In 1948 Haldane first proposed that the high frequencies of thalassaemias in malaria-endemic regions were due to natural selection by malaria. Some of the highest frequencies of alpha+ -thalassaemia are found in the Pacific region of Melanesia. Consequently, Melanesia has provided a unique opportunity for an extensive study of the association between alpha+ -thalassaemia and malaria. Here we review the emergence of alpha+ -thalassaemia in this region and the research that has been carried out, both from the historical perspective and the most recent developments, which may give insight into the selection of alpha+ -thalassaemia by malaria.
Malaria/*epidemiology ; Melanesia/epidemiology ; alpha-Thalassemia/*epidemiology

Invasive cancer of the cervix is considered a preventable disease because it has a long preinvasive state, cervical cytology screening programs are currently available, and the treatment of pre-invasive lesions is effective. Cancer of the cervix is the second most common cancer among women worldwide, with an estimated 493,000 new cases and 274,000 deaths in 2002. The highest incidence rates are observed in sub-Saharan Africa, Melanesia, Latin America and the Caribbean, South-Central Asia, and South East Asia. In Korea, cervical cancer is the fifth most common cancer among women with over 3,000 new cases every year. Age-standardized incidence rate (ASR) is 15.5 per 100,000, which is lower than those in developing countries but higher than in western countries such as Europe and North America. The patients' mean parity is 2.59, and the range of age in peak incidence is 40~49 years (29.8%), followed by 50~59 years (21.9%). As the age goes on, more advanced stage cancer is frequent. Squamous cell carcinoma is the most common cell type, and adenocarcinoma is more frequent among those under 60 years old. Operation (56.0%) is the major treatment modality under stage IIa, and concurrent chemoradiation (31.6%) is the major treatment over stage IIb. The 5year survival rate is 73.9%. It is generally thought that human papillomavirus (HPV) test and HPV vaccine might play an important role in lowering the incidence of cervical cancer, and continuous epidemiologic studies will support its usefulness and efficacy.
Adenocarcinoma ; Africa South of the Sahara ; Asia ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Caribbean Region ; Developing Countries ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Epidemiology* ; Europe ; Far East ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Latin America ; Mass Screening ; Melanesia ; Middle Aged ; North America ; Parity ; Survival Rate ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms*

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and non-recombining Y chromosome (NRY) are inherited uni-parentally from mother to daughter or from father to son respectively. Their polymorphism has initially been studied throughout populations of the world to demonstrate the "Out of Africa" hypothesis. Here, to correlate the distribution of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in different populations of insular Asia, we analyze the mtDNA information (lineages) obtained from genotyping of the hyper variable region (HVS I & II) among 1400 individuals from island Southeast Asia (ISEA), Taiwan and Fujian and supplemented with the analysis of relevant coding region polymorphisms. Lineages that best represented a clade (a branch of the genetic tree) in the phylogeny were further analyzed using complete genomic mtDNA sequencing. Finally, these complete mtDNA sequences were used to construct a most parsimonious tree which now constitutes the most up-to-date mtDNA dataset available on ISEA and Taiwan. This analysis has exposed new insights of the evolutionary history of insular Asia and has strong implications in assessing possible correlations with linguistic, archaeology, demography and the NPC distribution in populations within these regions. To obtain a more objective and balanced genetic point of view, slowly evolving biallelic Y single nucleotide polymorphism (Y-SNP) was also analyzed. As in the first step above, the technique was first applied to determine affinities (macro analysis) between populations of insular Asia. Secondly, sixteen Y short tandem repeats (Y-STR) were used as they allow deeper insight (micro analysis) into the relationship between individuals of a same region. Together, mtDNA and NRY allowed a better definition of the relational, demographic, cultural and genetic components that constitute the make up of the present day peoples of ISEA. Outstanding findings were obtained on the routes of migration that occurred along with the spread of NPC during the settlement of insular Asia. The results of this analysis will be discussed using a conceptual approach.
Asia, Southeastern ; epidemiology ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Base Sequence ; Chromosomes, Human, Y ; genetics ; DNA, Mitochondrial ; genetics ; Emigration and Immigration ; Genetics, Population ; Haplotypes ; genetics ; Humans ; Melanesia ; epidemiology ; Microsatellite Repeats ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; epidemiology ; genetics ; Oceanic Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Phylogeny ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Taiwan ; epidemiology