Selected Articles from This Issue

Current year estimates of new cancer cases and deaths published in the American Cancer Society's Annual Cancer Factors & Figures Report are among the most widely cited statistics in cancer research. Periodically evaluating the calculation of these estimates is important to incorporate improvements in cancer surveillance and cutting-edge modeling techniques. This study by Liu and colleagues re-evaluated the statistical method for estimating unavailable historical incidence data, the first step in the contemporary cancer case count projection. The updated methodology has broad applicability for disease mapping and other activities of public health planning, advocacy, and research.

The introduction of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) has led to declines in Kaposi sarcoma (KS) incidence among people with HIV (PWH), but it is unclear if incidence has declined similarly across demographic and HIV transmission groups. Peprah and colleagues evaluated temporal trends in KS incidence among PWH in the U.S. during 2000–2015. Incidence was elevated 521-fold among PWH and declined −6% annually, with significant declines across all groups. During 2008–2015, an estimated 5,306 new KS cases occurred among PWH in the U.S. Continued efforts to control HIV through early treatment need to be maintained to sustain recent declines.

No prior prospective metabolomics study has been conducted for identifying novel risk biomarkers for gastric cancer. Shu and colleagues conducted a untargeted metabolomics investigation using prediagnostic samples collected in the Shanghai Women's Health and the Shanghai Men's Health Study, systematically evaluating the relationship between circulating metabolites and gastric cancer development. Eighteen metabolites were identified as potential risk biomarkers for gastric cancer, independent of helicobacter pylori infection and other major risk factors. New tools may be developed to improve gastric cancer risk assessment.

Many loci have been found to be associated with risk of epithelial ovarian cancer. However, although there is considerable variation in progression-free survival, no loci have been found to be associated with outcome at genome-wide levels of significance. Quinn and colleagues carried out a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of PFS in 2352 women with EOC who had undergone cytoreductive surgery and standard carboplatin/paclitaxel chemotherapy. The locus at 12q24.33 represents one of the first genome-wide significant loci for survival for any cancer. ULK1 is a plausible candidate for the target of this association.