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RESEARCH PROJECTS DURING 2007
The
State Health Registry of Iowa is participating in over two dozen funded
studies during 2007. Brief descriptions of a few of these studies are
provided. LUNG
CANCER CARE OUTCOMES/SURVEILLANCE CONSORTIUM STUDIES
INVOLVING NON-HODGKIN LYMPHOMA (NHL) GRAPHICAL
INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS) THE
AGRICULTURAL HEALTH STUDY LUNG
CANCER CARE OUTCOMES/SURVEILLANCE CONSORTIUM STUDIES
INVOLVING NON-HODGKIN-LYMPHOMA SECOND
CANCER STUDIES GEOGRAPHICAL
INFORMATION SYSTEMS POOLED
ANALYSES SEER
PATTERNS OF CARE STUDIES THE
IOWA WOMEN'S HEALTH STUDIES
THE AGRICULTURAL HEALTH STUDY
The Agricultural Health Study is a long-term study of agricultural exposures
and chronic disease (especially cancer) among commercial or private pesticide
applicators (and their spouses, if married) in Iowa and North Carolina.
More information about recent results from this study, the study background,
frequently asked questions, other resources (internet & telephone)
for agricultural health information, references for
publications to date, and information for scientific collaborators can
be found at www.aghealth.org.
This study involves a statistical coordinating center, the State Health Registry
of Iowa, and six other primary data collection and research sites across the
United States. Across these sites, we are conduction population-based research
in areas of access to care and patterns of care. We are investigating the
effects of care decisions and practices on patient outcomes, including
quality of life, for patients with lung or colorectal cancer.
In Iowa, this study was limited to lung cancer patients. We enrolled over 1,000
lung cancer patients newly diagnosed between June 2003 and March 2005.
The State Health Registry of Iowa, along with
researchers at the Mayo Clinic participated in a
collaborative, population-based case-control study of
NHL involving researchers at the National Cancer Institute
and three other Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End
Results registries. The main objective of the study
was to better characterize risk factors for NHL. In Iowa,
364 live patients newly diagnosed with NHL between July
1, 1998 and June 30, 2000 were enrolled. A similar number
of population controls participated. More recently, we are investigating whether genes with
functional, common variant polymorphisms involved
in immune function and regulation are associated with
overall survival from NHL.
Over the past two decades, the State Health Registry
of Iowa has participated in several second cancer studies.
These have consisted of cohorts with a first cancer of the
cervix, ovary, testis, uterus, female breast, non-Hodgkin’s
lymphoma, or Hodgkin’s disease. They have been
conducted primarily in collaboration with the Radiation
Epidemiology Branch at the National Cancer Institute and
other registries in North America and Europe. Generally
these studies evaluate the treatment received for the first
cancer and the risk it places on the patient for development
of a second cancer. They typically involve medical
record review and pathology material retrieval.
The State Health Registry of Iowa is involved with
research utilizing a geographical information system to
develop and test a methodology for identifying regions
of excess cancer burden for breast and colorectal cancer
in Iowa. Results can be used to plan more appropriate cancer
prevention and control programs.
The Registry is also involved with a prostate cancer
study that is producing an edited book of key geocoding
issues and preparing “A Primer on Geocoding for Prostate
Cancer Prevention and Control Activities”.
The Registry has also provided data for maps created
for use by the Iowa Consortium for Comprehensive Cancer
Control. The maps were created by Dr. Gerard Rushton,
Professor of Geography at the University of Iowa, and
graduate students Kristen Beyer, Zunqiu Chen, and
Veronica Escamilla. These maps can be used for planning
purposes for cancer prevention and control activities.
They can be viewed at http://www.uiowa.edu/~gishlth/ICCCCMaps/index.htm.
Today, researchers are increasingly looking to combine
their study data with that of other studies evaluating similar
outcomes. The State Health Registry of Iowa has been
involved with such pooling activities for studies involving
residential radon and lung cancer, diet and cancer,
drinking water and bladder cancer, and non-Hodgkin’s
lymphoma.
This is a collaborative set of studies between the
National Cancer Institute and its 14 SEER Registries.
In 2007, we will investigate state-of-the-art therapies for
in situ and early stage female breast cancer, stage II/III
colorectal cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer. Across
these cancer sites, 235 patients will be eligible at the State
Health Registry of Iowa and each will have been newly
diagnosed during 2005. The SHRI has been involved
with these types of studies over the past 20 years.
This is a population-based cohort of 41,837 Iowa
women, aged 55-69 in 1986, who were recruited to
determine whether diet, body fat distribution and other
risk factors were related to cancer incidence. Exposure
and lifestyle information was collected in a baseline
mailed survey and subsequently in several follow-up
mailed surveys. Mortality and cancer incidence has
been ascertained since 1986 through linkage to the State
Health Registry of Iowa databases and the National
Death Index. This year State Health Registry of Iowa
personnel are obtaining pathologic materials for
several hundred women in this study who have been
diagnosed with colorectal cancer as part of a
collaborative study with researchers at the Mayo Clinic.