Circulating biomarkers of tryptophan and the kynurenine pathway and lung cancer risk.

Background: Imbalances in tryptophan metabolism have been linked to cancer-related immune escape and implicated in several cancers, including lung cancer.

Methods: We conducted a nested case-control study within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) that included 893 incident lung cancer cases and 1,748 matched controls. Circulating levels of tryptophan and six of its metabolites were measured and evaluated in relation to lung cancer risk.

Reproductive factors and risk of hormone receptor positive and negative breast cancer: a cohort study.

Background: The association of reproductive factors with hormone receptor (HR)-negative breast tumors remains uncertain.

Methods: Within the EPIC cohort, Cox proportional hazards models were used to describe the relationships of reproductive factors (menarcheal age, time between menarche and first pregnancy, parity, number of children, age at first and last pregnancies, time since last full-term childbirth, breastfeeding, age at menopause, ever having an abortion and use of oral contraceptives [OC]) with risk of ER-PR- (n = 998) and ER+PR+ (n = 3,567) breast tumors.

Results: A later first full-term childbirth was associated with increased risk of ER+PR+ tumors but not with risk of ER-PR- tumors (≥35 vs.

Insulin-like growth factor I and risk of breast cancer by age and hormone receptor status-A prospective study within the EPIC cohort.

Experimental evidence shows cross-talk in mammary cells between estrogen, insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and their respective receptors and possible synergistic effects of estrogen receptor (ER) activation and increased IGF-I signaling with regard to breast tumor development, and epidemiological evidence suggests that circulating IGF-I levels may be related more to the risk of ER-positive than ER-negative breast cancer. Using a case-control study nested within the prospective European EPIC cohort (938 breast cancer cases and 1,394 matched control subjects), we analyzed the relationships of prediagnostic serum IGF-I levels with the risk of estrogen and progesterone receptor-positive and -negative breast tumors. IGF-I levels were positively associated with the risk of ER+ breast tumors overall (pre- and postmenopausal women combined, odds ratio (OR)Q4-Q1 = 1.

Adherence to the Mediterranean diet and risk of bladder cancer in the EPIC cohort study.

There is growing evidence of the protective role of the Mediterranean diet (MD) on cancer. However, to date no epidemiological study has investigated the influence of the MD on bladder cancer. We evaluated the association between adherence to the MD and risk of urothelial cell bladder cancer (UCC), according to tumor aggressiveness, in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC).

Premenopausal serum sex hormone levels in relation to breast cancer risk, overall and by hormone receptor status - results from the EPIC cohort.

Results from prospective studies on premenopausal serum hormone levels in relation to breast cancer risk have been inconclusive, especially with regard to tumor subtypes. Using a case-control study nested within the prospective European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort (801 breast cancer cases and 1,132 matched control subjects), we analyzed the relationships of prediagnostic serum estradiol, free estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, free testosterone and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) levels with the risk of breast cancer by estrogen and progesterone receptor-positive and -negative breast tumors and by age at diagnoses. Higher prediagnostic serum levels of testosterone and free testosterone were associated with an increased overall risk of breast cancer [ORQ4-Q1  = 1.

Variants in phospholipid metabolism and upstream regulators and non-small cell lung cancer susceptibility.

Aim: The relevance of the cytidine diphosphate-choline and Rho GTPases pathways in the pathogenesis of cancer has been previously demonstrated. We investigate by a case-control association study if genetics variants in these pathways are associated with risk of developing lung cancer.

Methods: Thirty-seven tag SNPs were evaluated as risk factor of NSCLC in 897 cases and 904 controls.

Dietary flavonoid and lignan intake and mortality in a Spanish cohort.

Background: Dietary flavonoids and lignans may protect against several chronic diseases, but there is little evidence on the relationship between flavonoid and lignan intake and mortality. We investigated the association between both all-cause and specific-cause mortality and intake of flavonoids and lignans in the Spanish European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC-Spain) cohort.

Methods: The EPIC-Spain study follows 40,622 participants (38% men) aged 29-69 years.

Prediagnostic plasma testosterone, sex hormone-binding globulin, IGF-I and hepatocellular carcinoma: etiological factors or risk markers?

Elevated prediagnostic testosterone and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) concentrations have been proposed to increase risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the metabolism of these hormones is altered as a consequence of liver damage and they may have clinical utility as HCC risk markers. A case-control study was nested within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort and included 125 incident HCC cases and 247 individually matched controls.

Genome-wide association study identifies multiple risk loci for chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have previously identified 13 loci associated with risk of chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL). To identify additional CLL susceptibility loci, we conducted the largest meta-analysis for CLL thus far, including four GWAS with a total of 3,100 individuals with CLL (cases) and 7,667 controls. In the meta-analysis, we identified ten independent associated SNPs in nine new loci at 10q23.

Distribution and prognosis of molecular breast cancer subtypes defined by immunohistochemical biomarkers in a Spanish population-based study.

Background: The objective of this study is to analyze the distribution, clinicopathological features, relative survival rate and excess risk of death among females diagnosed with invasive breast cancer and classified by molecular subtype from ten Spanish cancer registries.

Method: Three thousand four hundred and eighty incident cases of women - mostly diagnosed in 2005 - were classified into five molecular subtypes according to immunohistochemical status of hormonal receptors and HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2): estrogen receptor (ER) and/or progesterone receptor (PR)+ and HER2-, ER+ and/or PR+ and HER2+, HER2-overexpressed (ER-, PR- and HER2+), triple negative (ER, PR and HER2-) and unclassified (hormonal receptor or/and HER2 unknown). Relative survival rates at 1, 3 and 5years and relative excess risks (RER) of death adjusting for molecular subtype, age, stage and histological grade were estimated.

Consumption of fish and meats and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma: the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC).

Background: While higher intake of fish and lower consumption of red/processed meats have been suggested to play a protective role in the etiology of several cancers, prospective evidence for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is limited, particularly in Western European populations.

Methods: The associations of fish and meats with HCC risk were analyzed in the EPIC cohort. Between 1992 and 2010, 191 incident HCC were identified among 477 206 participants.

Dietary flavonoid intake and esophageal cancer risk in the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition cohort.

We prospectively investigated dietary flavonoid intake and esophageal cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. The study included 477,312 adult subjects from 10 European countries. At baseline, country-specific validated dietary questionnaires were used.

Adherence to the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research guidelines and risk of death in Europe: results from the European Prospective Investigation into Nutrition and Cancer cohort study1,4.

Background: In 2007, the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) issued recommendations on diet, physical activity, and weight management for cancer prevention on the basis of the most comprehensive collection of available evidence.

Objective: We investigated whether concordance with WCRF/AICR recommendations is related to risk of death.

Design: The current study included 378,864 participants from 9 European countries enrolled in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study.

Plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D and the risk of breast cancer in the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition: a nested case-control study.

Experimental evidence suggests that vitamin D might play a role in the development of breast cancer. Although the results of case-control studies indicate that circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] is inversely associated with the risk of breast cancer, the results of prospective studies are inconsistent. A case-control study embedded in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) was carried out comprising 1,391 incident breast cancer cases and 1,391 controls.

Hormonal, metabolic, and inflammatory profiles and endometrial cancer risk within the EPIC cohort--a factor analysis.

A "Western" lifestyle characterized by physical inactivity and excess weight is associated with a number of metabolic and hormonal dysregulations, including increased circulating estrogen levels, hyperinsulinemia, hyperglycemia, and chronic inflammation. The same hormonal and metabolic axes might mediate the association between this lifestyle and the development of endometrial cancer. Using data collected within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), a prospective cohort study carried out in 10 European countries during 1992-2000, we conducted a factor analysis to delineate important components that summarize the variation explained by a set of biomarkers and to examine their association with endometrial cancer risk.

Macronutrient composition of the diet and prospective weight change in participants of the EPIC-PANACEA study.

Background: The effect of the macronutrient composition of the usual diet on long term weight maintenance remains controversial.

Methods: 373,803 subjects aged 25-70 years were recruited in 10 European countries (1992-2000) in the PANACEA project of the EPIC cohort. Diet was assessed at baseline using country-specific validated questionnaires and weight and height were measured at baseline and self-reported at follow-up in most centers.

Dietary intake of vitamin D and calcium and breast cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.

Studies assessing the effects of vitamin D or calcium intake on breast cancer risk have been inconclusive. Furthermore, few studies have evaluated them jointly. This study is the largest so far examining the association of dietary vitamin D and calcium intake with breast cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.

Risk of type 2 diabetes according to traditional and emerging anthropometric indices in Spain, a Mediterranean country with high prevalence of obesity: results from a large-scale prospective cohort study.

Background: Obesity is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). A proper anthropometric characterisation of T2DM risk is essential for disease prevention and clinical risk assessement.

Methods: Longitudinal study in 37 733 participants (63% women) of the Spanish EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) cohort without prevalent diabetes.

Alcohol drinking and endometrial cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study.

Purpose: Alcohol intake may adversely affect the concentrations of endogenous sex hormones, and thus increase the risk of endometrial cancer. However, epidemiologic studies have provided conflicting results. Therefore, we investigated the association between alcohol intake and endometrial cancer risk a large, multicenter, prospective study.

Dietary acrylamide intake of adults in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition differs greatly according to geographical region.

Purpose: Methodological differences in assessing dietary acrylamide (AA) often hamper comparisons of intake across populations. Our aim was to describe the mean dietary AA intake in 27 centers of 10 European countries according to selected lifestyle characteristics and its contributing food sources in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study.

Methods: In this cross-sectional analysis, 36 994 men and women, aged 35-74 years completed a single, standardized 24-hour dietary recall using EPIC-Soft.

Age at menopause, reproductive life span, and type 2 diabetes risk: results from the EPIC-InterAct study.

Objective: Age at menopause is an important determinant of future health outcomes, but little is known about its relationship with type 2 diabetes. We examined the associations of menopausal age and reproductive life span (menopausal age minus menarcheal age) with diabetes risk.

Research Design And Methods: Data were obtained from the InterAct study, a prospective case-cohort study nested within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.

North-south gradients in plasma concentrations of B-vitamins and other components of one-carbon metabolism in Western Europe: results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Study.

Different lifestyle patterns across Europe may influence plasma concentrations of B-vitamins and one-carbon metabolites and their relation to chronic disease. Comparison of published data on one-carbon metabolites in Western European regions is difficult due to differences in sampling procedures and analytical methods between studies. The present study aimed, to compare plasma concentrations of one-carbon metabolites in Western European regions with one laboratory performing all biochemical analyses.

Physical activity and risk of cerebrovascular disease in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Spain study.

Background And Purpose: Large-scale prospective epidemiological data testing the association between physical activity (PA) and cerebrovascular diseases (CVDs) are scarce, particularly in Europe. The objective was to assess the risk of CVD according to PA levels in adults.

Methods: We included a total of 13 576 men and 19 416 women aged 29 to 69 years and participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort in Spain, recruited between 1992 and 1996 and followed-up until 2006 to ascertain incident CVD events.