ORCID Profile
0000-0003-1125-4818
Current Organisation
Tampere University
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Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 18-07-2007
DOI: 10.1007/S10654-007-9152-Z
Abstract: The very rapid worldwide increase in mobile phone use in the last decade has generated considerable interest in the possible health effects of exposure to radio frequency (RF) fields. A multinational case-control study, INTERPHONE, was set-up to investigate whether mobile phone use increases the risk of cancer and, more specifically, whether the RF fields emitted by mobile phones are carcinogenic. The study focused on tumours arising in the tissues most exposed to RF fields from mobile phones: glioma, meningioma, acoustic neurinoma and parotid gland tumours. In addition to a detailed history of mobile phone use, information was collected on a number of known and potential risk factors for these tumours. The study was conducted in 13 countries. Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the UK using a common core protocol. This paper describes the study design and methods and the main characteristics of the study population. INTERPHONE is the largest case-control study to date investigating risks related to mobile phone use and to other potential risk factors for the tumours of interest and includes 2,765 glioma, 2,425 meningioma, 1,121 acoustic neurinoma, 109 malignant parotid gland tumour cases and 7,658 controls. Particular attention was paid to estimating the amount and direction of potential recall and participation biases and their impact on the study results.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-06-2018
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 19-09-2015
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Date: 03-2014
Publisher: American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
Date: 04-2015
DOI: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-14-1057
Abstract: Prostate cancer is the second most common malignancy among men worldwide. Genome-wide association studies have identified 100 risk variants for prostate cancer, which can explain approximately 33% of the familial risk of the disease. We hypothesized that a comprehensive analysis of genetic variations found within the 3′ untranslated region of genes predicted to affect miRNA binding (miRSNP) can identify additional prostate cancer risk variants. We investigated the association between 2,169 miRSNPs and prostate cancer risk in a large-scale analysis of 22,301 cases and 22,320 controls of European ancestry from 23 participating studies. Twenty-two miRSNPs were associated (P & 2.3 × 10−5) with risk of prostate cancer, 10 of which were within 7 genes previously not mapped by GWAS studies. Further, using miRNA mimics and reporter gene assays, we showed that miR-3162-5p has specific affinity for the KLK3 rs1058205 miRSNP T-allele, whereas miR-370 has greater affinity for the VAMP8 rs1010 miRSNP A-allele, validating their functional role. Significance: Findings from this large association study suggest that a focus on miRSNPs, including functional evaluation, can identify candidate risk loci below currently accepted statistical levels of genome-wide significance. Studies of miRNAs and their interactions with SNPs could provide further insights into the mechanisms of prostate cancer risk. Cancer Discov 5(4) 368–79. ©2015 AACR. See related commentary by Yousef, p. 351 This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 333
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 05-11-2018
DOI: 10.1038/S41467-018-06863-1
Abstract: Chromosome 8q24 is a susceptibility locus for multiple cancers, including prostate cancer. Here we combine genetic data across the 8q24 susceptibility region from 71,535 prostate cancer cases and 52,935 controls of European ancestry to define the overall contribution of germline variation at 8q24 to prostate cancer risk. We identify 12 independent risk signals for prostate cancer ( p 4.28 × 10 −15 ), including three risk variants that have yet to be reported. From a polygenic risk score (PRS) model, derived to assess the cumulative effect of risk variants at 8q24, men in the top 1% of the PRS have a 4-fold (95%CI = 3.62–4.40) greater risk compared to the population average. These 12 variants account for ~25% of what can be currently explained of the familial risk of prostate cancer by known genetic risk factors. These findings highlight the overwhelming contribution of germline variation at 8q24 on prostate cancer risk which has implications for population risk stratification.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 05-05-2010
DOI: 10.1093/IJE/DYQ079
Abstract: The rapid increase in mobile telephone use has generated concern about possible health risks related to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields from this technology. An interview-based case-control study with 2708 glioma and 2409 meningioma cases and matched controls was conducted in 13 countries using a common protocol. A reduced odds ratio (OR) related to ever having been a regular mobile phone user was seen for glioma [OR 0.81 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.70-0.94] and meningioma (OR 0.79 95% CI 0.68-0.91), possibly reflecting participation bias or other methodological limitations. No elevated OR was observed > or =10 years after first phone use (glioma: OR 0.98 95% CI 0.76-1.26 meningioma: OR 0.83 95% CI 0.61-1.14). ORs were or =1640 h, the OR was 1.40 (95% CI 1.03-1.89) for glioma, and 1.15 (95% CI 0.81-1.62) for meningioma but there are implausible values of reported use in this group. ORs for glioma tended to be greater in the temporal lobe than in other lobes of the brain, but the CIs around the lobe-specific estimates were wide. ORs for glioma tended to be greater in subjects who reported usual phone use on the same side of the head as their tumour than on the opposite side. Overall, no increase in risk of glioma or meningioma was observed with use of mobile phones. There were suggestions of an increased risk of glioma at the highest exposure levels, but biases and error prevent a causal interpretation. The possible effects of long-term heavy use of mobile phones require further investigation.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2009
DOI: 10.1016/J.ANNEPIDEM.2008.10.006
Abstract: To quantitatively assess the impact of selection bias caused by nonparticipation in a multinational case-control study of mobile phone use and brain tumor. Non-response questionnaires (NRQ) were completed by a sub-set of nonparticipants. Selection bias factors were calculated based on the prevalence of mobile phone use reported by nonparticipants with NRQ data, and on scenarios of hypothetical exposure prevalence for other nonparticipants. Regular mobile phone use was reported less frequently by controls and cases who completed the NRQ (controls, 56% cases, 50%) than by those who completed the full interview (controls, 69% cases, 66%). This relationship was consistent across study centers, sex, and age groups. Lower education and more recent start of mobile phone use were associated with refusal to participate. Bias factors varied between 0.87 and 0.92 in the most plausible scenarios. Refusal to participate in brain tumor case-control studies seems to be related to less prevalent use of mobile phones, and this could result in a downward bias of around 10% in odds ratios for regular mobile phone use. The use of simple selection bias estimation methods in case-control studies can give important insights into the extent of any bias, even when nonparticipant information is incomplete.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 14-09-2014
DOI: 10.1038/NG.3094
Publisher: BMJ
Date: 04-2006
Publisher: BMJ
Date: 21-05-2009
Abstract: The output power of a mobile phone is directly related to its radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic field strength, and may theoretically vary substantially in different networks and phone use circumstances due to power control technologies. To improve indices of RF exposure for epidemiological studies, we assessed determinants of mobile phone output power in a multinational study. More than 500 volunteers in 12 countries used Global System for Mobile communications software-modified phones (GSM SMPs) for approximately 1 month each. The SMPs recorded date, time, and duration of each call, and the frequency band and output power at fixed s ling intervals throughout each call. Questionnaires provided information on the typical circumstances of an in idual's phone use. Linear regression models were used to analyse the influence of possible explanatory variables on the average output power and the percentage call time at maximum power for each call. Measurements of over 60,000 phone calls showed that the average output power was approximately 50% of the maximum, and that output power varied by a factor of up to 2 to 3 between study centres and network operators. Maximum power was used during a considerable proportion of call time (39% on average). Output power decreased with increasing call duration, but showed little variation in relation to reported frequency of use while in a moving vehicle or inside buildings. Higher output powers for rural compared with urban use of the SMP were observed principally in Sweden where the study covered very sparsely populated areas. Average power levels are substantially higher than the minimum levels theoretically achievable in GSM networks. Exposure indices could be improved by accounting for average power levels of different telecommunications systems. There appears to be little value in gathering information on circumstances of phone use other than use in very sparsely populated regions.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-06-2018
DOI: 10.1038/S41467-018-04109-8
Abstract: Prostate cancer is a polygenic disease with a large heritable component. A number of common, low-penetrance prostate cancer risk loci have been identified through GWAS. Here we apply the Bayesian multivariate variable selection algorithm JAM to fine-map 84 prostate cancer susceptibility loci, using summary data from a large European ancestry meta-analysis. We observe evidence for multiple independent signals at 12 regions and 99 risk signals overall. Only 15 original GWAS tag SNPs remain among the catalogue of candidate variants identified the remainder are replaced by more likely candidates. Biological annotation of our credible set of variants indicates significant enrichment within promoter and enhancer elements, and transcription factor-binding sites, including AR, ERG and FOXA1. In 40 regions at least one variant is colocalised with an eQTL in prostate cancer tissue. The refined set of candidate variants substantially increase the proportion of familial relative risk explained by these known susceptibility regions, which highlights the importance of fine-mapping studies and has implications for clinical risk profiling.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2011
DOI: 10.1016/J.CANEP.2011.05.012
Abstract: The rapid increase in mobile telephone use has generated concern about possible health risks of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields from these devices. A case-control study of 1105 patients with newly diagnosed acoustic neuroma (vestibular schwannoma) and 2145 controls was conducted in 13 countries using a common protocol. Past mobile phone use was assessed by personal interview. In the primary analysis, exposure time was censored at one year before the reference date (date of diagnosis for cases and date of diagnosis of the matched case for controls) analyses censoring exposure at five years before the reference date were also done to allow for a possible longer latent period. The odds ratio (OR) of acoustic neuroma with ever having been a regular mobile phone user was 0.85 (95% confidence interval 0.69-1.04). The OR for ≥10 years after first regular mobile phone use was 0.76 (0.52-1.11). There was no trend of increasing ORs with increasing cumulative call time or cumulative number of calls, with the lowest OR (0.48 (0.30-0.78)) observed in the 9th decile of cumulative call time. In the 10th decile (≥1640 h) of cumulative call time, the OR was 1.32 (0.88-1.97) there were, however, implausible values of reported use in those with ≥1640 h of accumulated mobile phone use. With censoring at 5 years before the reference date the OR for ≥10 years after first regular mobile phone use was 0.83 (0.58-1.19) and for ≥1640 h of cumulative call time it was 2.79 (1.51-5.16), but again with no trend in the lower nine deciles and with the lowest OR in the 9th decile. In general, ORs were not greater in subjects who reported usual phone use on the same side of the head as their tumour than in those who reported it on the opposite side, but it was greater in those in the 10th decile of cumulative hours of use. There was no increase in risk of acoustic neuroma with ever regular use of a mobile phone or for users who began regular use 10 years or more before the reference date. Elevated odds ratios observed at the highest level of cumulative call time could be due to chance, reporting bias or a causal effect. As acoustic neuroma is usually a slowly growing tumour, the interval between introduction of mobile phones and occurrence of the tumour might have been too short to observe an effect, if there is one.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 20-01-2021
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2015
DOI: 10.1016/J.EURURO.2015.03.026
Abstract: Energy metabolism is important in cancer proliferation and progression, but its role in prostate cancer (PCa) remains unclear. We explored whether single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of genes involved in energy metabolic pathways are associated with PCa risk and prognosis, and whether antidiabetic treatment modifies any such association. The PRACTICAL Consortium genotyped 397 SNPs among 3241 screened participants (including 801 PCa cases) in the Finnish Prostate Cancer Screening Trial and 1983 hospital-based PCa cases. Information on medication use was obtained from a national prescription database. Genetic risk scores were calculated in terms of SNPs associated with PCa incidence or survival at a significance level of p < 5×10(-3). Hazard ratios for PCa and disease-specific death were calculated via Cox regression modelling. The predictive value of the genetic risk score was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic and Harrell's c-index analyses. A total of 30 SNPs were associated with PCa risk and ten SNPs with survival. The genetic risk score was consistently associated with PCa survival. The risk association was non-significantly weaker in metformin users. The genetic risk score did not improve prediction of PCa risk, but slightly improved the ability to predict PCa survival when added to conventional predictors (c-index improved from 87.4 to 87.9 p<0.001). A limitation is that information on diabetes apart from medication use was unavailable for the study population. SNPs of genes involved in energy metabolic pathways are associated with PCa survival. This suggests an important role of glucose metabolism in PCa progression, which could point to new avenues for prevention of PCa death. Genetic changes in glucose and energy metabolic pathways are associated with a higher risk of high-risk prostate cancer and adverse outcomes.
Publisher: BMJ
Date: 29-07-2019
DOI: 10.1136/OEMED-2019-105706
Abstract: Previously published studies on parental occupational exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MF) and risk of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) in their offspring were inconsistent. We therefore evaluated this question within the Childhood Leukemia International Consortium. We pooled 11 case–control studies including 9723 childhood leukaemia cases and 17 099 controls. Parental occupational ELF-MF exposure was estimated by linking jobs to an ELF-MF job-exposure matrix (JEM). Logistic regression models were used to estimate ORs and 95% CIs in pooled analyses and meta-analyses. ORs from pooled analyses for paternal ELF-MF exposure .2 microtesla (µT) at conception were 1.04 (95% CI 0.95 to 1.13) for ALL and 1.06 (95% CI 0.87 to 1.29) for AML, compared with ≤0.2 µT. Corresponding ORs for maternal ELF-MF exposure during pregnancy were 1.00 (95% CI 0.89 to 1.12) for ALL and 0.85 (95% CI 0.61 to 1.16) for AML. No trends of increasing ORs with increasing exposure level were evident. Furthermore, no associations were observed in the meta-analyses. In this large international dataset applying a comprehensive quantitative JEM, we did not find any associations between parental occupational ELF-MF exposure and childhood leukaemia.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-10-2016
DOI: 10.1002/IJC.30436
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 03-02-2022
DOI: 10.1007/S10654-022-00843-Y
Abstract: We investigated the association of allergic diseases and epilepsy with risk of brain tumours, in Interphone, a 13-country case-control study. Data were obtained from 2693 glioma cases, 2396 meningioma cases, and 1102 acoustic neuroma cases and their 6321 controls. Conditional logistic regression models were used to estimate pooled odds ratios (ORs) and their respective 95% confidence intervals (CIs), adjusted for education and time at interview. Reduced ORs were observed for glioma in relation to physician-diagnosed asthma (OR = 0.73 CI 0.58-0.92), hay fever (OR 0.72 CI 0.61-0.86), and eczema (OR 0.78, CI 0.64-0.94), but not for meningioma or acoustic neuroma. Previous diagnosis of epilepsy was associated with an increased OR for glioma (2.94 CI 1.87-4.63) and for meningioma (2.12 CI 1.27-3.56), but not for acoustic neuroma. This large-scale case-control study adds to the growing evidence that people with allergies have a lower risk of developing glioma, but not meningioma or acoustic neuroma. It also supports clinical observations of epilepsy prior to the diagnosis of glioma and meningioma.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.EURURO.2019.07.041
Abstract: Men with prostate cancer (PCa) on active surveillance (AS) are followed through regular prostate biopsies, a burdensome and often unnecessary intervention, not without risks. Identifying men with at a low risk of disease reclassification may help reduce the number of biopsies. To assess the external validity of two Canary Prostate Active Surveillance Study Risk Calculators (PASS-RCs), which estimate the probability of reclassification (Gleason grade ≥7 with or without >34% of biopsy cores positive for PCa) on a surveillance biopsy, using a mix of months since last biopsy, age, body mass index, prostate-specific antigen, prostate volume, number of prior negative biopsies, and percentage (or ratio) of positive cores on last biopsy. We used data up to November 2017 from the Movember Foundation's Global Action Plan (GAP3) consortium, a global collaboration between AS studies. External validity of the PASS-RCs for estimating reclassification on biopsy was assessed by calibration, discrimination, and decision curve analyses. Five validation cohorts (Prostate Cancer Research International: Active Surveillance, Johns Hopkins, Toronto, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and University of California San Francisco), comprising 5105 men on AS, were eligible for analysis. The in idual cohorts comprised 429-2416 men, with a median follow-up between 36 and 84 mo, in both community and academic practices mainly from western countries. Abilities of the PASS-RCs to discriminate between men with and without reclassification on biopsy were reasonably good (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve values 0.68 and 0.65). The PASS-RCs were moderately well calibrated, and had a greater net benefit than most default strategies between a predicted 10% and 30% risk of reclassification. Both PASS-RCs improved the balance between detecting reclassification and performing surveillance biopsies by reducing unnecessary biopsies. Recalibration to the local setting will increase their clinical usefulness and is therefore required before implementation. Unnecessary prostate biopsies while on active surveillance (AS) should be avoided as much as possible. The ability of two calculators to selectively identify men at risk of progression was tested in a large cohort of men with low-risk prostate cancer on AS. The calculators were able to prevent unnecessary biopsies in some men. Usefulness of the calculators can be increased by adjusting them to the characteristics of the population of the clinic in which the calculators will be used.
Publisher: American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
Date: 07-2015
DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-14-0317
Abstract: Background: Genome-wide association studies have identified multiple genetic variants associated with prostate cancer risk which explain a substantial proportion of familial relative risk. These variants can be used to stratify in iduals by their risk of prostate cancer. Methods: We genotyped 25 prostate cancer susceptibility loci in 40,414 in iduals and derived a polygenic risk score (PRS). We estimated empirical odds ratios (OR) for prostate cancer associated with different risk strata defined by PRS and derived age-specific absolute risks of developing prostate cancer by PRS stratum and family history. Results: The prostate cancer risk for men in the top 1% of the PRS distribution was 30.6 (95% CI, 16.4–57.3) fold compared with men in the bottom 1%, and 4.2 (95% CI, 3.2–5.5) fold compared with the median risk. The absolute risk of prostate cancer by age of 85 years was 65.8% for a man with family history in the top 1% of the PRS distribution, compared with 3.7% for a man in the bottom 1%. The PRS was only weakly correlated with serum PSA level (correlation = 0.09). Conclusions: Risk profiling can identify men at substantially increased or reduced risk of prostate cancer. The effect size, measured by OR per unit PRS, was higher in men at younger ages and in men with family history of prostate cancer. Incorporating additional newly identified loci into a PRS should improve the predictive value of risk profiles. Impact: We demonstrate that the risk profiling based on SNPs can identify men at substantially increased or reduced risk that could have useful implications for targeted prevention and screening programs. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 24(7) 1121–9. ©2015 AACR.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-04-2016
Publisher: Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health
Date: 05-11-2018
DOI: 10.5271/SJWEH.3781
Abstract: Objective Studies of loud noise exposure and vestibular schwannomas (VS) have shown conflicting results. The population-based INTERPHONE case‒control study was conducted in 13 countries during 2000-2004. In this paper, we report the results of analyses on the association between VS and self-reported loud noise exposure. Methods Self-reported noise exposure was analyzed in 1024 VS cases and 1984 matched controls. Life-long noise exposure was estimated through detailed questions. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using adjusted conditional logistic regression for matched sets. Results The OR for total work and leisure noise exposure was 1.6 (95% CI 1.4-1.9). OR were 1.5 (95% CI 1.3-1.9) for only occupational noise, 1.9 (95% CI 1.4-2.6) for only leisure noise and 1.7 (95% CI 1.2-2.2) for exposure in both contexts. OR increased slightly with increasing lag-time. For occupational exposures, duration, time since exposure start and a metric combining lifetime duration and weekly exposure showed significant trends of increasing risk with increasing exposure. OR did not differ markedly by source or other characteristics of noise. Conclusion The consistent associations seen are likely to reflect either recall bias or a causal association, or potentially indicate a mixture of both.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 03-11-2016
DOI: 10.1093/AJE/KWW082
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 2021
No related grants have been discovered for Anssi Auvinen.