Papers by Gonzalo Lopez-Abente
International Journal of Epidemiology, 2015
Geospatial Health, 2018
The feasibility of the Minimum Basic Data Set (MBDS) as a tool in cancer research was explored mo... more The feasibility of the Minimum Basic Data Set (MBDS) as a tool in cancer research was explored monitoring its incidence through the detection of spatial clusters. Case-control studies based on MBDS and marked point process were carried out with the focus on the residence of patients from the Prince of Asturias University Hospital in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid, Spain). Patients older than 39 years with diagnoses of stomach, colorectal, lung, breast, prostate, bladder and kidney cancer, melanoma and haematological tumours were selected. Geocoding of the residence address of the cases was done by locating them in the continuous population roll provided by the Madrid Statistical Institute and extracting the coordinates. The geocoded control group was a random sample of 10 controls per case matched by frequency of age and sex. To assess case clusters, differences in Ripley K functions between cases and controls were calculated. The spatial location of clusters was explored by investigatin...
Annals of Oncology, 2017
The survey was answered by 907 cancer patients and survivors. 59.2% (n ¼ 537) of respondents were... more The survey was answered by 907 cancer patients and survivors. 59.2% (n ¼ 537) of respondents were diagnosed with cancer less than 3 years ago, and 46.2% (n ¼ 419) were treated for cancer for 1 year or less (46.2%; n ¼ 419). 82.4% of respondents (n ¼ 689) believed it was important to maintain physical activity during cancer treatment, although only 53.8% (n ¼ 450) of the respondents reported that their physicians advised them to do so. 72.9% (n ¼ 603) of the respondents didn't know the meaning of the term "cachexia", and 92.4% (n ¼ 764) did not receive any information about cachexia from their health professionals. 69.7% (n ¼ 586) of respondents reported that they lost weight after the cancer diagnosis, and for 36.7% (n ¼ 309) of respondents this loss was moderate to severe. Conclusions: Most people with cancer surveyed reported that they would like to receive more information about how to improve their nutrition during and after treatment. There is a need to empower individual patients and patient associations by producing more information on cancer patients' nutritional needs. Such information material should be produced by patients in close collaboration with medical oncologists and other healthcare professionals.
Environmental science and pollution research international, Mar 1, 2017
Epidemiology, 2009
ABSTRACT In 2007 Ministry of Environment established a contract with the Institute of Health Carl... more ABSTRACT In 2007 Ministry of Environment established a contract with the Institute of Health Carlos III to start a National Human Biomonitoring program with focus on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and Heavy Metals. The study started in 2009 and was established in collaboration to medical examination centers across the spanish peninsula Study participants were selected through a stratified cluster sampling. Strata were defined according to 11 geographical areas: Northwest 1 (Galicia), Northwest 2 (Asturias, Cantabria), Northeast 1 (Basque Country), Northeast 2 (Navarre, La Rioja, Aragon), Central 1 (Castile and Leon), Central 2 (Madrid), Central 3 (Castile-La Mancha, Extremadura), East 1 (Catalonia), East 2 (Valencian Community), South 1 (Andalusia), and South 2 (Murcia). A total of 36 physical examination centers were selected across these strata following a compromise allocation: a minimum of 2 examination centers within each geographical area, with the remaining 14 centers being distributed proportionally to the working population in each area according to the Spanish Active Population Survey 2007. Also, to ensure a proper seasonal distribution the 36 selected centers were assigned to 4 recruitment periods: January-March, April-June, July-September, and October-December 2009. " Firstly, the corresponding centers within each geographical area were randomly selected with probability proportional to its size (annual number of physical examinations). " At a second stage, 25 workers of service sector (10 men and 15 women) and 25 workers of other economic sectors -agriculture, industry, or construction- (15 men and 10 women) were sampled within each selected examination center. Participants were consecutively selected within the recruitment period randomly assigned to each center. The overall sample comprised 1800 participants. Small geographical areas, non-service economic sectors, and women were over-sampled in order to improve precision in these subgroups. The presentation will give an overview of the aims, plans and advances got it under this program.
Environmental Research, 2014
The Science of the total environment, Jan 24, 2017
Residential radon exposure is a serious public health concern, and as such appears in the recomme... more Residential radon exposure is a serious public health concern, and as such appears in the recommendations of European Code Against Cancer. The objective of this study was to assess the association between residential radon levels and mortality due to different types of cancer, using misaligned data analysis techniques. Mortality data (observed cases) for each of the 313 Galician municipalities were drawn from the records of the National Statistics Institute for the study period (1999-2008). Expected cases were computed using Galician mortality rates for 14 types of malignant tumors as reference, with a total of 56,385 deaths due to the tumors analyzed. The effect estimates of indoor radon (3371 sampling points) were adjusted for sociodemographic variables, altitude, and arsenic topsoil levels (1069 sampling points), using spatial/geostatistical models fitted with stochastic partial differential equations and integrated nested Laplace approximations. These models are capable of proce...
American Journal of Epidemiology, 1991
The association between tobacco smoking and bladder cancer was investigated in a multicenter case... more The association between tobacco smoking and bladder cancer was investigated in a multicenter case-control study conducted in five provinces of Spain between 1983 and 1986. A matched analysis was carried out in males, based on 430 histologically confirmed cases, 405 hospital controls, and 386 population controls, matched by age and place of residence. An increased risk was found for smokers as compared with nonsmokers (odds ratio (OR) = 3.79, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 2.41-5.97), and this increase was significantly associated with the intensity of smoking. Smokers of filter-tipped cigarettes had a reduced risk as compared with smokers of non-filter-tipped cigarettes (OR = 0.57, 95% CI 0.32-1.02). A diminution of risk was also observed for smokers of low-tar and low-nicotine ("light") cigarettes. Depth of inhalation was strongly associated with illness. No difference was shown in the logistic regression model between smokers of black tobacco and smokers of blond tobacco after controlling for depth of inhalation. Although the number of persons who smoked blond tobacco exclusively was small, the results suggest that it is important to consider inhalation patterns when studying risk variations between smokers of black tobacco and smokers of blond tobacco. The age at which a person started to smoke did not appear to affect risk. An analysis of the decrease in risk associated with years since quitting smoking suggested that different components of cigarette smoke may play a role at different stages of the carcinogenic process.
Cancer, 1983
Studies made of mortality tendencies due to bladder cancer made in various industrialized countri... more Studies made of mortality tendencies due to bladder cancer made in various industrialized countries show evidence of an increase with time in death rates. This situation is also seen in Spain with some characteristics which we analyze. An actual increase of 60% in risk of death due to bladder cancer in males was found between 1955 and 1975. A definite tendency in women was not observed. The characteristics of the tendency curves indicate the grave importance that this tumor could eventually have in Spain and the need to adopt a policy of adequate intervention.
Cancer, 1985
This report presents the results of an epidemiologic case-control study. The study includes 58 ca... more This report presents the results of an epidemiologic case-control study. The study includes 58 cases and 116 controls from both sexes, selected from the Admission Register of the Hospital and from the Death Registry Office of the local city authorities. Controls have been matched to cases by age, sex, place of residence and source of selection. The results demonstrated no increased risk associated with coffee consumption. Habitual smokers present a 2.3 times higher risk than nonsmokers. The estimated relative risk for occupation standardized by age and smoking habit, is 5.5. A multiplicative effect of the simultaneous action of smoking and occupational exposure has been observed to be an estimated relative risk of 11.7. The attributable risk of the population has been estimated to be 39% for smokers and 12% for occupational exposure. A strong association was found between bladder cancer and occupational exposure to carcinogenic substances, especially in the dye and print textile industries.
American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 1988
This paper presents results from a case‐control study carried out in the county of Mataro, Spain.... more This paper presents results from a case‐control study carried out in the county of Mataro, Spain. The study was designed to investigate the possible causes of an unusually high mortality rate from bladder cancer in Mataro county as compared to Spain as a whole, and this report focuses on occupational exposures. The study is based on 57 cases who were hospitalized for or died from bladder cancer between 1978 and 1981. Two controls per case were matched for sex, age, residence, and date of either hospitalization or death. Information was collected on smoking, coffee drinking, and occupation. Occupational histories were then evaluated and coded blind by a group of occupational health physicians. Analyses were carried out by means of conditional logistic regression. Among a group of common occupational sectors, an increased risk for past employment in the textile industry (OR = 2.2; p = .038) was found. Further analyses indicated that the risk is particularly elevated (OR = 4.41; 95% co...
PLOS ONE, 2019
Background Prostate cancer (PC) primarily affects elderly men. However, the specific features of ... more Background Prostate cancer (PC) primarily affects elderly men. However, the specific features of cases diagnosed at younger ages (<65 years) suggest that they may represent a different clinical subtype. Our aim was to assess this suggestion by contrasting the geographical PC mortality and hospital admissions patterns in Spain for all ages to those in younger men.
Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987), 2015
We investigated whether there might be excess ovarian cancer mortality among women residing near ... more We investigated whether there might be excess ovarian cancer mortality among women residing near Spanish industries, according to different categories of industrial groups and toxic substances. An ecologic study was designed to examine ovarian cancer mortality at a municipal level (period 1997-2006). Population exposure to pollution was estimated by means of distance from town to facility. Using Poisson regression models, we assessed the relative risk of dying from ovarian cancer in zones around installations, and analyzed the effect of industrial groups and pollutant substances. Excess ovarian cancer mortality was detected in the vicinity of all sectors combined, and, principally, near refineries, fertilizers plants, glass production, paper production, food/beverage sector, waste treatment plants, pharmaceutical industry and ceramic. Insofar as substances were concerned, statistically significant associations were observed for installations releasing metals and polycyclic aromatic ...
Tomado de la cubierta : "Manual de Método Epidemiológico"El presente volumen incluye tr... more Tomado de la cubierta : "Manual de Método Epidemiológico"El presente volumen incluye trece temas elaborados por diferentes autores, todos ellos expertos en salud pública y profesores de la Escuela Nacional de Sanidad, con la orientación fundamental de servir de apoyo a la docencia del método epidemiológico. Así, partiendo de la definición de epidemiología y de la descripción de sus usos potenciales, se describen los conceptos básicos de este método científico, sus principales diseños de investigación, los métodos básicos de análisis de datos, las técnicas de control de sesgos y factores de confusión, las bases de la inferencia causal y los aspectos fundamentales de la epidemiología clínica en el escenario actual
Epidemiology and Infection, 2020
In Spain, the epidemic curve caused by COVID-19 has reached its peak in the last days of March. T... more In Spain, the epidemic curve caused by COVID-19 has reached its peak in the last days of March. The implementation of the blockade derived from the declaration of the state of alarm on 14th March has raised a discussion on how and when to deal with the unblocking. In this paper, we intend to add information that may help by using epidemic simulation techniques with stochastic individual contact models and several extensions.
PLOS ONE, 2017
Recently, the interest in studying pancreatic cancer mortality has increased due to its high leth... more Recently, the interest in studying pancreatic cancer mortality has increased due to its high lethality. In this work a detailed analysis of pancreatic cancer mortality in Spanish provinces was performed using recent data. A set of multivariate spatial gender-age-period-cohort models was considered to look for potential candidates to analyze pancreatic cancer mortality rates. The selected model combines features of APC (age-period-cohort) models with disease mapping approaches. To ensure model identifiability sum-to-zero constraints were applied. A fully Bayesian approach based on integrated nested Laplace approximations (INLA) was considered for model fitting and inference. Sensitivity analyses were also conducted. In general, estimated average rates by age, cohort, and period are higher in males than in females. The higher differences according to age between males and females correspond to the age groups [65, 70), [70, 75), and [75, 80). Regarding the cohort, the greatest difference between men and women is observed for those born between the forties and the sixties. From there on, the younger the birth cohort is, the smaller the difference becomes. Some cohort differences are also identified by regions and age-groups. The spatial pattern indicates a North-South gradient of pancreatic cancer mortality in Spain, the provinces in the North being the ones with the highest effects on mortality during the studied period. Finally, the space-time evolution shows that the space pattern has changed little over time.
Cancer epidemiology, Oct 6, 2017
Helicobacter pylori infection is one of the main risk factors for non-cardia gastric cancer. Howe... more Helicobacter pylori infection is one of the main risk factors for non-cardia gastric cancer. However, only a minority of infected persons develop the disease. This study aims at identifying H. pylori related serological biomarkers of risk for gastric cancer. Incident gastric cancer cases and population controls (age, sex and region frequency-matched) from the MCC-Spain multicase-control Study were included. Seroreactivities against 16H. pylori proteins were determined using multiplex serology. Infection was defined as seropositivity against≥4 proteins. Relation of serological results to non-cardia and cardia gastric cancer was assessed using multivariable mixed logistic regression and principal components analysis. Seroprevalence was 88% among 2071 controls, 95% among 202 non-cardia gastric cancer cases (OR=1.9 (95% CI: 1.0-3.6)) and 85% among 62 cardia cancer cases (OR=0.5 (95% CI: 0.3-1.1)). In infected subjects, seropositivity for UreA, HP231, NapA and Cagδ was associated with lo...
Scientific reports, Jan 15, 2017
We aimed to know if radon concentration is associated with municipal mortality due to brain cance... more We aimed to know if radon concentration is associated with municipal mortality due to brain cancer in Galicia, Spain. We designed an ecological study taking as study unit Galician municipalities. To be included, municipalities had to have at least three radon measurements. We correlated radon concentrations with municipal mortality due to these malignant tumors during the period 1999-2008. We calculated the relative risk of dying of brain cancers for each municipality and correlated this value with municipal radon concentration using Spearman's Rho. 251 municipalities were included, with close to 3,500 radon measurements and an average of 14 radon measurements at each municipality. We observed a significant correlation between residential radon with brain cancer mortality for males and females and the intensity of the correlation was higher for females. These results were reinforced when the analysis was restricted to municipalities with more than 5 radon measurements: Spearman&...
The Science of the total environment, 2017
Few epidemiologic studies have explored risk factors for bone tumors in children, and the role of... more Few epidemiologic studies have explored risk factors for bone tumors in children, and the role of environmental factors needs to be analyzed. Our objective was to ascertain the association between residential proximity to industrial plants and urban areas and risk of bone tumors in children, taking into account industrial groups and toxic pollutants released. A population-based case-control study of childhood bone cancer in Spain was carried out, covering 114 incident cases obtained from the Spanish Registry of Childhood Tumors (between 1996 and 2011), and 684 controls individually matched by sex, year of birth, and autonomous region of residence. Distances from the subject's residences to the 1271 industries and the 30 urban areas (towns) with ≥75,000 inhabitants located in the study area were computed. Unconditional logistic regression models were fitted to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) for categories of distance (from 1km to 3km) to industri...
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Papers by Gonzalo Lopez-Abente