Abstract Background Waist circumference and grip strength are each associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk, but their joint associations have been less well studied. Methods We examined the separate and joint associations of waist circumference and grip strength with incident T2D among 483,578 adults aged 40–69 years (55% women) without T2D at baseline (2006–2010) from UK Biobank. Waist circumference was measured by trained staff and categorized using World Health Organization thresholds. Grip strength was assessed using a hydraulic dynamometer and categorized into age- and sex-specific tertiles. Incident T2D was ascertained through linkage to hospital inpatient records until 2022. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression, adjusting for sociodemographic, lifestyle, and clinical covariates. Results During 13.0 years of follow-up (6.3 million person-years), 30,240 participants (6.3%) developed T2D. Compared to individuals with low waist circumference (men: ≤ 94 cm, women: ≤ 80 cm), HRs were 2.11 (95% CI 2.03–2.19) for those with intermediate (men: 95–102 cm, women: 81–88 cm) and 5.48 (95% CI 5.30–5.66) for those with high waist circumference (men: > 102 cm, women: > 88 cm). Compared to individuals with high grip strength, HRs were 1.08 (95% CI 1.05–1.11) for those with intermediate and 1.35 (95% CI 1.32–1.39) for those with low grip strength. Joint analyses showed the highest risk among participants with the combination of high waist circumference and low grip strength (HR 7.68, 95% CI 7.22–8.17) compared to individuals with the combination of low waist circumference and high grip strength. Associations between waist circumference and T2D were stronger in women, whereas associations with grip strength were stronger in men. Both patterns were more pronounced among younger adults. Conclusions Waist circumference and grip strength were separately and jointly associated with T2D risk. The combination of high waist circumference and low grip strength conferred the greatest risk. Joint assessment of waist circumference and grip strength identifies individuals at particularly elevated risk and may inform preventive strategies, though formal evaluation of incremental predictive utility is needed.
This article provides updated global cancer statistics for the year 2024 based on the GLOBOCAN estimates of the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The authors describe national cancer incidence and mortality by world region and the Human Development Index and predict the burden in 2050 based on demographic trends. In 2024, an estimated 20.6 million new cancer cases (19.5 million excluding nonmelanoma skin cancer) and 9.8 million deaths (9.7 million excluding nonmelanoma skin cancer) occurred worldwide, equivalent to one in five people developing cancer during their lifetime and one in nine men and one in 13 women dying from the disease. Lung cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer, responsible for almost 2.6 million new cases (12.8%), followed by female breast (11.8%), colorectal (9.9%), prostate (7.5%), and stomach (4.7%) cancer. Lung cancer is also the leading cause of cancer death, with an estimated 1.9 million deaths (19.1%), followed by colorectal (9.4%), liver (7.5%), female breast (7.1%), and stomach (6.6%) cancer. Incidence rates vary four- to five-fold across regions, with the highest rates found in Australia/New Zealand (men, 477 per 100,000; women, 396 per 100,000), whereas mortality rates differ two-fold, with elevated rates in Eastern Europe for men (158 per 100,000) and Melanesia for women (108 per 100,000). The incidence burden is predicted to reach 34.4 million by 2050, up 67% from 2024, with the largest proportional increases in lower Human Development Index countries. Although global variation in cancer profiles demands a nuanced approach to cancer control at national and regional levels, primary prevention must be at the forefront, including intensified efforts to reduce tobacco use, prevent infections, lower alcohol consumption and excess body weight, and increase physical activity.
Abstract Artificial intelligence has transformed digital pathology by enabling biomarker prediction from high-resolution whole-slide images. However, current methods are computationally inefficient, processing thousands of redundant tiles per slide and requiring complex aggregation models. We introduce EAGLE (Efficient Approach for Guided Local Examination), a deep learning framework that emulates pathologists by selectively analyzing informative regions. EAGLE combines task-agnostic tile selection with detailed feature extraction and is benchmarked against leading slide- and tile-level foundation models across 43 tasks from nine cancer types spanning morphology, biomarker prediction, treatment response and prognosis. EAGLE outperforms patch aggregation methods by up to 23% and achieves the highest overall classification performance. It processes one slide in 2.27 s, reducing computational time by more than 99% compared with existing models. This efficiency supports rapid and auditable workflows by enabling review of the exact tiles used for each prediction and reducing dependence on high-performance computing. By reliably identifying informative regions and minimizing artifacts, EAGLE provides robust and auditable outputs, supported by systematic negative controls and attention concentration analyses. Its unified embedding enables rapid slide search, integration into multi-omics pipelines and emerging clinical foundation models.
Cancers of the lip, oral cavity, and pharynx (LOCP) represent a substantial public health challenge worldwide. Using GLOBOCAN national estimates of incidence, detailed cancer registry data from Cancer Incidence in Five Continents, and population statistics from the United Nations, the authors report the distribution of new cases of LOCP cancers in 185 countries by sex in 2022. Age-standardized incidence rates were calculated. For countries lacking registry data, regional averages from high-quality registries were used to impute subsite-specific estimates. Worldwide, 758,000 people were diagnosed with LOCP cancers in 2022, with oral cavity cancer accounting for approximately 42% of cases, followed by oropharynx (19.3%), nasopharynx (15.9%), hypopharynx (11.4%), salivary gland (7.3%), and lip (4.2%) cancers. Oral cavity cancer was the most frequent LOCP subsite among women in 141 countries and among men in 93 countries, and incidence rates were highest in countries in South-Central Asia. Oropharyngeal cancer was the most frequent LOCP subsite among men in 44 countries and among women in five countries across Europe, Northern America, South America, Australia, and New Zealand. Nasopharyngeal cancer was the most common subsite among men in 39 countries and women in 23 countries, mainly in Northern Africa, Middle Africa, and Eastern and South-Eastern Asia. Rates of hypopharyngeal and salivary gland cancers were low globally, although the incidence burden was greater than that of lip cancer. The authors discuss incidence patterns in relation to disease etiology and the prospects of delivering effective cancer control measures, spanning primary prevention, early detection, cancer treatment, and survivorship.
