Wendy Lam

Ph.D.

The University of Hong Kong

Associate Professor and Division Head

PLCO (Learn more about this study)

PLCO-409

Nov 13, 2018

A systematic evaluation of environmental and genetic factors associated with incidence and mortality of prostate, lung, colorectal and ovarian cancer.

Both genetic and environmental factors are widely acknowledged to influence the incidence of cancers. In recent years, large amounts of genome-wide association studies have been carried out to shed light on the genetic etiology of cancer. However, not many studies systematically evaluate the environmental factors affecting cancer incidence and survival. Previous epidemiologic studies, typically testing one or a few factors at a time, might disregard the potential gene-environment interactions and could distort the true association by selective reports of subgroup or adjustment. Therefore, we plan to carry out a systematic evaluation of environmental (such as diet and other behaviors) and genetic factors associated with cancer incidence and survival.

The Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial is a randomized, controlled trial enrolling around 155,000 participants between November 1993 and July 2001, providing a comprehensive dataset for lung cancer incidence and mortality analysis. In addition, diet and behavioral information is also available in questionnaires, such as Baseline Questionnaire (BQ), Dietary Questionnaire (DQX) and Supplemental Questionnaire (SQX). Moreover, the biosamples collected in PLCO also provide a broad base for serum biomarker and genetic data generation for systematic association study.

1) We plan to systematically evaluate the associations between environmental factors (including long-term dietary habits, nutrient supplements, physical activity and sleep conditions) and the incidence and mortality of prostate, lung, colorectal and ovarian cancer.

2) If serum biomarkers data (such as the ovarian biomarkers) are available, we plan to include the serum biomarkers into the systematic evaluation of the risk and survival of prostate, lung, colorectal and ovarian cancer.

3) Since genetic data is also accessible, we plan to investigate the role of genetic variation (as a main effect or interaction with diet and other behavioral factors) in the risk and survival of prostate, lung, colorectal and ovarian cancer.