Highlights of This Issue

Two articles in this issue address important “neighborhoods and health” cancer disparities issues. In a research article, Palmer and colleagues examined rural–urban disparities in forgoing healthcare due to cost amongst 7,804 cancer survivors. Compared to urban cancer survivors, rural cancer survivors were more likely to forgo medical or dental care due to cost. Adjustment for health insurance attenuated these rural–urban disparities among younger cancer survivors, but not older cancer survivors. In a separate review, Meilleur and colleagues highlight key points regarding rural residence and cancer outcomes in the US, identifying conventions that will assist future investigations into the effects of rural residence on cancer outcomes.

To increase the cohesiveness of tissue type assessments across centers within consortia, Köbel and colleagues used a biomarker-based prediction model to evaluate histological type assessments across different centers in the Ovarian Tumor Tissue Analysis Consortium. Ovarian cancer tissue microarrays were examined and histological assessments were compared. Using the original histological-based assessment, research cohorts showed significant variability. In contrast, the biomarker-based tumor assessments produced more homogeneous results across centers. Similar biomarker-based tumor assessment models could help reduce variability across research cohorts.

Ideally, predictive genetic testing for melanoma promotes early detection and reduces mortality. Aspinwall and colleagues evaluated the long-term impact of melanoma genetic testing and counseling on screening. Family members carrying different CDKN2A/p16 melanoma genetic risk alleles were assessed for adherence to recommended annual or monthly total body skin examinations. Two years following test reporting, adherence to annual total body skin examinations among unaffected carriers increased from 40% to 70%. These encouraging findings suggest that melanoma genetic counseling and test reporting may improve adherence to skin cancer screening practices.

Omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids may affect skin carcinogenesis but epidemiological evidence is inconsistent. Wallingford and colleagues evaluated the association of plasma omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids and cutaneous basal cell carcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) in Australian adults. Concentrations of omega-3/omega-6 fatty acids and omega-3/omega-6 ratios showed significant inverse associations with SCC tumors. This study provides support for reduced skin cancer risk with high plasma concentrations of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, but further investigation in larger datasets is needed.