Publications by authors named "Anna H Wu"
Patterns of associations with epidemiologic factors by high grade serous ovarian cancer gene expression subtypes.
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev
February 2025
Background: Ovarian high-grade serous carcinomas (HGSC) comprise four distinct molecular subtypes based on mRNA expression patterns, with differential survival. Understanding risk factor associations is important to elucidate the etiology of HGSC. We investigated associations between different epidemiologic risk factors and HGSC molecular subtypes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Prognosis after a diagnosis of invasive epithelial ovarian cancer is poor. Some studies have suggested modifiable behaviors, like diet, are associated with survival but the evidence is inconsistent.
Objectives: This study aims to pool data from studies conducted around the world to evaluate the relationships among dietary indices, foods, and nutrients from food sources and survival after a diagnosis of ovarian cancer.
Excessive alcohol consumption is a significant public health concern and contributes to liver diseases and cancer. Modifiable lifestyle factors including alcohol consumption can influence circulating microRNAs (miRNAs), which are increasingly used as biomarkers for early disease detection. Yet limited studies have identified miRNAs associated with alcohol intake, particularly in multiethnic populations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRationale: Globally, in 2019, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was the third leading cause of death. While tobacco smoking is the predominant risk factor, the role of long-term air pollution exposure in increasing risk of COPD remains unclear. Moreover, there are few studies that have been conducted in racial and ethnic minoritized and socioeconomically diverse populations, while accounting for smoking history and other known risk factors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUncertainty remains regarding the role of diet in colorectal cancer development. We examined associations of 97 dietary factors with colorectal cancer risk in 542,778 Million Women Study participants (12,251 incident cases over 16.6 years), and conducted a targeted genetic analysis in the ColoRectal Transdisciplinary Study, Colon Cancer Family Registry, and Genetics and Epidemiology of Colorectal Cancer Consortium (GECCO).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLiving in racially and ethnically segregated neighborhoods may increase the risk of breast cancer. We examined associations between neighborhood racial and ethnic composition typology and incident primary invasive breast cancer risk in a population-based sample of 102,615 African American/Black, Japanese American, Native Hawaiian, Latino, and White females residing in California and Hawaii from the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC) study between 1993-2019. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- * A study identified a specific genetic variation at Chr6:31373718C>G that is associated with increased CRC risk, particularly in the younger population, with stronger odds for EOCRC compared to older adults.
- * Analysis showed that individuals carrying the minor G allele have reduced expression of the immune-related MICA gene and lower levels of Natural Killer (NK) cell infiltration in tumors, suggesting a link between this genetic variation and tumor immune response.
Article Synopsis
- - The study analyzed a diverse group of 9,639 women with first primary invasive breast cancer to identify risk factors for second primary breast cancer (SBC), focusing on both contralateral and ipsilateral cases.
- - Results showed that younger women with ER/PR-negative cancer and family history had increased risk of contralateral SBC, while older women showed higher risk linked to family history and lifestyle factors like being overweight and alcohol consumption.
- - The research highlighted persistent elevated risks for SBC among African American, Asian American, and Hispanic women compared to non-Hispanic White women, suggesting the need for better screening and tailored risk assessments for different racial and ethnic groups.
Article Synopsis
- Recent studies indicate that exposure to fine particulate matter (PM) is linked to an increased risk of breast cancer, particularly among diverse populations, but data is limited.
- In a large study of 58,358 women from the Multiethnic Cohort in California, researchers found a significant association between PM and breast cancer incidence, noting variations based on family history but not on race or hormone receptor status.
- The study emphasizes the need for both personal and population-level strategies to reduce PM exposure in order to help prevent breast cancer, especially in areas where incidence rates are rising.
Article Synopsis
- Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a major health concern, and understanding how genetic and environmental factors interact can help identify at-risk groups.
- This study analyzed data from over 45,000 CRC cases to assess both multiplicative and additive interactions between genetic risk scores and various environmental factors, finding no multiplicative interactions but significant additive ones for high genetic susceptibility individuals.
- Results suggest that individuals with high genetic risk could benefit more from lifestyle interventions like reducing alcohol intake or increasing fruit and fiber consumption, emphasizing the need for targeted prevention strategies in CRC care.
Context: The distribution of body fat has been linked to circulating levels of lipids and sex-steroid hormones. The cholesterol metabolite and endogenous selective estrogen receptor modulator, 27-hydroxychlolesterol (27HC), may be influenced by adiposity phenotypes, particularly among females. No study has examined the relationships of 27HC and steroid hormones with adiposity phenotypes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Tea and coffee are the most frequently consumed beverages in the world. Green tea in particular contains compounds with potential anti-cancer effects, but its association with survival after ovarian cancer is uncertain.
Methods: We investigated the associations between tea and coffee consumption before diagnosis and survival using data from 10 studies in the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium.
Article Synopsis
- The study examined the relationship between reproductive factors and breast cancer risk across different subtypes, focusing on racial and ethnic groups that are often underrepresented in research.
- Data was collected from nearly 2,800 breast cancer cases and over 4,500 controls, predominantly from African American, Asian American, and Hispanic women, to analyze how reproductive characteristics like parity and breast-feeding impact breast cancer subtype risk.
- Findings indicated that reproductive factors influence breast cancer risk differently based on subtype, menopausal status, and race, with distinct patterns observed among premenopausal African American women compared to Asian American and Hispanic women regarding parity and breast-feeding effects.
Article Synopsis
- * Researchers analyzed data from 52 studies, including nearly 31,000 CRC cases and over 41,000 controls, to explore the genetic interactions with regular aspirin/NSAID use.
- * They found significant interactions with genetic variants in two specific regions (6q24.1 and 5p13.1), which could help uncover new targets for understanding how aspirin provides its protective effects against colorectal cancer.
Article Synopsis
- The study examined risk factors for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) among women of different racial and ethnic backgrounds, including Asian, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and White participants.
- Findings indicated that oral contraceptive (OC) use and childbirth (parity) were generally associated with lower EOC risk across all groups, especially in Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and Asian women.
- Significant differences in EOC risk factors were detected among the ethnic groups, suggesting that including more diverse populations in research could improve prevention strategies for ovarian cancer.
Article Synopsis
- Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a widely increasing disease linked to high body mass index (BMI), but the exact biological processes connecting these two factors are not well understood.
- The study employed Mendelian randomization to explore various biomarkers and lifestyle factors potentially mediating the impact of BMI on CRC risk, focusing on elements like inflammation, insulin levels, and physical activity.
- The findings indicated that higher genetically predicted BMI correlates with increased CRC risk, with evidence suggesting that the relationship might be partly mediated by plasma IGF1, while smoking and physical activity appear to complicate the association rather than mediate it.
To identify credible causal risk variants (CCVs) associated with different histotypes of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), we performed genome-wide association analysis for 470,825 genotyped and 10,163,797 imputed SNPs in 25,981 EOC cases and 105,724 controls of European origin. We identified five histotype-specific EOC risk regions (p value <5 × 10) and confirmed previously reported associations for 27 risk regions. Conditional analyses identified an additional 11 signals independent of the primary signal at six risk regions (p value <10).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGenome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified more than 200 common genetic variants independently associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) risk, but the causal variants and target genes are mostly unknown. We sought to fine-map all known CRC risk loci using GWAS data from 100,204 cases and 154,587 controls of East Asian and European ancestry. Our stepwise conditional analyses revealed 238 independent association signals of CRC risk, each with a set of credible causal variants (CCVs), of which 28 signals had a single CCV.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExposure to outdoor ambient air toxics and risk of breast cancer: The multiethnic cohort.
Int J Hyg Environ Health
June 2024
Background: A growing literature has reported associations between traffic-related air pollution and breast cancer, however there are fewer investigations into specific ambient agents and any putative risk of breast cancer development, particularly studies occurring in populations residing in higher pollution areas such as Los Angeles.
Objectives: To estimate breast cancer risks related to ambient air toxics exposure at residential addresses.
Methods: We examined the relationships between ambient air toxics and breast cancer risk in the Multiethnic Cohort among 48,665 California female participants followed for cancer from 2003 through 2013.
Article Synopsis
- Menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) may lower the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC), especially in women with a higher genetic predisposition to the disease.
- In a study of nearly 30,000 postmenopausal women, those in the highest genetic risk quartile saw a significantly greater reduction in CRC risk when using MHT compared to those in the lowest quartile.
- The findings suggest that integrating genetic risk information could improve CRC risk predictions and inform the assessment of MHT benefits in postmenopausal women.
Background: Nineteen genomic regions have been associated with high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC). We used data from the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium (OCAC), Consortium of Investigators of Modifiers of (CIMBA), UK Biobank (UKBB), and FinnGen to identify novel HGSOC susceptibility loci and develop polygenic scores (PGS).
Methods: We analyzed >22 million variants for 398,238 women.
Lower socioeconomic status (SES) is related to increased incidence and mortality due to chronic diseases in adults. Association between SES variables and gut microbiome variation has been observed in adults at the population level, suggesting that biological mechanisms may underlie the SES associations; however, there is a need for larger studies that consider individual- and neighborhood-level measures of SES in racially diverse populations. In 825 participants from a multi-ethnic cohort, we investigated how SES shapes the gut microbiome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAssociation between Airport Ultrafine Particles and Lung Cancer Risk: The Multiethnic Cohort Study.
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev
May 2024
Background: Ultrafine particles (UFP) are unregulated air pollutants abundant in aviation exhaust. Emerging evidence suggests that UFPs may impact lung health due to their high surface area-to-mass ratio and deep penetration into airways. This study aimed to assess long-term exposure to airport-related UFPs and lung cancer incidence in a multiethnic population in Los Angeles County.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Neighborhood characteristics have been shown to influence lifestyle behaviors. Here we characterized alcohol outlet density in Los Angeles County, CA, and Hawaii and assessed the association of alcohol outlet density with self-reported alcohol intake in the Multiethnic Cohort.
Method: Participants ( = 178,977) had their addresses geocoded at cohort entry (1993-1996) and appended to block group-level alcohol outlet densities (on- and off-premises).
Background: Tumour-promoting inflammation is a "hallmark" of cancer and conventional epidemiological studies have reported links between various inflammatory markers and cancer risk. The causal nature of these relationships and, thus, the suitability of these markers as intervention targets for cancer prevention is unclear.
Methods: We meta-analysed 6 genome-wide association studies of circulating inflammatory markers comprising 59,969 participants of European ancestry.