1. |
- Guida, Florence, et al.
(author)
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The blood metabolome of incident kidney cancer: A case-control study nested within the MetKid consortium
- 2021
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In: PLoS Medicine. - : Public Library of Science (PLOS). - 1549-1277 .- 1549-1676. ; 18:9
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Excess bodyweight and related metabolic perturbations have been implicated in kidney cancer aetiology, but the specific molecular mechanisms underlying these relationships are poorly understood. In this study, we sought to identify circulating metabolites that predispose kidney cancer and to evaluate the extent to which they are influenced by body mass index (BMI).Methods and findings: We assessed the association between circulating levels of 1,416 metabolites and incident kidney cancer using pre-diagnostic blood samples from up to 1,305 kidney cancer case–control pairs from 5 prospective cohort studies. Cases were diagnosed on average 8 years after blood collection. We found 25 metabolites robustly associated with kidney cancer risk. In particular, 14 glycerophospholipids (GPLs) were inversely associated with risk, including 8 phosphatidylcholines (PCs) and 2 plasmalogens. The PC with the strongest association was PC ae C34:3 with an odds ratio (OR) for 1 standard deviation (SD) increment of 0.75 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.68 to 0.83, p = 2.6 × 10−8). In contrast, 4 amino acids, including glutamate (OR for 1 SD = 1.39, 95% CI: 1.20 to 1.60, p = 1.6 × 10−5), were positively associated with risk. Adjusting for BMI partly attenuated the risk association for some—but not all—metabolites, whereas other known risk factors of kidney cancer, such as smoking and alcohol consumption, had minimal impact on the observed associations. A mendelian randomisation (MR) analysis of the influence of BMI on the blood metabolome highlighted that some metabolites associated with kidney cancer risk are influenced by BMI. Specifically, elevated BMI appeared to decrease levels of several GPLs that were also found inversely associated with kidney cancer risk (e.g., −0.17 SD change [ßBMI] in 1-(1-enyl-palmitoyl)-2-linoleoyl-GPC (P-16:0/18:2) levels per SD change in BMI, p = 3.4 × 10−5). BMI was also associated with increased levels of glutamate (ßBMI: 0.12, p = 1.5 × 10−3). While our results were robust across the participating studies, they were limited to study participants of European descent, and it will, therefore, be important to evaluate if our findings can be generalised to populations with different genetic backgrounds.Conclusions: This study suggests a potentially important role of the blood metabolome in kidney cancer aetiology by highlighting a wide range of metabolites associated with the risk of developing kidney cancer and the extent to which changes in levels of these metabolites are driven by BMI - the principal modifiable risk factor of kidney cancer.
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2. |
- Harbs, Justin, et al.
(author)
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Circulating Sex Hormone Levels and Colon Cancer Risk in Men : A Nested Case–Control Study and Meta-Analysis
- 2022
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In: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention. - : American Association for Cancer Research. - 1055-9965 .- 1538-7755. ; 31:4, s. 793-803
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Endogenous sex hormones may contribute to higher colorectal cancer incidence rates in men compared with women, but despite an increased number of studies, clear evidence is lacking.Methods: We conducted a comprehensive nested case–control study of circulating concentrations of sex hormones, sex hormone precursors, and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) in relation to subsequent colon cancer risk in European men. Concentrations were measured using liquid LC/MS-MS in prospectively collected plasma samples from 690 cases and 690 matched controls from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) and the Northern Sweden Health and Disease Study (NSHDS) cohorts. Multivariable conditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). In addition, we conducted a meta-analysis of previous studies on men.Results: Circulating levels of testosterone (OR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.51–0.89) and SHBG (OR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.62–0.96) were inversely associated with colon cancer risk. For free testosterone, there was a nonsignificant inverse association (OR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.58–1.18). In a dose–response meta-analysis of endogenous sex hormone levels, inverse associations with colorectal/colon cancer risk were found for testosterone [relative risks (RR) per 100 ng/dL ¼ 0.98; 95% CI, 0.96–1.00; I2 ¼ 22%] and free testosterone (RR per 1 ng/dL ¼ 0.98; 95% CI, 0.95–1.00; I2 ¼ 0%).Conclusions: Our results provide suggestive evidence for the association between testosterone, SHBG, and male colon cancer development.Impact: Additional support for the involvement of sex hormones in male colon cancer.
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3. |
- Harewood, Rhea, et al.
(author)
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Association between pre-diagnostic circulating lipid metabolites and colorectal cancer risk : a nested case–control study in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)
- 2024
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In: EBioMedicine. - : Elsevier. - 2352-3964. ; 101
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Altered lipid metabolism is a hallmark of cancer development. However, the role of specific lipid metabolites in colorectal cancer development is uncertain.Methods: In a case–control study nested within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), we examined associations between pre-diagnostic circulating concentrations of 97 lipid metabolites (acylcarnitines, glycerophospholipids and sphingolipids) and colorectal cancer risk. Circulating lipids were measured using targeted mass spectrometry in 1591 incident colorectal cancer cases (55% women) and 1591 matched controls. Multivariable conditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for associations between concentrations of individual lipid metabolites and metabolite patterns with colorectal cancer risk.Findings: Of the 97 assayed lipids, 24 were inversely associated (nominally p < 0.05) with colorectal cancer risk. Hydroxysphingomyelin (SM (OH)) C22:2 (ORper doubling 0.60, 95% CI 0.47–0.77) and acylakyl-phosphatidylcholine (PC ae) C34:3 (ORper doubling 0.71, 95% CI 0.59–0.87) remained associated after multiple comparisons correction. These associations were unaltered after excluding the first 5 years of follow-up after blood collection and were consistent according to sex, age at diagnosis, BMI, and colorectal subsite. Two lipid patterns, one including 26 phosphatidylcholines and all sphingolipids, and another 30 phosphatidylcholines, were weakly inversely associated with colorectal cancer.Interpretation: Elevated pre-diagnostic circulating levels of SM (OH) C22:2 and PC ae C34:3 and lipid patterns including phosphatidylcholines and sphingolipids were associated with lower colorectal cancer risk. This study may provide insight into potential links between specific lipids and colorectal cancer development. Additional prospective studies are needed to validate the observed associations. Funding: World Cancer Research Fund (reference: 2013/1002); European Commission (FP7: BBMRI-LPC; reference: 313010).
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4. |
- Kliemann, Nathalie, et al.
(author)
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Metabolic signatures of greater body size and their associations with risk of colorectal and endometrial cancers in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition
- 2021
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In: BMC Medicine. - : BioMed Central. - 1741-7015. ; 19:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: The mechanisms underlying the obesity-cancer relationship are incompletely understood. This study aimed to characterise metabolic signatures of greater body size and to investigate their association with two obesity-related malignancies, endometrial and colorectal cancers, and with weight loss within the context of an intervention study.Methods: Targeted mass spectrometry metabolomics data from 4326 participants enrolled in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort and 17 individuals from a single-arm pilot weight loss intervention (Intercept) were used in this analysis. Metabolic signatures of body size were first determined in discovery (N = 3029) and replication (N = 1297) sets among EPIC participants by testing the associations between 129 metabolites and body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) using linear regression models followed by partial least squares analyses. Conditional logistic regression models assessed the associations between the metabolic signatures with endometrial (N = 635 cases and 648 controls) and colorectal (N = 423 cases and 423 controls) cancer risk using nested case-control studies in EPIC. Pearson correlation between changes in the metabolic signatures and weight loss was tested among Intercept participants.Results: After adjustment for multiple comparisons, greater BMI, WC, and WHR were associated with higher levels of valine, isoleucine, glutamate, PC aa C38:3, and PC aa C38:4 and with lower levels of asparagine, glutamine, glycine, serine, lysoPC C17:0, lysoPC C18:1, lysoPC C18:2, PC aa C42:0, PC ae C34:3, PC ae C40:5, and PC ae C42:5. The metabolic signature of BMI (OR1-sd 1.50, 95% CI 1.30–1.74), WC (OR1-sd 1.46, 95% CI 1.27–1.69), and WHR (OR1-sd 1.54, 95% CI 1.33–1.79) were each associated with endometrial cancer risk. Risk of colorectal cancer was positively associated with the metabolic signature of WHR (OR1-sd: 1.26, 95% CI 1.07–1.49). In the Intercept study, a positive correlation was observed between weight loss and changes in the metabolic signatures of BMI (r = 0.5, 95% CI 0.06–0.94, p = 0.03), WC (r = 0.5, 95% CI 0.05–0.94, p = 0.03), and WHR (r = 0.6, 95% CI 0.32–0.87, p = 0.01).Conclusions: Obesity is associated with a distinct metabolic signature comprising changes in levels of specific amino acids and lipids which is positively associated with both colorectal and endometrial cancer and is potentially reversible following weight loss.
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5. |
- Kliemann, Nathalie, et al.
(author)
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Metabolically Defined Body Size Phenotypes and Risk of Endometrial Cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)
- 2022
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In: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention. - : NLM. - 1055-9965 .- 1538-7755. ; 31:7, s. 1359-1367
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Obesity is a risk factor for endometrial cancer but whether metabolic dysfunction is associated with endometrial cancer independent of body size is not known.METHODS: The association of metabolically defined body size phenotypes with endometrial cancer risk was investigated in a nested case-control study (817 cases/ 817 controls) within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Concentrations of C-peptide were used to define metabolically healthy (MH; <1st tertile) and metabolically unhealthy (MU; ≥1st tertile) status among the control participants. These metabolic health definitions were combined with normal weight (NW); body mass index (BMI)<25 kg/m2 or waist circumference (WC)<80 cm or waist-to-hip ratio (WHR)<0.8) and overweight (OW; BMI≥25 kg/m2 or WC≥80 cm or WHR≥0.8) status, generating four phenotype groups for each anthropometric measure: (i) MH/NW, (ii) MH/OW, (iii) MU/NW, and (iv) MU/OW.RESULTS: In a multivariable-adjusted conditional logistic regression model, compared with MH/NW individuals, endometrial cancer risk was higher among those classified as MU/NW [ORWC, 1.48; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.05-2.10 and ORWHR, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.21-2.35] and MU/OW (ORBMI, 2.38; 95% CI, 1.73-3.27; ORWC, 2.69; 95% CI, 1.92-3.77 and ORWHR, 1.83; 95% CI, 1.32-2.54). MH/OW individuals were also at increased endometrial cancer risk compared with MH/NW individuals (ORWC, 1.94; 95% CI, 1.24-3.04).CONCLUSIONS: Women with metabolic dysfunction appear to have higher risk of endometrial cancer regardless of their body size. However, OW status raises endometrial cancer risk even among women with lower insulin levels, suggesting that obesity-related pathways are relevant for the development of this cancer beyond insulin.IMPACT: Classifying women by metabolic health may be of greater utility in identifying those at higher risk for endometrial cancer than anthropometry per se.
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6. |
- Mori, Nagisa, et al.
(author)
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Endogenous Circulating Sex Hormone Concentrations and Colon Cancer Risk in Postmenopausal Women : A Prospective Study and Meta-Analysis
- 2021
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In: JNCI cancer spectrum. - : Oxford University Press. - 2515-5091. ; 5:6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Observational studies have consistently reported that postmenopausal hormone therapy use is associated with lower colon cancer risk, but epidemiologic studies examining the associations between circulating concentrations of endogenous estrogens and colorectal cancer have reported inconsistent results.Methods: We investigated the associations between circulating concentrations of estrone, estradiol, free estradiol, testosterone, free testosterone, androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), progesterone, and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) with colon cancer risk in a nested case-control study of 1028 postmenopausal European women (512 colon cancer cases, 516 matched controls) who were noncurrent users of exogenous hormones at blood collection. Multivariable conditional logistic regression models were used to compute odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals to evaluate the association between circulating sex hormones and colon cancer risk. We also conducted a dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies of circulating estrone and estradiol with colorectal, colon, and rectal cancer risk in postmenopausal women. All statistical tests were 2-sided.Results: In the multivariable model, a nonstatistically significantly positive relationship was found between circulating estrone and colon cancer risk (odds ratio per log2 1-unit increment = 1.17 [95% confidence interval = 1.00 to 1.38]; odds ratioquartile4-quartile1 = 1.33 [95% confidence interval = 0.89 to 1.97], P trend = .20). Circulating concentrations of estradiol, free estradiol, testosterone, free testosterone, androstenedione, DHEA, progesterone, and SHBG were not associated with colon cancer risk. In the dose-response meta-analysis, no clear evidence of associations were found between circulating estradiol and estrone concentrations with colorectal, colon, and rectal cancer risk.Conclusion: Our observational and meta-analysis results do not support an association between circulating concentrations of endogenous sex hormones and colon or rectal cancer in postmenopausal women.
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7. |
- Rothwell, Joseph A., et al.
(author)
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Circulating amino acid levels and colorectal cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition and UK Biobank cohorts
- 2023
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In: BMC Medicine. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1741-7015. ; 21:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Amino acid metabolism is dysregulated in colorectal cancer patients; however, it is not clear whether pre-diagnostic levels of amino acids are associated with subsequent risk of colorectal cancer. We investigated circulating levels of amino acids in relation to colorectal cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) and UK Biobank cohorts.Methods: Concentrations of 13-21 amino acids were determined in baseline fasting plasma or serum samples in 654 incident colorectal cancer cases and 654 matched controls in EPIC. Amino acids associated with colorectal cancer risk following adjustment for the false discovery rate (FDR) were then tested for associations in the UK Biobank, for which measurements of 9 amino acids were available in 111,323 participants, of which 1221 were incident colorectal cancer cases.Results: Histidine levels were inversely associated with colorectal cancer risk in EPIC (odds ratio [OR] 0.80 per standard deviation [SD], 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.69–0.92, FDR P-value=0.03) and in UK Biobank (HR 0.93 per SD, 95% CI 0.87–0.99, P-value=0.03). Glutamine levels were borderline inversely associated with colorectal cancer risk in EPIC (OR 0.85 per SD, 95% CI 0.75–0.97, FDR P-value=0.08) and similarly in UK Biobank (HR 0.95, 95% CI 0.89–1.01, P=0.09) In both cohorts, associations changed only minimally when cases diagnosed within 2 or 5 years of follow-up were excluded.Conclusions: Higher circulating levels of histidine were associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancer in two large prospective cohorts. Further research to ascertain the role of histidine metabolism and potentially that of glutamine in colorectal cancer development is warranted.
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8. |
- Rothwell, Joseph A., et al.
(author)
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Metabolic signatures of healthy lifestyle patterns and colorectal cancer risk in a European cohort
- 2022
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In: Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. - : Elsevier. - 1542-3565 .- 1542-7714. ; 20:5, s. e1061-e1082
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background & Aims: Colorectal cancer risk can be lowered by adherence to the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research (WCRF/AICR) guidelines. We derived metabolic signatures of adherence to these guidelines and tested their associations with colorectal cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort.Methods: Scores reflecting adherence to the WCRF/AICR recommendations (scale, 1–5) were calculated from participant data on weight maintenance, physical activity, diet, and alcohol among a discovery set of 5738 cancer-free European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition participants with metabolomics data. Partial least-squares regression was used to derive fatty acid and endogenous metabolite signatures of the WCRF/AICR score in this group. In an independent set of 1608 colorectal cancer cases and matched controls, odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs were calculated for colorectal cancer risk per unit increase in WCRF/AICR score and per the corresponding change in metabolic signatures using multivariable conditional logistic regression.Results: Higher WCRF/AICR scores were characterized by metabolic signatures of increased odd-chain fatty acids, serine, glycine, and specific phosphatidylcholines. Signatures were inversely associated more strongly with colorectal cancer risk (fatty acids: OR, 0.51 per unit increase; 95% CI, 0.29–0.90; endogenous metabolites: OR, 0.62 per unit change; 95% CI, 0.50–0.78) than the WCRF/AICR score (OR, 0.93 per unit change; 95% CI, 0.86–1.00) overall. Signature associations were stronger in male compared with female participants.Conclusions: Metabolite profiles reflecting adherence to WCRF/AICR guidelines and additional lifestyle or biological risk factors were associated with colorectal cancer. Measuring a specific panel of metabolites representative of a healthy or unhealthy lifestyle may identify strata of the population at higher risk of colorectal cancer.
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9. |
- Viallon, Vivian, et al.
(author)
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A new pipeline for the normalization and pooling of metabolomics data
- 2021
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In: Metabolites. - : MDPI. - 2218-1989 .- 2218-1989. ; 11:9
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Pooling metabolomics data across studies is often desirable to increase the statistical power of the analysis. However, this can raise methodological challenges as several preanalytical and analytical factors could introduce differences in measured concentrations and variability between datasets. Specifically, different studies may use variable sample types (e.g., serum versus plasma) collected, treated, and stored according to different protocols, and assayed in different laboratories using different instruments. To address these issues, a new pipeline was developed to normalize and pool metabolomics data through a set of sequential steps: (i) exclusions of the least informative observations and metabolites and removal of outliers; imputation of missing data; (ii) identification of the main sources of variability through principal component partial R-square (PC-PR2) analysis; (iii) application of linear mixed models to remove unwanted variability, including samples’ originating study and batch, and preserve biological variations while accounting for potential differences in the residual variances across studies. This pipeline was applied to targeted metabolomics data acquired using Biocrates AbsoluteIDQ kits in eight case-control studies nested within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. Comprehensive examination of metabolomics measurements indicated that the pipeline improved the comparability of data across the studies. Our pipeline can be adapted to normalize other molecular data, including biomarkers as well as proteomics data, and could be used for pooling molecular datasets, for example in international consortia, to limit biases introduced by inter-study variability. This versatility of the pipeline makes our work of potential interest to molecular epidemiologists.
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