title: Low tobacco-related cancer incidence in offspring of long-lived siblings: a comparison with Danish national cancer registry data.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Familial clustering of longevity is well documented and includes both genetic and other familial factors, but the specific underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. We examined whether low incidence of specific cancers is a mechanism for familial clustering of longevity.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study population of individuals from longevity-enriched families consisted of 3267 offspring from 610 Danish long-lived families defined by two siblings attaining an age of 90 years or more. The offspring of the long-lived siblings were followed from 1968 to 2009. Using high-quality registry data, observed numbers of cancers were compared with expected numbers based on gender-, calendar period-, and age-specific incidence rates in the general population.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the 41-year-follow-up period, a total of 423 cancers occurred in 397 individuals. The standardized incidence ratios (95% confidence interval) for offspring of long-lived individuals were 0.78 (0.70-0.86) for overall cancer; 0.66 (0.56-0.77) for tobacco-related cancer; 0.34 (0.22-0.51) for lung cancer; 0.88 (0.71-1.10) for breast cancer; 0.91 (0.62-1.34) for colon cancer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The low incidence of tobacco-related cancers in long-lived families compared with non-tobacco-related cancers suggests that health behavior plays a central role in lower early cancer incidence in offspring of long-lived siblings in Denmark.
authors.affiliation: The Danish Aging Research Center, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark. Electronic address: jkrabbe@health.sdu.dk.
authors.forename: Jacob K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Pedersen
authors.affiliation: The Danish Aging Research Center, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Skytthe
authors.affiliation: The Danish Aging Research Center, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark; Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.
authors.forename: Matt
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McGue
authors.affiliation: Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY; Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY; Department of Neurology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Lawrence S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Honig
authors.affiliation: DIMES-Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy; CIG-Interdepartmental Centre "L. Galvani" for Integrated Studies of Bioinformatics, Biophysics and Biocomplexity, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy; IRCSS-Institute of Neurological Sciences of Bologna, Bologna, Italy; ISOF-CNR-Institute of Organic Synthesis and Photoreactivity, Bologna, Italy; IGM-CNR-Institute of Molecular Genetics, Unit of Bologna IOR, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Franceschi
authors.affiliation: Institute for Ageing and Health, Campus for Ageing and Vitality, Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK.
authors.forename: Thomas B L
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Kirkwood
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Calabria, Rende, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Passarino
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands; Netherlands Consortium for Healthy Ageing, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: P Eline
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Slagboom
authors.affiliation: MPIDR-Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: James W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Vaupel
authors.affiliation: The Danish Aging Research Center, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark; Department of Clinical Genetics, Odense University Hospital, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark; Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Pharmacology, Odense University Hospital, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
authors.forename: Kaare
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Christensen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015438:Health Behavior; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008136:Longevity; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D012042:Registries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D035781:Siblings; D055815:Young Adult; D062789:Tobacco Products
keywords: Cancer; Cohort study; Familial clustering; Lifestyle and aging; Longevity