Inverse association between breast cancer incidence and degree of visual impairment in Finland

Pk, Verkasalo; Pukkala, Eero; Rg, Stevens; Ojamo, Matti; Sl, Rudanko

doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6690544

Cited by 82 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Our results are consistent with findings from Sweden (Feychting et al, 1998) and Finland (Verkasalo et al, 1999). However, we did not observe any decrease of breast cancer risk in the Norwegian women with milder degree of visual impairment, and in this respect our results correspond with the Swedish, but differ from the Finnish results.…”

Section: supporting

confidence: 90%

“…In totally blind people without ocular perception of light melatonin production is not suppressed by exposure to visible light, therefore a reduced risk of breast cancer could be anticipated. Studies from Sweden and Finland have shown a lower breast cancer risk in totally blind women compared to that of the general female population (Feychting et al, 1998;Verkasalo et al, 1999). A US case-control study also indicated that, overall, women with bilateral blindness had almost half the risk of developing breast cancer compared to the control group (Hahn, 1991).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Risk of breast cancer among Norwegian women with visual impairment

2001

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Summary Experimental studies suggest that melatonin has a protective effect against breast cancer. Exposure to light suppresses melatonin secretion, but to a lesser degree in totally blind persons. Breast cancer was investigated in a cohort of 15 412 Norwegian visually impaired women. The risk among totally blind women was 0.64 (95% CI = 0.21-1.49, 5 cases only), and for those who became blind before age of 65, the SIR was 0.51 (95% CI = 0.11-1.49). Our findings give support to the 'melatonin hypothesis'.

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Section: supporting

confidence: 90%

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confidence: 99%

Risk of breast cancer among Norwegian women with visual impairment

2001

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“…Pinheiro et al, 2006). Melatonin, which is secreted mainly from the pineal gland and plays a role in sleep duration, is suggested as one of the candidates responsible for the association in breast cancer (Brzezinski, 1997;Schernhammer and Schulmeister, 2004) as it influences the synthesis and secretion of sex hormones by promoting the release of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (Martin and Klein, 1976;Aleandri et al, 1996).In relation to melatonin, there have been several observational studies of night work, shift work or visual impairment, and sex hormone-related cancers such as prostate or breast (Feychting et al, 1998;Verkasalo et al, 1999;Kliukiene et al, 2001;Megdal et al, 2005;Kubo et al, 2006;Conlon et al, 2007;Schwartzbaum et al, 2007). However, there has been no study of sleep duration and prostate cancer risk, even though prostate cancer, like breast cancer, is also a sex hormone-related cancer.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…In relation to melatonin, there have been several observational studies of night work, shift work or visual impairment, and sex hormone-related cancers such as prostate or breast (Feychting et al, 1998;Verkasalo et al, 1999;Kliukiene et al, 2001;Megdal et al, 2005;Kubo et al, 2006;Conlon et al, 2007;Schwartzbaum et al, 2007). However, there has been no study of sleep duration and prostate cancer risk, even though prostate cancer, like breast cancer, is also a sex hormone-related cancer.…”

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confidence: 99%

Sleep duration and the risk of prostate cancer: the Ohsaki Cohort Study

et al. 2008

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In a prospective study of prostate cancer incidence (127 cases), among 22 320 Japanese men, sleep duration was associated with lower risk; the multivariate hazard ratio of men who slept X9 h per day compared with those who slept less was 0.48 (95% confidence interval: 0.29 -0.79, P for trend ¼ 0.02). Pinheiro et al, 2006). Melatonin, which is secreted mainly from the pineal gland and plays a role in sleep duration, is suggested as one of the candidates responsible for the association in breast cancer (Brzezinski, 1997;Schernhammer and Schulmeister, 2004) as it influences the synthesis and secretion of sex hormones by promoting the release of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (Martin and Klein, 1976;Aleandri et al, 1996).In relation to melatonin, there have been several observational studies of night work, shift work or visual impairment, and sex hormone-related cancers such as prostate or breast (Feychting et al, 1998;Verkasalo et al, 1999;Kliukiene et al, 2001;Megdal et al, 2005;Kubo et al, 2006;Conlon et al, 2007;Schwartzbaum et al, 2007). However, there has been no study of sleep duration and prostate cancer risk, even though prostate cancer, like breast cancer, is also a sex hormone-related cancer.We therefore examined the association between sleep duration and prostate cancer risk in a population of Japanese men, in whom the mortality of prostate cancer is increasing (Statistics and Information Department, Minister's Secretariat, Ministry of Health Labour and Welfare of Japan, 2007). MATERIALS AND METHODSDetails of the Ohsaki National Health Insurance (NHI) Cohort Study have been described previously (Tsuji et al, 1998;Kuriyama et al, 2006). Briefly, this prospective cohort study was started in 1994 and included 26 481 men aged 40 -79 years living in the 14 municipalities of Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan. The response rate was 94.0% (N ¼ 24 895) for the questionnaire that was self-administered and included items about sleep duration and other health-related lifestyle factors. The study protocol was reviewed and approved by the ethics committee of Tohoku University School of Medicine.After exclusion of subjects who had withdrawn from the NHI before follow-up, those who had a history of cancer, those who had omitted responses for sleep duration, and those who had reported sleep duration of less than 4 h or more than 12 h, 22 320 subjects remained. To follow-up participants for mortality and migration, we reviewed the NHI withdrawal history files for 1995 -2001. Through the Miyagi Prefectural Cancer Registry, we identified 127 incident cases of prostate cancer. During the study period, there had been no mass screening programme for prostate cancer in this area. Clinical stage was classified according to the TNM system as localised (T1 -T2), advanced (T3 -T4), metastatic (N þ and/or M þ ), or unknown.With regard to the sleep duration, participants answered the mean integer number of hours of sleep per day during the last year. Because of the small number who slept for less than 7 h and more than 8 h, we c...

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“…In a recent case-control study of 93 cases and 185 controls comprising Israeli women matched by age and residential area, high risk of breast cancer has been found to be linked with substantial exposure to ALAN from outdoor illumination, whereas reduced risk has been detected among women exposed to moderate bedroom ALAN without noteworthy external exposures [154]. Finally, several studies that have assessed the relation between breast cancer risk and the degree of visual impairment suggest an inverse dose-dependent relation between the two variables, with significant decrease in breast cancer risk among completely blind women [155][156][157].…”

Section: Circadian Disruption and Breast Cancermentioning

confidence: 99%

Artificial light-at-night – a novel lifestyle risk factor for metabolic disorder and cancer morbidity

Zubidat

Haim

2017

Journal of Basic and Clinical Physiology and Pharmacology

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Both obesity and breast cancer are already recognized worldwide as the most common syndromes in our modern society. Currently, there is accumulating evidence from epidemiological and experimental studies suggesting that these syndromes are closely associated with circadian disruption. It has been suggested that melatonin (MLT) and the circadian clock genes both play an important role in the development of these syndromes. However, we still poorly understand the molecular mechanism underlying the association between circadian disruption and the modern health syndromes. One promising candidate is epigenetic modifications of various genes, including clock genes, circadian-related genes, oncogenes, and metabolic genes. DNA methylation is the most prominent epigenetic signaling tool for gene expression regulation induced by environmental exposures, such as artificial light-at-night (ALAN). In this review, we first provide an overview on the molecular feedback loops that generate the circadian regulation and how circadian disruption by ALAN can impose adverse impacts on public health, particularly metabolic disorders and breast cancer development. We then focus on the relation between ALAN-induced circadian disruption and both global DNA methylation and specific loci methylation in relation to obesity and breast cancer morbidities. DNA hypo-methylation and DNA hyper-methylation, are suggested as the most studied epigenetic tools for the activation and silencing of genes that regulate metabolic and monostatic responses. Finally, we discuss the potential clinical and therapeutic roles of MLT suppression and DNA methylation patterns as novel biomarkers for the early detection of metabolic disorders and breast cancer development.

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Inverse association between breast cancer incidence and degree of visual impairment in Finland

Cited by 82 publications

References 8 publications

Risk of breast cancer among Norwegian women with visual impairment

Risk of breast cancer among Norwegian women with visual impairment

Sleep duration and the risk of prostate cancer: the Ohsaki Cohort Study

Artificial light-at-night – a novel lifestyle risk factor for metabolic disorder and cancer morbidity

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