Publications by authors named "Harlid S"
Chemical exposomics in biobanked plasma samples and associations with breast cancer risk factors.
J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol
December 2024
Background: The chemical exposome includes exposure to numerous environmental and endogenous molecules, many of which have been linked to reproductive outcomes due to their endocrine-disrupting properties. As several breast cancer risk factors, including age and parity, are related to reproduction, it is imperative to investigate the interplay between such factors and the chemical exposome prior to conducting large scale exposome-based breast cancer studies.
Objective: This pilot study aimed to provide an overview of the chemical exposome in plasma samples from healthy women and identify associations between environmental exposures and three risk factors for breast cancer: age, parity, and age at menarche.
Gut microbiota composition has been implicated in surgical site complications after colorectal cancer surgery. Antibiotics affect gut microbiota, but evidence for a role in surgical site complications is inconclusive. We aimed to investigate use of prescription antibiotics during the years before surgery in relation to the risk of surgical site infections, including anastomotic leakage, within 30 days after surgery.
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- Folate intake plays a crucial role in genetic and metabolic processes, and low levels are linked to higher cancer risk, specifically colorectal cancer (CRC).
- The study analyzed dietary and supplemental folate intake among participants with CRC, investigating how this intake relates to specific genetic mutations using advanced sequencing techniques.
- Results indicated that higher total folate intake generally reduced CRC risk, but the impact varied when considering mutation status in tumors, with a few specific gene mutations showing different associations with folate intake.
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.
Worldwide trends to delay childbearing have increased parental ages at birth. Older parental age may harm offspring health, but mechanisms remain unclear. Alterations in offspring DNA methylation (DNAm) patterns could play a role as aging has been associated with methylation changes in gametes of older individuals.
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- 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.
Article Synopsis
- Obesity is linked to various types of colorectal cancer (CRC), but the strength and cause of these links are not fully understood.
- By using Mendelian randomization, researchers studied how body size traits like BMI, waist circumference, and body fat percentage affect risks for different CRC subtypes.
- Results showed that higher BMI and body fat significantly increased the risks for serrated and alternate CRC pathways (Jass types 1, 2, and 3), while associations with the traditional pathway (Jass type 4) were weaker.
We investigated data-driven and hypothesis-driven dietary patterns and their association to plasma metabolite profiles and subsequent colorectal cancer (CRC) risk in 680 CRC cases and individually matched controls. Dietary patterns were identified from combined exploratory/confirmatory factor analysis. We assessed association to LC-MS metabolic profiles by random forest regression and to CRC risk by multivariable conditional logistic regression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Insulin resistance is a hypothesised biological mechanism linking obesity with prostate cancer (PCa) death. Data in support of this hypothesis is limited.
Methods: We included 259,884 men from eight European cohorts, with 11,760 incident PCa's and 1784 PCa deaths during follow-up.
Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, but if discovered at an early stage, the survival rate is high. The aim of this study was to identify novel markers predictive of future CRC risk using untargeted metabolomics.
Methods: This study included prospectively collected plasma samples from 902 CRC cases and 902 matched cancer-free control participants from the population-based Northern Sweden Health and Disease Study (NSHDS), which were obtained up to 26 years prior to CRC diagnosis.
Background: Antibiotics use is associated with higher colorectal cancer risk, but little is known regarding any potential effects on survival.
Methods: We conducted a nationwide cohort study, using complete-population data from Swedish national registers between 2005 and 2020, to investigate prediagnostic prescription antibiotics use in relation to survival in colorectal cancer patients.
Results: We identified 36,061 stage I-III and 11,242 stage IV colorectal cancer cases diagnosed between 2010 and 2019.
Article Synopsis
- This study explores how genetics and body mass index (BMI) interact to influence colorectal cancer risk, analyzing data from over 84,000 participants.
- The research identifies a significant genetic marker (rs58349661) in the FMN1/GREM1 gene region that shows a strong connection with increased cancer risk in individuals with higher BMI, particularly among those with a specific genotype.
- Findings suggest that understanding this gene-environment interaction could help develop more tailored prevention strategies for colorectal cancer related to obesity.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates the role of a specific mutational signature (SBS88) in colorectal cancer (CRC), which is linked to a bacteria that produces a genotoxin called colibactin.
- About 7.5% of the CRC cases studied were found to be SBS88-positive, with a notable prevalence in the distal colon and rectum, and demonstrated distinct somatic mutations associated with colibactin-induced DNA damage.
- SBS88-positive CRCs were linked to better survival rates compared to negative cases, suggesting this mutational signature could help identify a unique subtype of CRC that may influence treatment and prevention approaches.
Endogenous sex hormones and DNA methylation both play important roles in various diseases. However, their interplay is largely unknown. A deeper understanding of their interrelationships could provide new insights into the pathology of disease development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlyceraldehyde-derived advanced glycation end products (glycer-AGEs) could contribute to colorectal cancer development and progression due to their pro-oxidative and pro-inflammatory properties. However, the association of glycer-AGEs with mortality after colorectal cancer diagnosis has not been previously investigated. Circulating glycer-AGEs were measured by competitive ELISA.
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- The study investigates how the location of colorectal tumors affects survival rates, particularly in relation to their molecular characteristics like microsatellite instability (MSI) and methylation patterns (CIMP).
- A large dataset of over 13,000 colorectal cancer cases revealed significant survival trends based on tumor location, with non-MSI-high tumors showing better outcomes as they moved from the cecum to the sigmoid colon, while MSI-high tumors had worse outcomes in the same locations.
- The findings emphasize the need for considering both tumor location and molecular features for more accurate prognostication in colon cancer, highlighting the potential of precision medicine in improving patient outcomes.
Background: Obesity is an established risk factor for colorectal cancer (CRC), but the evidence for the association is inconsistent across molecular subtypes of the disease.
Methods: We pooled data on body mass index (BMI), tumor microsatellite instability status, CpG island methylator phenotype status, BRAF and KRAS mutations, and Jass classification types for 11 872 CRC cases and 11 013 controls from 11 observational studies. We used multinomial logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) adjusted for covariables.
Unlabelled: Obesity and metabolic dysfunction are implicated in colorectal cancer development. Appetite-regulating gut hormones might have a role in colorectal cancer risk. We investigated whether circulating levels of the gut hormones ghrelin (analyzed as acyl ghrelin) and Peptide YY (PYY) were associated with subsequent colorectal cancer risk, including clinical and molecular tumor subtypes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMalignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare and aggressive cancer mainly caused by asbestos exposure. Specific and sensitive noninvasive biomarkers may facilitate and enhance screening programs for the early detection of cancer. We investigated DNA methylation (DNAm) profiles in MPM prediagnostic blood samples in a case-control study nested in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and nutrition (EPIC) cohort, aiming to characterise DNAm biomarkers associated with MPM.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: We investigated the impact of changes in lifestyle habits on colorectal cancer (CRC) risk in a multicountry European cohort.
Methods: We used baseline and follow-up questionnaire data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer cohort to assess changes in lifestyle habits and their associations with CRC development. We calculated a healthy lifestyle index (HLI) score based on smoking status, alcohol consumption, body mass index, and physical activity collected at the 2 time points.
Background: Alcohol intake is an established risk factor for colorectal cancer (CRC); however, there is limited knowledge on whether changing alcohol drinking habits during adulthood modifies CRC risk.
Objective: Leveraging longitudinal exposure assessments on alcohol intake at different ages, we examined the relationship between change in alcohol intake and subsequent CRC risk.
Methods: Within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, changes in alcohol intake comparing follow-up with baseline assessments were investigated in relation to CRC risk.
Cigarette Smoking and Endometrial Cancer Risk: Observational and Mendelian Randomization Analyses.
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev
September 2022
Background: Current epidemiologic evidence indicates that smoking is associated with a lower endometrial cancer risk. However, it is unknown if this association is causal or confounded. To further elucidate the role of smoking in endometrial cancer risk, we conducted complementary observational and Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses.
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- The study explored how menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) interacts with genetic variants to affect the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) in 28,486 postmenopausal women.
- Results indicated that MHT use was linked to a lower risk of CRC, with specific genetic variants playing a significant role in this association.
- The findings suggest that understanding these genetic interactions could lead to deeper insights into CRC development and potential therapeutic strategies.
Article Synopsis
- - The study investigates the genetic and environmental interactions influencing colorectal cancer risk, focusing on the J-shaped relationship with alcohol consumption, distinguishing between nondrinkers, light-to-moderate drinkers, and heavy drinkers.
- - By pooling data from major cancer registries, the researchers identified 13 significant SNPs in the 10q24.2/COX15 region, showing that the A allele of SNP rs2300985 increases colorectal cancer risk for light-to-moderate drinkers compared to nondrinkers and heavy drinkers.
- - The findings suggest that the strongest genetic association with colorectal cancer occurs in nondrinkers, with SNP rs1318920 predicted as a potential causal regulatory variant impacting cancer risk.
Diabetes is an established risk factor for colorectal cancer. However, colorectal cancer is a heterogeneous disease and it is not well understood whether diabetes is more strongly associated with some tumor molecular subtypes than others. A better understanding of the association between diabetes and colorectal cancer according to molecular subtypes could provide important insights into the biology of this association.
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