| 1. |
- Dam, Veerle, et al.
(author)
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Genetically Determined Reproductive Aging and Coronary Heart Disease : A Bidirectional 2-sample Mendelian Randomization
- 2022
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In: Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. - : The Endocrine Society. - 0021-972X .- 1945-7197. ; 107:7, s. E2952-E2961
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Accelerated reproductive aging, in women indicated by early natural menopause, is associated with increased coronary heart disease (CHD) risk in observational studies. Conversely, an adverse CHD risk profile has been suggested to accelerate menopause. Objectives: To study the direction and evidence for causality of the relationship between reproductive aging and (non-)fatal CHD and CHD risk factors in a bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) approach, using age at natural menopause (ANM) genetic variants as a measure for genetically determined reproductive aging in women. We also studied the association of these variants with CHD risk (factors) in men. Design: Two-sample MR, using both cohort data as well as summary statistics, with 4 methods: simple and weighted median-based, standard inverse-variance weighted (IVW) regression, and MR-Egger regression. Participants: Data from EPIC-CVD and summary statistics from UK Biobank and publicly available genome-wide association studies were pooled for the different analyses. Main Outcome Measures: CHD, CHD risk factors, and ANM. Results: Across different methods of MR, no association was found between genetically determined reproductive aging and CHD risk in women (relative risk estimateIVW = 0.99; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.97-1.01), or any of the CHD risk factors. Similarly, no associations were found in men. Neither did the reversed analyses show evidence for an association between CHD (risk factors) and reproductive aging. Conclusion: Genetically determined reproductive aging is not causally associated with CHD risk (factors) in women, nor were the genetic variants associated in men. We found no evidence for a reverse association in a combined sample of women and men.
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| 2. |
- Porta, Miquel, et al.
(author)
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Plasma concentrations of persistent organic pollutants and pancreatic cancer risk
- 2022
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In: International Journal of Epidemiology. - : Oxford University Press. - 0300-5771 .- 1464-3685. ; 51:2, s. 479-490
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Findings and limitations of previous studies on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and pancreatic cancer risk support conducting further research in prospective cohorts.Methods: We conducted a prospective case-control study nested within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. Participants were 513 pancreatic cancer cases and 1020 matched controls. Concentrations of 22 POPs were measured in plasma collected at baseline.Results: Some associations were observed at higher concentrations of p, p'-DDT, trans-nonachlor, β-hexachlorocyclohexane and the sum of six organochlorine pesticides and of 16 POPs. The odds ratio (OR) for the upper quartile of trans-nonachlor was 1.55 (95% confidence interval 1.06-2.26; P for trend = 0.025). Associations were stronger in the groups predefined as most valid (participants having fasted >6 h, with microscopic diagnostic confirmation, normal weight, and never smokers), and as most relevant (follow-up ≥10 years). Among participants having fasted >6 h, the ORs were relevant for 10 of 11 exposures. Higher ORs were also observed among cases with microscopic confirmation than in cases with a clinical diagnosis, and among normal-weight participants than in the rest of participants. Among participants with a follow-up ≥10 years, estimates were higher than in participants with a shorter follow-up (for trans-nonachlor: OR = 2.14, 1.01 to 4.53, P for trend = 0.035). Overall, trans-nonachlor, three PCBs and the two sums of POPs were the exposures most clearly associated with pancreatic cancer risk.Conclusions: Individually or in combination, most of the 22 POPs analysed did not or only moderately increased the risk of pancreatic cancer.
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| 3. |
- Jayasekara, Harindra, et al.
(author)
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Lifetime alcohol intake, drinking patterns over time and risk of stomach cancer : A pooled analysis of data from two prospective cohort studies
- 2021
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In: International Journal of Cancer. - : Wiley. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 148:11, s. 2759-2773
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Alcohol consumption is causally linked to several cancers but the evidence for stomach cancer is inconclusive. In our study, the association between long-term alcohol intake and risk of stomach cancer and its subtypes was evaluated. We performed a pooled analysis of data collected at baseline from 491 714 participants in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition and the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated for incident stomach cancer in relation to lifetime alcohol intake and group-based life course intake trajectories, adjusted for potential confounders including Helicobacter pylori infection. In all, 1225 incident stomach cancers (78% noncardia) were diagnosed over 7 094 637 person-years; 984 in 382 957 study participants with lifetime alcohol intake data (5 455 507 person-years). Although lifetime alcohol intake was not associated with overall stomach cancer risk, we observed a weak positive association with noncardia cancer (HR = 1.03, 95% CI: 1.00-1.06 per 10 g/d increment), with a HR of 1.50 (95% CI: 1.08-2.09) for ≥60 g/d compared to 0.1 to 4.9 g/d. A weak inverse association with cardia cancer (HR = 0.93, 95% CI: 0.87-1.00) was also observed. HRs of 1.48 (95% CI: 1.10-1.99) for noncardia and 0.51 (95% CI: 0.26-1.03) for cardia cancer were observed for a life course trajectory characterized by heavy decreasing intake compared to light stable intake (Phomogeneity =.02). These associations did not differ appreciably by smoking or H pylori infection status. Limiting alcohol use during lifetime, particularly avoiding heavy use during early adulthood, might help prevent noncardia stomach cancer. Heterogeneous associations observed for cardia and noncardia cancers may indicate etiologic differences.
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| 4. |
- Kliemann, Nathalie, et al.
(author)
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Predicted basal metabolic rate and cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition
- 2020
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In: International Journal of Cancer. - : Wiley. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 147:3, s. 648-661
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Emerging evidence suggests that a metabolic profile associated with obesity may be a more relevant risk factor for some cancers than adiposity per se. Basal metabolic rate (BMR) is an indicator of overall body metabolism and may be a proxy for the impact of a specific metabolic profile on cancer risk. Therefore, we investigated the association of predicted BMR with incidence of 13 obesity-related cancers in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). BMR at baseline was calculated using the WHO/FAO/UNU equations and the relationships between BMR and cancer risk were investigated using multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models. A total of 141,295 men and 317,613 women, with a mean follow-up of 14 years were included in the analysis. Overall, higher BMR was associated with a greater risk for most cancers that have been linked with obesity. However, among normal weight participants, higher BMR was associated with elevated risks of esophageal adenocarcinoma (hazard ratio per 1-standard deviation change in BMR [HR1-SD]: 2.46; 95% CI 1.20; 5.03) and distal colon cancer (HR1-SD: 1.33; 95% CI 1.001; 1.77) among men and with proximal colon (HR1-SD: 1.16; 95% CI 1.01; 1.35), pancreatic (HR1-SD: 1.37; 95% CI 1.13; 1.66), thyroid (HR1-SD: 1.65; 95% CI 1.33; 2.05), postmenopausal breast (HR1-SD: 1.17; 95% CI 1.11; 1.22) and endometrial (HR1-SD: 1.20; 95% CI 1.03; 1.40) cancers in women. These results indicate that higher BMR may be an indicator of a metabolic phenotype associated with risk of certain cancer types, and may be a useful predictor of cancer risk independent of body fatness.
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| 5. |
- Naudin, Sabine, et al.
(author)
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Healthy lifestyle and the risk of pancreatic cancer in the EPIC study
- 2020
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In: European Journal of Epidemiology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0393-2990 .- 1573-7284. ; 35:10, s. 975-986
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a highly fatal cancer with currently limited opportunities for early detection and effective treatment. Modifiable factors may offer pathways for primary prevention. In this study, the association between the Healthy Lifestyle Index (HLI) and PC risk was examined. Within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort, 1113 incident PC (57% women) were diagnosed from 400,577 participants followed-up for 15 years (median). HLI scores combined smoking, alcohol intake, dietary exposure, physical activity and, in turn, overall and central adiposity using BMI (HLIBMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR, HLIWHR), respectively. High values of HLI indicate adherence to healthy behaviors. Cox proportional hazard models with age as primary time variable were used to estimate PC hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Sensitivity analyses were performed by excluding, in turn, each factor from the HLI score. Population attributable fractions (PAF) were estimated assuming participants’ shift to healthier lifestyles. The HRs for a one-standard deviation increment of HLIBMI and HLIWHR were 0.84 (95% CI: 0.79, 0.89; ptrend = 4.3e−09) and 0.77 (0.72, 0.82; ptrend = 1.7e−15), respectively. Exclusions of smoking from HLIWHR resulted in HRs of 0.88 (0.82, 0.94; ptrend = 4.9e−04). The overall PAF estimate was 19% (95% CI: 11%, 26%), and 14% (6%, 21%) when smoking was removed from the score. Adherence to a healthy lifestyle was inversely associated with PC risk, beyond the beneficial role of smoking avoidance. Public health measures targeting compliance with healthy lifestyles may have an impact on PC incidence.
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| 6. |
- Solans, Marta, et al.
(author)
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Inflammatory potential of diet and risk of lymphoma in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition
- 2020
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In: European Journal of Nutrition. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1436-6207 .- 1436-6215. ; 59:2, s. 813-823
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Introduction: Chronic inflammation plays a critical role in lymphomagenesis and several dietary factors seem to be involved its regulation. The aim of the current study was to assess the association between the inflammatory potential of the diet and the risk of lymphoma and its subtypes in the European Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. Methods: The analysis included 476,160 subjects with an average follow-up of 13.9 years, during which 3,136 lymphomas (135 Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), 2606 non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and 395 NOS) were identified. The dietary inflammatory potential was assessed by means of an inflammatory score of the diet (ISD), calculated using 28 dietary components and their corresponding inflammatory weights. The association between the ISD and lymphoma risk was estimated by hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) calculated by multivariable Cox regression models adjusted for potential confounders. Results: The ISD was not associated with overall lymphoma risk. Among lymphoma subtypes, a positive association between the ISD and mature B-cell NHL (HR for a 1-SD increase: 1.07 (95% CI 1.01; 1.14), p trend = 0.03) was observed. No statistically significant association was found among other subtypes. However, albeit with smaller number of cases, a suggestive association was observed for HL (HR for a 1-SD increase = 1.22 (95% CI 0.94; 1.57), p trend 0.13). Conclusions: Our findings suggested that a high ISD score, reflecting a pro-inflammatory diet, was modestly positively associated with the risk of B-cell lymphoma subtypes. Further large prospective studies on low-grade inflammation induced by diet are warranted to confirm these findings.
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| 7. |
- Tong, Tammy Y.N., et al.
(author)
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The associations of major foods and fibre with risks of ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke : A prospective study of 418 329 participants in the EPIC cohort across nine European countries
- 2020
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In: European Heart Journal. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0195-668X .- 1522-9645. ; 41:28, s. 2632-2640
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Aim: To investigate the associations between major foods and dietary fibre with subtypes of stroke in a large prospective cohort. Methods and results: We analysed data on 418 329 men and women from nine European countries, with an average of 12.7 years of follow-up. Diet was assessed using validated country-specific questionnaires which asked about habitual intake over the past year, calibrated using 24-h recalls. Multivariable-adjusted Cox regressions were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) for ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke associated with consumption of red and processed meat, poultry, fish, dairy foods, eggs, cereals, fruit and vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds, and dietary fibre. For ischaemic stroke (4281 cases), lower risks were observed with higher consumption of fruit and vegetables combined (HR; 95% CI per 200 g/day higher intake, 0.87; 0.82-0.93, P-trend < 0.001), dietary fibre (per 10 g/day, 0.77; 0.69-0.86, P-trend < 0.001), milk (per 200 g/day, 0.95; 0.91-0.99, P-trend = 0.02), yogurt (per 100 g/day, 0.91; 0.85-0.97, P-trend = 0.004), and cheese (per 30 g/day, 0.88; 0.81-0.97, P-trend = 0.008), while higher risk was observed with higher red meat consumption which attenuated when adjusted for the other statistically significant foods (per 50 g/day, 1.07; 0.96-1.20, P-trend = 0.20). For haemorrhagic stroke (1430 cases), higher risk was associated with higher egg consumption (per 20 g/day, 1.25; 1.09-1.43, P-trend = 0.002). Conclusion: Risk of ischaemic stroke was inversely associated with consumption of fruit and vegetables, dietary fibre, and dairy foods, while risk of haemorrhagic stroke was positively associated with egg consumption. The apparent differences in the associations highlight the importance of examining ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke subtypes separately.
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| 8. |
- Baumeister, Sebastian E., et al.
(author)
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Association between physical activity and risk of hepatobiliary cancers : A multinational cohort study
- 2019
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In: Journal of Hepatology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-8278 .- 1600-0641. ; 70:5, s. 885-892
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background & Aims: To date, evidence on the association between physical activity and risk of hepatobiliary cancers has been inconclusive. We examined this association in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort (EPIC).Methods: We identified 275 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cases, 93 intrahepatic bile duct cancers (IHBCs), and 164 non-gallbladder extrahepatic bile duct cancers (NGBCs) among 467,336 EPIC participants (median follow-up 14.9 years). We estimated cause-specific hazard ratios (HRs) for total physical activity and vigorous physical activity and performed mediation analysis and secondary analyses to assess robustness to confounding (e.g. due to hepatitis virus infection).Results: In the EPIC cohort, the multivariable-adjusted HR of HCC was 0.55 (95% CI 0.38–0.80) comparing active and inactive individuals. Regarding vigorous physical activity, for those reporting >2 hours/week compared to those with no vigorous activity, the HR for HCC was 0.50 (95% CI 0.33–0.76). Estimates were similar in sensitivity analyses for confounding. Total and vigorous physical activity were unrelated to IHBC and NGBC. In mediation analysis, waist circumference explained about 40% and body mass index 30% of the overall association of total physical activity and HCC.Conclusions: These findings suggest an inverse association between physical activity and risk of HCC, which is potentially mediated by obesity.Lay summary: In a pan-European study of 467,336 men and women, we found that physical activity is associated with a reduced risk of developing liver cancers over the next decade. This risk was independent of other liver cancer risk factors, and did not vary by age, gender, smoking status, body weight, and alcohol consumption.
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| 9. |
- Cirera, Lluís, et al.
(author)
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Socioeconomic Effect of Education on Pancreatic Cancer Risk in Western Europe : An Update on the EPIC Cohorts Study
- 2019
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In: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention. - : American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). - 1055-9965 .- 1538-7755. ; 28:6, s. 1089-1092
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: To analyze the potential effect of social inequality on pancreatic cancer risk in Western Europe, by reassessing the association within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Study, including a larger number of cases and an extended follow-up.METHODS: Data on highest education attained were gathered for 459,170 participants (70% women) from 10 European countries. A relative index of inequality (RII) based on adult education was calculated for comparability across countries and generations. Cox regression models were applied to estimate relative inequality in pancreatic cancer risk, stratifying by age, gender, and center, and adjusting for known pancreatic cancer risk factors.RESULTS: A total of 1,223 incident pancreatic cancer cases were included after a mean follow-up of 13.9 (±4.0) years. An inverse social trend was found in models adjusted for age, sex, and center for both sexes [HR of RII, 1.27; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.02-1.59], which was also significant among women (HR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.05-1.92). Further adjusting by smoking intensity, alcohol consumption, body mass index, prevalent diabetes, and physical activity led to an attenuation of the RII risk and loss of statistical significance.CONCLUSIONS: The present reanalysis does not sustain the existence of an independent social inequality influence on pancreatic cancer risk in Western European women and men, using an index based on adult education, the most relevant social indicator linked to individual lifestyles, in a context of very low pancreatic cancer survival from (quasi) universal public health systems.IMPACT: The results do not support an association between education and risk of pancreatic cancer.
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| 10. |
- Dam, Veerle, et al.
(author)
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Association of menopausal characteristics and risk of coronary heart disease : A pan-European case-cohort analysis
- 2019
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In: International Journal of Epidemiology. - : Oxford University Press. - 0300-5771 .- 1464-3685. ; 48:4, s. 1275-1285
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Earlier age at menopause has been associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), but the shape of association and role of established cardiovascular risk factors remain unclear. Therefore, we examined the associations between menopausal characteristics and CHD risk; the shape of the association between age at menopause and CHD risk; and the extent to which these associations are explained by established cardiovascular risk factors.Methods: We used data from EPIC-CVD, a case-cohort study, which includes data from 23 centres from 10 European countries. We included only women, of whom 10 880 comprise the randomly selected sub-cohort, supplemented with 4522 cases outside the sub-cohort. We conducted Prentice-weighted Cox proportional hazards regressions with age as the underlying time scale, stratified by country and adjusted for relevant confounders.Results: After confounder and intermediate adjustment, post-menopausal women were not at higher CHD risk compared with pre-menopausal women. Among post-menopausal women, earlier menopause was linearly associated with higher CHD risk [HRconfounder and intermediate adjusted per-year decrease = 1.02, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.01-1.03, p = 0.001]. Women with a surgical menopause were at higher risk of CHD compared with those with natural menopause (HRconfounder-adjusted = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.10-1.42, p < 0.001), but this attenuated after additional adjustment for age at menopause and intermediates (HR = 1.12, 95% CI = 0.96-1.29, p = 0.15). A proportion of the association was explained by cardiovascular risk factors.Conclusions: Earlier and surgical menopause were associated with higher CHD risk. These associations could partially be explained by differences in conventional cardiovascular risk factors. These women might benefit from close monitoring of cardiovascular risk factors and disease.
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