Objective: The relation between the prevalence of anemia and incidence of childhood acute lymphob... more Objective: The relation between the prevalence of anemia and incidence of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia was explored using international cross-sectional data as well as US time-series data. Methods: Lymphoid leukemia incidence rates for various countries from the International Agency for Research on Cancer were regressed on anemia prevalence rates from the World Health Organization in a cross-sectional analysis. Four decades of acute lymphoblastic leukemia incidence (from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program cancer registries) and anemia prevalence (from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) also were examined in a time-series analysis. Results: There was a statistically significant inverse correlation between leukemia incidence and anemia prevalence in 53 countries, with leukemia incidence being highest in those countries where anemia prevalence was lowest. Examination of US leukemia incidence and anemia prevalence trends from 1973 through 2012 revealed similarly contrasting trends, with leukemia incidence increasing while anemia prevalence was decreasing. White children had half as much anemia but twice as much leukemia as black children. Conclusions: It is postulated that the iron-depleted state may be unfavorable to leukemogenesis, perhaps because lymphopoiesis is suppressed when erythropoiesis is stimulated. Conversely, the iron-replete state may be more favorable to leukemogenesis.
The leukemias show clear geographic, racial, ethnic, age, and gender variation in both incidence ... more The leukemias show clear geographic, racial, ethnic, age, and gender variation in both incidence and mortality, and the patterns of occurrence differ among subtypes. Despite decades of epidemiologic study, the known and suspected risk factors for leukemia are insufficient to explain more than a small fraction of the observed variation in the occurrence of the leukemias. Important contributions to the literature in 1993 included studies further clarifying the role of known risk factors (ionizing radiation, certain chemotherapeutic agents, and specific occupational chemical exposures) and suspected risk factors (infectious agents, electromagnetic fields, cigarette smoking, other chemotherapeutic agents, and additional occupational chemical exposures) in leukemogenesis.
An ELISA based on a pool of United States strains of Helicobacter pylori was compared with a newl... more An ELISA based on a pool of United States strains of Helicobacter pylori was compared with a newly developed ELISA based on a pool of Chinese strains. Both assays were tested using sera from 132 Chinese study subjects with biopsy-proven H. pylori infection. Using cutpoints designed to yield equal specificities of 94.9% in an uninfected control population, the sensitivity of the Chinese assay was 100.0%, compared to 97.7% for the United States assay (P = 0.25 by McNemar test). These results suggest that a H. pylori assay based on pooled antigens from United States strains will perform as well in the rural Chinese population as one based on antigens from Chinese strains.
Objective:To confirm the previously-reported increased risk of leukemia among macrosomic children... more Objective:To confirm the previously-reported increased risk of leukemia among macrosomic children (those whose birth weight was greater than 4000 grams).Methods:Birth certificates of Arizona, Illinois, and Kentucky children diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) before age five were matched with birth certificates from leukemia-free children of the same sex, race, and ethnicity who were born in the same county on or about the same day. Odds ratios for ALL among children of low (<2.5 kg) or high (>4 kg) birth weight were calculated by conditional logistic regression.Results:Children with high birth weight had an elevated risk of ALL in the first five years of life (OR=1.28; 95% CI: [1.01-1.61]). The excess risk was confined to non-Hispanic whites (OR=1.77; 95% CI: [1.27-2.48]), both boys (OR=1.57; 95% CI: [1.01-2.45]) and girls (OR=2.10; 95% CI: [1.26-3.52].Conclusion:This study confirms the association between high birth weight and ALL previously reported by other studies in children of European ancestry. The literature on maternal risk factors for both macrosomia and ALL is reviewed, with maternal overnutrition emerging as a plausible risk factor for both outcomes.
Objective: The relation between the prevalence of anemia and incidence of childhood acute lymphob... more Objective: The relation between the prevalence of anemia and incidence of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia was explored using international cross-sectional data as well as US time-series data. Methods: Lymphoid leukemia incidence rates for various countries from the International Agency for Research on Cancer were regressed on anemia prevalence rates from the World Health Organization in a cross-sectional analysis. Four decades of acute lymphoblastic leukemia incidence (from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program cancer registries) and anemia prevalence (from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) also were examined in a time-series analysis. Results: There was a statistically significant inverse correlation between leukemia incidence and anemia prevalence in 53 countries, with leukemia incidence being highest in those countries where anemia prevalence was lowest. Examination of US leukemia incidence and anemia prevalence trends from 1973 through 2012 revealed similarly contrasting trends, with leukemia incidence increasing while anemia prevalence was decreasing. White children had half as much anemia but twice as much leukemia as black children. Conclusions: It is postulated that the iron-depleted state may be unfavorable to leukemogenesis, perhaps because lymphopoiesis is suppressed when erythropoiesis is stimulated. Conversely, the iron-replete state may be more favorable to leukemogenesis.
The leukemias show clear geographic, racial, ethnic, age, and gender variation in both incidence ... more The leukemias show clear geographic, racial, ethnic, age, and gender variation in both incidence and mortality, and the patterns of occurrence differ among subtypes. Despite decades of epidemiologic study, the known and suspected risk factors for leukemia are insufficient to explain more than a small fraction of the observed variation in the occurrence of the leukemias. Important contributions to the literature in 1993 included studies further clarifying the role of known risk factors (ionizing radiation, certain chemotherapeutic agents, and specific occupational chemical exposures) and suspected risk factors (infectious agents, electromagnetic fields, cigarette smoking, other chemotherapeutic agents, and additional occupational chemical exposures) in leukemogenesis.
An ELISA based on a pool of United States strains of Helicobacter pylori was compared with a newl... more An ELISA based on a pool of United States strains of Helicobacter pylori was compared with a newly developed ELISA based on a pool of Chinese strains. Both assays were tested using sera from 132 Chinese study subjects with biopsy-proven H. pylori infection. Using cutpoints designed to yield equal specificities of 94.9% in an uninfected control population, the sensitivity of the Chinese assay was 100.0%, compared to 97.7% for the United States assay (P = 0.25 by McNemar test). These results suggest that a H. pylori assay based on pooled antigens from United States strains will perform as well in the rural Chinese population as one based on antigens from Chinese strains.
Objective:To confirm the previously-reported increased risk of leukemia among macrosomic children... more Objective:To confirm the previously-reported increased risk of leukemia among macrosomic children (those whose birth weight was greater than 4000 grams).Methods:Birth certificates of Arizona, Illinois, and Kentucky children diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) before age five were matched with birth certificates from leukemia-free children of the same sex, race, and ethnicity who were born in the same county on or about the same day. Odds ratios for ALL among children of low (<2.5 kg) or high (>4 kg) birth weight were calculated by conditional logistic regression.Results:Children with high birth weight had an elevated risk of ALL in the first five years of life (OR=1.28; 95% CI: [1.01-1.61]). The excess risk was confined to non-Hispanic whites (OR=1.77; 95% CI: [1.27-2.48]), both boys (OR=1.57; 95% CI: [1.01-2.45]) and girls (OR=2.10; 95% CI: [1.26-3.52].Conclusion:This study confirms the association between high birth weight and ALL previously reported by other studies in children of European ancestry. The literature on maternal risk factors for both macrosomia and ALL is reviewed, with maternal overnutrition emerging as a plausible risk factor for both outcomes.
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Papers by Frank D Groves