosis. We provide data from two resettler cohorts covering an observation time of 20 years: one cohort on cancer incidence (N = 32,972), and another cohort on mortality (N = 59,390). Cancer-specific standardized incidence ratios (SIR) and standardized mortality ratios (SMR) for all malignant neoplasms combined and the most common cancer-sites were calculated between resettlers and the general German population. Time trend analyses using Poisson regression were performed to investigate the developments of SIRs and SMRs. To investigate differences in stage at diagnosis, logistic regression was performed, calculating Odds Ratios for condensed cancer stages. We observed higher incidence and mortality of stomach cancer [SIR (men) 1.62, 95%CI 1.17–2.19; SMR (men) 1.62, 95%CI 1.31–2.01; SIR (women) 1.32, 95%CI 0.86–1.94; SMR (women) 1.52, 95%CI 1.19–1.93] and higher mortality of lung cancer [SMR (men) 1.34, 95%CI 1.20–1.50] among resettlers compared to the general German population, but lower incidence and mortality of colorectal (both sexes), lung (women), prostate and female breast cancer. However, time trend analyses showed converging incidence risks of cause-specific incidence over time, whereas differences of mortality did not show changes over time. Results from logistic regression suggest that resettler men were more often diagnosed with advanced cancer stages compared to the Münster population. Our findings suggest that risk factor patterns of the most common cancer-sites among resettlers are similar to those observed within the Russian population. Such increases in prostate, colorectal and breast cancer incidence may be the consequence of improved detection measures, and/or the adaptation of resettlers to the German lifestyle.

Background Triggered by the successive implementation of organized mammography screening programs (MSPs) throughout western European countries over the last decades, there is an ongoing debate questioning their effectiveness. Since it is difficult to assess the effect of MSPs on a population level, we rather aim to assess the impact of the implementation itself on breast cancer mortality rates utilizing an ecological study design. Methods We analyzed age group-specific (50–59, 60–69 and 70–79 years) female breast cancer mortality rates in 14 western European countries between 1980 and 2017 using Joinpoint regression, interrupted time series (ITS) regression and multivariable Poisson regression. Results The Joinpoint analysis demonstrated decreasing trends resulting in annual percentage changes ranging from − 1.5% to − 5.4% (50–59), − 0.2% to − 8.1% (60–69) and 0% to − 7.1% (70–79) depending on the country within 3 years after MSP implementation. The ITS analysis results in highly significant interaction terms (calendar year * binary MSP indicator) for all age groups. The multivariable regression using “calendar year”, “year of MSP implementation” and “years with MSP” as independent variables yielded a significant yearly decrease for “years with MSP” ranging from 0.9 to 1.2%. Conclusions The results of this study suggest a positive association between the implementation of MSPs and the (accelerated) reduction of breast cancer mortality rates. Measuring and quantifying the isolated effect of MSPs on a population level will require additional studies using individual data.

Background Genetic aberrations in DNA repair genes are linked to cancer, but less is reported about epigenetic regulation of DNA repair and functional consequences. We investigated the intragenic methylation loss at the three prime repair exonuclease 2 ( TREX2 ) locus in laryngeal ( n = 256) and colorectal cancer cases ( n = 95) and in pan-cancer data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Results Significant methylation loss at an intragenic site of TREX2 was a frequent trait in both patient cohorts ( p = 0.016 and < 0.001, respectively) and in 15 out of 22 TCGA studies. Methylation loss correlated with immunohistochemically staining for TREX2 ( p < 0.0001) in laryngeal tumors and improved overall survival of laryngeal cancer patients ( p = 0.045). Chromatin immunoprecipitation, demethylation experiments, and reporter gene assays revealed that the region of methylation loss can function as a CCAAT/enhancer binding protein alpha (CEBPA)-responsive enhancer element regulating TREX2 expression. Conclusions The data highlight a regulatory role of TREX2 DNA methylation for gene expression which might affect incidence and survival of laryngeal cancer. Altered TREX2 protein levels in tumors may affect drug-induced DNA damage repair and provide new tailored therapies. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13148-019-0666-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background: European studies showed that women with a migration background are less likely to participate in mammography screenings than autochthonous women. However, the participation in the German mammography screening programme (MSP) among ethnic German migrants from countries of the former Soviet Union (called resettlers) is unclear so far. The aim of this study was to identify possible differences regarding MSP participation between resettlers from the FSU and the general German population. Methods: Data from two independent, complementary studies from North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany (a retrospective cohort study 1994-2013; a cross-sectional study 2013/14) were used for comparisons between resettlers and the general population: Odds Ratios (ORs) for MSP participation utilizing the cross-sectional data and time trends of breast cancer incidence rates as well as Chi-Square tests for breast cancer stages utilizing the cohort data. Results: Resettlers showed higher Odds to participate in the MSP than the general population (OR 2.42, 95% CI 1.08-5.42). Among resettlers, a large increase in incidence rates was observed during the MSP implementation (2005-2009), resulting in stable and comparable incidence rates after the implementation. Furthermore, pre-MSP implementation, the proportion of advanced breast cancer stages was higher among resettlers than in the German population, post-MSP implementation the proportion was comparable. Conclusions: MSP participating seems surprisingly high among resettlers. An explanation for the increased willingness to participate might be the structured invitation procedure of the MSP. However, the exact reasons remain unclear and future research is needed to confirm this hypothesis and rule out the possibility of selection bias in the cross-sectional study.