engleski

Cancer Incidence in Eastern Adriatic Islands, Croatia: Examples from the Islands of Krk, Cres, Lošinj, Rab and Pag

As an extension of previous research this study investigates the incidence of cancer in five genetic isolate populations of the Eastern Adriatic, Croatia. Thorough anthropological research over the past three decades has established some of those populations as outstanding examples of genetic isolates. A previous study which found higher cancer incidence in 5 eastern Adriatic islands than in a control population supported a hypothesis that among the founders of these populations there were genetic variants (especially with recessive inheritance) responsible for genetic susceptibility to certain types of cancer. this study sought to investigate cancer incidence in 5 further island populations. All cancer cases in five island populations (Krk, Cres, Lošinj, Rab, Pag) over the 20-year period (1971 to 1991) was extracted from the data of the Croatian Cancer Registry. The mainland populations of Istrian and Primorsko-Goranska County, characterised by similar environmental factors but an outbreed genetic structure, represented a control population. After standardisation by sex and age, cancer incidence was higher in the island populations than in the control population in both sexes. The cancer sites primarily responsible for the excess incidence were prostate, stomach and pancreatic cancer in males, and ovarian, breast, stomach, bowel and brain cancer in females. The reasons for the increased cancer incidence are uncertain and may be due to different environmental exposure between the two populations. However, it is possible that genetic isolation and inbreeding are important factors. further investigations of cancer in these isolate populations are warranted to explore these findings further.

cancer; incidence; Croatia; population genetics; anthropology

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