Early Detection of Ovarian Cancer using the Risk of Ovarian Cancer Algorithm with Frequent CA125 Testing in Women at Increased Familial Risk - Combined Results from Two Screening Trials.

Women at familial/genetic ovarian cancer risk often undergo screening despite unproven efficacy. Research suggests each woman has her own CA125 baseline; significant increases above this level may identify cancers earlier than standard 6- to 12-monthly CA125 > 35 U/mL. Data from prospective Cancer Genetics Network and Gynecologic Oncology Group trials, which screened 3,692 women (13,080 woman-screening years) with a strong breast/ovarian cancer family history or mutations, were combined to assess a novel screening strategy.

exposures to environmental organic pollutants disrupt epigenetic marks linked to fetoplacental development.

While the developing fetus is largely shielded from the external environment through the protective barrier provided by the placenta, it is increasingly appreciated that environmental agents are able to cross and even accumulate in this vital organ for fetal development. To examine the potential influence of environmental pollutants on the placenta, we assessed the relationship between polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl) ethylene (DDE) and several epigenetic marks linked to fetoplacental development. We measured / imprint control region methylation, and expression, loss of imprinting (LOI) and global DNA methylation levels in placenta ( = 116) collected in a formative research project of the National Children's Study to explore the relationship between these epigenetic marks and the selected organic environmental pollutants.

Exploring the associations between microRNA expression profiles and environmental pollutants in human placenta from the National Children's Study (NCS).

The placenta is the principal regulator of the in utero environment, and disruptions to this environment can result in adverse offspring health outcomes. To better characterize the impact of in utero perturbations, we assessed the influence of known environmental pollutants on the expression of microRNA (miRNA) in placental samples collected from the National Children's Study (NCS) Vanguard birth cohort. This study analyzed the expression of 654 miRNAs in 110 term placentas.

Medical history, lifestyle, family history, and occupational risk factors for mycosis fungoides and Sézary syndrome: the InterLymph Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Subtypes Project.

Background: Mycosis fungoides and Sézary syndrome (MF/SS) are rare cutaneous T-cell lymphomas. Their etiology is poorly understood.

Methods: A pooled analysis of 324 MF/SS cases and 17217 controls from 14 case-control studies from Europe, North America, and Australia, as part of the International Lymphoma Epidemiology Consortium (InterLymph) Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) Subtypes Project, was carried out to investigate associations with lifestyle, medical history, family history, and occupational risk factors.

Optimized DNA extraction from neonatal dried blood spots: application in methylome profiling.

Background: Neonatal dried blood spots (DBS) represent an inexpensive method for long-term biobanking worldwide and are considered gold mines for research for several human diseases, including those of metabolic, infectious, genetic and epigenetic origin. However, the utility of DBS is restricted by the limited amount and quality of extractable biomolecules (including DNA), especially for genome wide profiling. Degradation of DNA in DBS often occurs during storage and extraction.

Long-term risk of medical conditions associated with breast cancer treatment.

Early and late effects of cancer treatment are of increasing concern with growing survivor populations, but relevant data are sparse. We sought to determine the prevalence and hazard ratio of such effects in breast cancer cases. Women with invasive breast cancer and women with no cancer history recruited for a cancer research cohort completed a mailed questionnaire at a median of 10 years post-diagnosis or matched reference year (for the women without cancer).

Large prospective study of ovarian cancer screening in high-risk women: CA125 cut-point defined by menopausal status.

Previous screening trials for early detection of ovarian cancer in postmenopausal women have used the standard CA125 cut-point of 35 U/mL, the 98th percentile in this population yielding a 2% false positive rate, whereas the same cut-point in trials of premenopausal women results in substantially higher false positive rates. We investigated demographic and clinical factors predicting CA125 distributions, including 98th percentiles, in a large population of high-risk women participating in two ovarian cancer screening studies with common eligibility criteria and screening protocols. Baseline CA125 values and clinical and demographic data from 3,692 women participating in screening studies conducted by the National Cancer Institute-sponsored Cancer Genetics Network and Gynecologic Oncology Group were combined for this preplanned analysis.

Clinically relevant changes in family history of cancer over time.

Context: Knowledge of family cancer history is important for assessing cancer risk and guiding screening recommendations.

Objective: To quantify how often throughout adulthood clinically significant changes occur in cancer family history that would result in recommendations for earlier or intense screening.

Design And Setting: Descriptive study examining baseline and follow-up family history data from participants in the Cancer Genetics Network (CGN), a US national population-based cancer registry, between 1999 and 2009.

Common familial colorectal cancer linked to chromosome 7q31: a genome-wide analysis.

Present investigations suggest that approximately 30% of colorectal cancer cases arise on the basis of inherited factors. We hypothesize that the majority of inherited factors are moderately penetrant genes, common in the population. We use an affected sibling pair approach to identify genetic regions that are coinherited by siblings with colorectal cancer.

Analysis of co-aggregation of cancer based on registry data.

Objective: An exploratory analysis of co-aggregation of cancers using registry-based data.

Methods: We utilized sibships from over 18,000 families who had been recruited to the NCI-sponsored multi-institutional Cancer Genetics Network. The analysis assesses co-aggregation at the individual and family level and adjusts for ascertainment.