1. |
- Fortner, Renee T., et al.
(author)
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Endometrial cancer risk prediction including serum-based biomarkers : results from the EPIC cohort
- 2017
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In: International Journal of Cancer. - : Wiley. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 140:6, s. 1317-1323
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Endometrial cancer risk prediction models including lifestyle, anthropometric and reproductive factors have limited discrimina-tion. Adding biomarker data to these models may improve predictive capacity; to our knowledge, this has not been investigat-ed for endometrial cancer. Using a nested case-control study within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort, we investigated the improvement in discrimination gained by adding serum biomarker concentrations to risk estimates derived from an existing risk prediction model based on epidemiologic factors. Serum concentrations of sex steroid hormones, metabolic markers, growth factors, adipokines and cytokines were evaluated in a step-wise backward selec-tion process; biomarkers were retained at p < 0.157 indicating improvement in the Akaike information criterion (AIC). Improvement in discrimination was assessed using the C-statistic for all biomarkers alone, and change in C-statistic from addition of biomarkers to preexisting absolute risk estimates. We used internal validation with bootstrapping (1000-fold) to adjust for over-fitting. Adiponectin, estrone, interleukin-1 receptor antagonist, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and triglycerides were select-ed into the model. After accounting for over-fitting, discrimination was improved by 2.0 percentage points when all evaluated biomarkers were included and 1.7 percentage points in the model including the selected biomarkers. Models including eti-ologic markers on independent pathways and genetic markers may further improve discrimination.
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2. |
- Fortner, Renée T., et al.
(author)
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Ovarian cancer early detection by circulating CA125 in the context of anti-CA125 autoantibody levels : Results from the EPIC cohort
- 2018
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In: International Journal of Cancer. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 142:7, s. 1355-1360
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- CA125 is the best ovarian cancer early detection marker to date; however, sensitivity is limited and complementary markers are required to improve discrimination between ovarian cancer cases and non-cases. Anti-CA125 autoantibodies are observed in circulation. Our objective was to evaluate whether these antibodies (1) can serve as early detection markers, providing evidence of an immune response to a developing tumor, and (2) modify the discriminatory capacity of CA125 by either masking CA125 levels (resulting in lower discrimination) or acting synergistically to improve discrimination between cases and non-cases. We investigated these objectives using a nested case-control study within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort (EPIC) including 250 cases diagnosed within 4 years of blood collection and up to four matched controls. Circulating CA125 antigen and antibody levels were quantified using an electrochemiluminescence assay. Adjusted areas under the curve (aAUCs) by 2-year lag-time intervals were calculated using conditional logistic regression calibrated toward the absolute risk estimates from a pre-existing epidemiological risk model as an offset-variable. Anti-CA125 levels alone did not discriminate cases from controls. For cases diagnosed <2 years after blood collection, discrimination by CA125 antigen was suggestively higher with higher anti-CA125 levels (aAUC, highest antibody tertile: 0.84 [0.76-0.92]; lowest tertile: 0.76 [0.67-0.86]; p(het)=0.06). We provide the first evidence of potentially synergistic discrimination effects of CA125 and anti-CA125 antibodies in ovarian early detection. If these findings are replicated, evaluating CA125 in the context of its antibody may improve ovarian cancer early detection. What's new? Although CA125, a mucin produced in epithelial cells, is a known marker for ovarian cancer, complementary biomarkers are necessary for reliable early cancer detection. Here, the authors examined autoantibodies against CA125 as potential pre-diagnosis markers. Although anti-CA125 levels did not discriminate between ovarian cases and controls, discrimination of CA125 differed by levels of its antibody, with the highest discrimination among women with the highest antibody levels. The authors propose that CA125 and anti-CA125 may act synergistically for ovarian cancer early detection.
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3. |
- Fortner, Renee T., et al.
(author)
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Reproductive and hormone-related risk factors for epithelial ovarian cancer by histologic pathways, invasiveness and histologic subtypes: Results from the EPIC cohort
- 2015
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In: International Journal of Cancer. - : Wiley. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 137:5, s. 1196-1208
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Whether risk factors for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) differ by subtype (i.e., dualistic pathway of carcinogenesis, histologic subtype) is not well understood; however, data to date suggest risk factor differences. We examined associations between reproductive and hormone-related risk factors for EOC by subtype in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. Among 334,126 women with data on reproductive and hormone-related risk factors (follow-up: 1992-2010), 1,245 incident cases of EOC with known histology and invasiveness were identified. Data on tumor histology, grade, and invasiveness, were available from cancer registries and pathology record review. We observed significant heterogeneity by the dualistic model (i.e., type I [low grade serous or endometrioid, mucinous, clear cell, malignant Brenner] vs. type II [high grade serous or endometrioid]) for full-term pregnancy (p(het)=0.02). Full-term pregnancy was more strongly inversely associated with type I than type II tumors (ever vs. never: type I: relative risk (RR) 0.47 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.33-0.69]; type II, RR: 0.81 [0.61-1.06]). We observed no significant differences in risk in analyses by major histologic subtypes of invasive EOC (serous, mucinous, endometrioid, clear cell). None of the investigated factors were associated with borderline tumors. Established protective factors, including duration of oral contraceptive use and full term pregnancy, were consistently inversely associated with risk across histologic subtypes (e.g., ever full-term pregnancy: serous, RR: 0.73 [0.58-0.92]; mucinous, RR: 0.53 [0.30-0.95]; endometrioid, RR: 0.65 [0.40-1.06]; clear cell, RR: 0.34 [0.18-0.64]; p(het)=0.16). These results suggest limited heterogeneity between reproductive and hormone-related risk factors and EOC subtypes. What's new? Reproductive and hormone-related risk factors for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) have been extensively investigated. However, EOC is increasingly recognized as a heterogeneous disease and risk factor differences across EOC subtypes, as defined by the recently proposed dualistic pathway of ovarian carcinogenesis and histological characteristics, are not well understood. Here, the authors present a detailed prospective investigation on reproductive and hormone-related risk factors for borderline tumors and epithelial ovarian cancer by main histological subtypes and, for the first time, by the types defined by the dualistic pathway. The results suggest limited heterogeneity between reproductive and hormone-related risk factors and EOC subtypes.
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4. |
- Kaaks, Rudolf, et al.
(author)
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Tumor-associated autoantibodies as early detection markers for ovarian cancer? : A prospective evaluation
- 2018
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In: International Journal of Cancer. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 143:3, s. 515-526
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Immuno-proteomic screening has identified several tumor-associated autoantibodies (AAb) that may have diagnostic capacity for invasive epithelial ovarian cancer, with AAbs to P53 proteins and cancer-testis antigens (CTAGs) as prominent examples. However, the early detection potential of these AAbs has been insufficiently explored in prospective studies. We performed ELISA measurements of AAbs to CTAG1A, CTAG2, P53 and NUDT11 proteins, for 194 patients with ovarian cancer and 705 matched controls from the European EPIC cohort, using serum samples collected up to 36 months prior to diagnosis under usual care. CA125 was measured using electrochemo-luminiscence. Diagnostic discrimination statistics were calculated by strata of lead-time between blood collection and diagnosis. With lead times 6 months, ovarian cancer detection sensitivity at 0.98 specificity (SE98) varied from 0.19 [95% CI 0.08-0.40] for CTAG1A, CTAG2 and NUDT1 to 0.23 [0.10-0.44] for P53 (0.33 [0.11-0.68] for high-grade serous tumors). However, at longer lead-times, the ability of these AAb markers to distinguish future ovarian cancer cases from controls declined rapidly; at lead times >1 year, SE98 estimates were close to zero (all invasive cases, range: 0.01-0.11). Compared to CA125 alone, combined logistic regression scores of AAbs and CA125 did not improve detection sensitivity at equal level of specificity. The added value of these selected AAbs as markers for ovarian cancer beyond CA125 for early detection is therefore limited. What's new? Could autoantibodies against tumor antigens provide an early warning system for ovarian cancer? These authors tested how well certain antibodies detected ovarian cancer. They selected four candidate antibodies, to p53, CTAG1A, CTAG2 and NUDT11 proteins, which appear in elevated levels in cancer patients. None of them performed well as a herald of burgeoning cancer. They did not perform any better than the best currently available biomarker, CA125, and as lead times increased past 6 months prediagnosis, the effectiveness diminished. Surprisingly, elevated antibodies appeared in quite a few of the control samples, suggesting they might not be as cancer-specific as expected.
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5. |
- Obon-Santacana, Mireia, et al.
(author)
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Acrylamide and Glycidamide Hemoglobin Adducts and Epithelial Ovarian Cancer : A Nested Case-Control Study in Nonsmoking Postmenopausal Women from the EPIC Cohort
- 2016
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In: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention. - 1055-9965 .- 1538-7755. ; 25:1, s. 127-134
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Acrylamide was classified as “probably carcinogenic to humans (group 2A)” by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the fourth cause of cancer mortality in women. Five epidemiological studies have evaluated the association between EOC risk and dietary acrylamide intake assessed using food frequency questionnaires, and one nested case–control study evaluated hemoglobin adducts of acrylamide (HbAA) and its metabolite glycidamide (HbGA) and EOC risk; the results of these studies were inconsistent.Methods: A nested case–control study in nonsmoking postmenopausal women (334 cases, 417 controls) was conducted within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. Unconditional logistic regression models were used to estimate ORs and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between HbAA, HbGA, HbAA+HbGA, and HbGA/HbAA and EOC and invasive serous EOC risk.Results: No overall associations were observed between biomarkers of acrylamide exposure analyzed in quintiles and EOC risk; however, positive associations were observed between some middle quintiles of HbGA and HbAA+HbGA. Elevated but nonstatistically significant ORs for serous EOC were observed for HbGA and HbAA+HbGA (ORQ5vsQ1, 1.91; 95% CI, 0.96–3.81 and ORQ5vsQ1, 1.90; 95% CI, 0.94–3.83, respectively); however, no linear dose–response trends were observed.Conclusion: This EPIC nested case–control study failed to observe a clear association between biomarkers of acrylamide exposure and the risk of EOC or invasive serous EOC.Impact: It is unlikely that dietary acrylamide exposure increases ovarian cancer risk; however, additional studies with larger sample size should be performed to exclude any possible association with EOC risk.
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6. |
- Ose, Jennifer, et al.
(author)
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Inflammatory markers and risk of epithelial ovarian cancer by tumor subtypes: the EPIC cohort.
- 2015
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In: Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention. - 1538-7755 .- 1055-9965. ; 24:6, s. 951-961
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Evidence suggests an etiologic role for inflammation in ovarian carcinogenesis and heterogeneity between tumor subtypes and anthropometric indices. Prospective studies on circulating inflammatory markers and epithelial invasive ovarian cancer (EOC) have predominantly investigated overall risk; data characterizing risk by tumor characteristics (histology, grade, stage, dualistic model of ovarian carcinogenesis) and anthropometric indices are sparse.
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7. |
- Terry, Kathryn L., et al.
(author)
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A Prospective Evaluation of Early Detection Biomarkers for Ovarian Cancer in the European EPIC Cohort
- 2016
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In: Clinical Cancer Research. - : American Association for Cancer Research. - 1078-0432 .- 1557-3265. ; 22:18, s. 4664-4675
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose: About 60% of ovarian cancers are diagnosed at late stage, when 5-year survival is less than 30% in contrast to 90% for local disease. This has prompted search for early detection biomarkers. For initial testing, specimens taken months or years before ovarian cancer diagnosis are the best source of information to evaluate earlydetection biomarkers. Here we evaluate the most promising ovarian cancer screening biomarkers in prospectively collected samples from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study. Experimental Design: We measured CA125, HE4, CA72.4, and CA15.3 in 810 invasive epithelial ovarian cancer cases and 1,939 controls. We calculated the sensitivity at 95% and 98% specificity as well as area under the receiver operator curve (C-statistic) for each marker individually and in combination. In addition, we evaluated marker performance by stage at diagnosis and time between blood draw and diagnosis. Results: We observed the best discrimination between cases and controls within 6 months of diagnosis for CA125 (C-statistic = 0.92), then HE4 (0.84), CA72.4 (0.77), and CA15.3 (0.73). Marker performance declined with longer time between blood draw and diagnosis and for earlier staged disease. However, assessment of discriminatory ability at early stage was limited by small numbers. Combinations of markers performed modestly, but significantly better than any single marker. Conclusions: CA125 remains the single best marker for the early detection of invasive epithelial ovarian cancer, but can be slightly improved by combining with other markers. Identifying novel markers for ovarian cancer will require studies including larger numbers of early-stage cases.
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8. |
- Aleksandrova, Krasimira, et al.
(author)
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A prospective study of the immune system activation biomarker neopterin and colorectal cancer risk
- 2015
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In: Journal of the National Cancer Institute. - : Oxford University Press. - 0027-8874 .- 1460-2105. ; 107:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Neopterin may be relevant for colorectal cancer (CRC) development, as a biomarker of cellular immune activity exerting pleiotropic effects on cellular ageing, oxidative stress, and inflammation. So far, the association between prediagnostic neopterin and colon and rectal cancer risk has not been evaluated in human populations. Methods: A nested case-control study was conducted within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort using data on plasma concentrations of total neopterin (T-N, sum of neopterin and 7,8-dihydroneopterin) in 830 incident CRC case patients (561 colon and 269 rectal) matched within risk sets to 830 control participants. A subsequent replication study used data from the Hordaland Health Study, where 173 CRC case patients have been diagnosed among 6594 healthy participants over 12 years of follow-up. Results: After multivariable adjustment for a priori chosen CRC risk factors, a "U-shaped" association of T-N with CRC was revealed. Compared with the second quintile of the T-N distribution, the relative risks for the first, third, fourth, and fifth quintiles were 2.37 (95% CI = 1.66 to 3.39), 1.24 (95% CI = 0.87 to 1.77), 1.55 (95% CI = 1.08 to 2.22), and 2.31 (95% CI = 1.63 to 3.27), respectively. Replication of these associations within the Hordaland Health Study yielded similar results. No differences have been observed when the associations were explored by colon and rectal cancer site (two-sided P-difference = .87) and after excluding case patients diagnosed within the first four follow-up years. Conclusions: These novel findings provide evidence of the role of both suppressed and activated cell-mediated immunity as reflected by prediagnostic T-N concentrations in the development of CRC.
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9. |
- Bakker, Marije F., et al.
(author)
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Plasma carotenoids, vitamin C, tocopherols, and retinol and the risk of breast cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort
- 2016
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In: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. - : Elsevier BV. - 0002-9165 .- 1938-3207. ; 103:2, s. 454-464
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Carotenoids and vitamin C are thought to be associated with reduced cancer risk because of their antioxidative capacity.Objective: This study evaluated the associations of plasma carotenoid, retinol, tocopherol, and vitamin C concentrations and risk of breast cancer.Design: In a nested case-control study within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort, 1502 female incident breast cancer cases were included, with an oversampling of premenopausal (n = 582) and estrogen receptor-negative (ER-) cases (n = 462). Controls (n = 1502) were individually matched to cases by using incidence density sampling. Prediagnostic samples were analyzed for alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein, zeaxanthin, beta-cryptoxanthin, retinol, alpha-tocopherol, gamma-tocopherol, and 454 vitamin C. Breast cancer risk was computed according to hormone receptor status and age at diagnosis (proxy for menopausal status) by using conditional logistic regression and was further stratified by smoking status, alcohol consumption, and body mass index (BMI). All statistical tests were 2-sided.Results: In quintile 5 compared with quintile 1, alpha-carotene (OR: 0.61; 95% CI: 0.39, 0.98) and beta-carotene (OR: 0.41; 95% CI: 0.26, 0.65) were inversely associated with risk of ER- breast tumors. The other analytes were not statistically associated with ER- breast cancer. For estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) tumors, no statistically significant associations were found. The test for heterogeneity between ER- and ER+ tumors was statistically significant only for beta-carotene (P-heterogeneity = 0.03). A higher risk of breast cancer was found for retinol in relation to ER-/progesterone receptor-negative tumors (OR: 2.37; 95% CI: 1.20, 4.67; P-heterogeneity with ER+/progesterone receptor positive = 0.06). We observed no statistically significant interaction between smoking, alcohol, or BMI and all investigated plasma analytes (based on tertile distribution).Conclusion: Our results indicate that higher concentrations of plasma beta-carotene and alpha-carotene are associated with lower breast cancer risk of ER tumors.
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10. |
- Bamia, Christina, et al.
(author)
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Coffee, tea and decaffeinated coffee in relation to hepatocellular carcinoma in a European population: Multicentre, prospective cohort study
- 2015
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In: International Journal of Cancer. - : Wiley. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 136, s. 1899-1908
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- © 2014 UICC. Inverse associations of coffee and/or tea in relation to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk have been consistently identified in studies conducted mostly in Asia where consumption patterns of such beverages differ from Europe. In the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and nutrition (EPIC), we identified 201 HCC cases among 486,799 men/women, after a median follow-up of 11 years. We calculated adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for HCC incidence in relation to quintiles/categories of coffee/tea intakes. We found that increased coffee and tea intakes were consistently associated with lower HCC risk. The inverse associations were substantial, monotonic and statistically significant. Coffee consumers in the highest compared to the lowest quintile had lower HCC risk by 72% [HR: 0.28; 95% confidence intervals (CIs): 0.16-0.50, p-trend < 0.001]. The corresponding association of tea with HCC risk was 0.41 (95% CI: 0.22-0.78, p-trend50.003). There was no compelling evidence of heterogeneity of these associations across strata of important HCC risk factors, including hepatitis B or hepatitis C status (available in a nested case-control study). The inverse, monotonic associations of coffee intake with HCC were apparent for caffeinated (p-trend50.009), but not decaffeinated (p-trend50.45) coffee for which, however, data were available for a fraction of subjects. Results from this multicentre, European cohort study strengthen the existing evidence regarding the inverse association between coffee/tea and HCC risk. Given the apparent lack of heterogeneity of these associations by HCC risk factors and that coffee/tea are universal exposures, our results could have important implications for high HCC risk subjects.
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