Birth characteristics and the risk of childhood brain tumors: A case-control study in Ontario, Canada.

Various birth characteristics may influence healthy childhood development, including the risk of developing childhood brain tumors (CBTs). In this study, we aimed to investigate the association between delivery methods, obstetric history, and birth anthropometrics with the risk of CBTs. This study used data from the Childhood Brain Tumour Epidemiology Study of Ontario (CBREO) which included children 0-15 years of age and newly diagnosed with CBTs from 1997 to 2003.

Socioeconomic Status, Smoking, and Lung Cancer: Mediation and Bias Analysis in the SYNERGY Study.

Background: Increased lung cancer risks for low socioeconomic status (SES) groups are only partially attributable to smoking habits. Little effort has been made to investigate the persistent risks related to low SES by quantification of potential biases.

Methods: Based on 12 case-control studies, including 18 centers of the international SYNERGY project (16,550 cases, 20,147 controls), we estimated controlled direct effects (CDE) of SES on lung cancer via multiple logistic regression, adjusted for age, study center, and smoking habits and stratified by sex.

Performance of the Social Responsiveness Scale-2 for the Assessment of Autistic Behaviors in a Sample of Canadian Preschool-Aged Children.

Behavioral traits of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) typically present in early childhood, underscoring the importance of screening tools for the early identification of ASD. The current study compared scores on the Social Responsiveness Scale-Second Edition (SRS-2) Preschool Form between the US standardization sample (n = 247) and a Canadian cohort of preschool-aged children (n = 595) recruited from the Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals (MIREC) study. In the MIREC sample, we examined whether ASD-like traits are correlated with sociodemographic characteristics and child intellectual abilities, and how maternal ratings of social skills assessed by the SRS-2 are associated with maternal ratings of general problem behaviors.

Integrative multi-omics analyses to identify the genetic and functional mechanisms underlying ovarian cancer risk regions.

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).

Impact of Pre-Diagnostic Risk Factors on Short- and Long-Term Ovarian Cancer Survival Trajectories: A Longitudinal Observational Study.

Tumor- and treatment-related factors are established predictors of ovarian cancer survival. New studies suggest a differential impact of exposures on ovarian cancer survival trajectories (i.e.

Essential requirements for the governance and management of data trusts, data repositories, and other data collaborations.

Introduction: Around the world, many organisations are working on ways to increase the use, sharing, and reuse of person-level data for research, evaluation, planning, and innovation while ensuring that data are secure and privacy is protected. As a contribution to broader efforts to improve data governance and management, in 2020 members of our team published 12 minimum specification essential requirements (min specs) to provide practical guidance for organisations establishing or operating data trusts and other forms of data infrastructure.

Approach And Aims: We convened an international team, consisting mostly of participants from Canada and the United States of America, to test and refine the original 12 min specs.

Lung Cancer Risks Associated with Occupational Exposure to Pairs of Five Lung Carcinogens: Results from a Pooled Analysis of Case-Control Studies (SYNERGY).

Background: While much research has been done to identify individual workplace lung carcinogens, little is known about joint effects on risk when workers are exposed to multiple agents.

Objectives: We investigated the pairwise joint effects of occupational exposures to asbestos, respirable crystalline silica, metals (i.e.

Prevalent occupational exposures and risk of lung cancer among women: Results from the application of the Canadian Job-Exposure Matrix (CANJEM) to a combined set of ten case-control studies.

Background: Worldwide, lung cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women. The present study explored associations between occupational exposures that are prevalent among women, and lung cancer.

Methods: Data from 10 case-control studies of lung cancer from Europe, Canada, and New Zealand conducted between 1988 and 2008 were combined.

Occupational Benzene Exposure and Lung Cancer Risk: A Pooled Analysis of 14 Case-Control Studies.

Benzene has been classified as carcinogenic to humans, but there is limited evidence linking benzene exposure to lung cancer. We aimed to examine the relationship between occupational benzene exposure and lung cancer. Subjects from 14 case-control studies across Europe and Canada were pooled.

Linkage of whole genome sequencing and administrative health data in autism: A proof of concept study.

Whether genetic testing in autism can help understand longitudinal health outcomes and health service needs is unclear. The objective of this study was to determine whether carrying an autism-associated rare genetic variant is associated with differences in health system utilization by autistic children and youth. This retrospective cohort study examined 415 autistic children/youth who underwent genome sequencing and data collection through a translational neuroscience program (Province of Ontario Neurodevelopmental Disorders Network).

Associations between polymorphisms in leptin and leptin receptor genes and colorectal cancer survival.

Objective: Leptin (LEP) is an obesity-associated adipokine associated with tumor cell growth. We examined the relevance of genetic variants of and leptin receptor () to colorectal cancer (CRC) survival by using data from the Newfoundland Familial Colorectal Cancer Study.

Methods: A total of 532 patients newly diagnosed with CRC between 1997 and 2003 were followed up until April 2010.

Maternal and childhood medical history and the risk of childhood brain tumours: a case-control study in Ontario, Canada.

Background: Studies to date have yielded inconclusive results as to whether maternal medical history during pregnancy, and a child's early-life medical history contribute to the development of childhood brain tumours (CBTs). This study examined associations between maternal and childhood medical history and the risk of CBTs.

Methods: The Childhood Brain Tumour Epidemiology Study of Ontario (CBREO) examined children 0-15 years of age with newly diagnosed CBTs from 1997 to 2003.

Lifetime ovulatory years and risk of epithelial ovarian cancer: a multinational pooled analysis.

Background: The role of ovulation in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is supported by the consistent protective effects of parity and oral contraceptive use. Whether these factors protect through anovulation alone remains unclear. We explored the association between lifetime ovulatory years (LOY) and EOC.

The Roles of and Gene Polymorphisms in Colorectal Cancer Survival.

Background: Paradoxically epidemiological data illustrate a negative relationship between dietary folate intake and colorectal cancer (CRC) risk. The occurrence and progression of CRC may be influenced by variants in some key enzyme coding genes in the folate metabolic pathway. We investigated the correlation between genetic variants in methionine synthase reductase () and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase () and CRC survival.

Association between Dietary Fiber Intake and Mortality among Colorectal Cancer Survivors: Results from the Newfoundland Familial Colorectal Cancer Cohort Study and a Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies.

We examined dietary fiber intake for its relevance to Colorectal cancer (CRC) survival in a cohort of CRC patients and a meta-analysis including results from four prospective cohort studies. We analyzed 504 CRC patients enrolled in the Newfoundland Familial Colorectal Cancer Study (NFCCS) who were newly diagnosed with CRC between 1999 and 2003. Follow-up for deaths was through April 2010.

Impact of germline mutations in cancer-predisposing genes on long-term survival in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer.

Background: Several clinical and tumour factors impact on ovarian cancer survival. It is important to evaluate if germline mutations impact long-term outcomes among patients with epithelial ovarian cancer.

Methods: We followed 1422 Ontario women with ovarian cancer.

Occupational Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Lung Cancer Risk: Results from a Pooled Analysis of Case-Control Studies (SYNERGY).

Background: Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) occurs widely in occupational settings. We investigated the association between occupational exposure to PAH and lung cancer risk and joint effects with smoking within the SYNERGY project.

Methods: We pooled 14 case-control studies with information on lifetime occupational and smoking histories conducted between 1985 and 2010 in Europe and Canada.

Polygenic risk modeling for prediction of epithelial ovarian cancer risk.

Polygenic risk scores (PRS) for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) have the potential to improve risk stratification. Joint estimation of Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) effects in models could improve predictive performance over standard approaches of PRS construction. Here, we implemented computationally efficient, penalized, logistic regression models (lasso, elastic net, stepwise) to individual level genotype data and a Bayesian framework with continuous shrinkage, "select and shrink for summary statistics" (S4), to summary level data for epithelial non-mucinous ovarian cancer risk prediction.

Childhood head trauma and the risk of childhood brain tumours: A case-control study in Ontario, Canada.

Head trauma in early childhood has been hypothesized as a potential risk factor for childhood brain tumours (CBTs). However, head trauma has not been extensively studied in the context of CBTs and existing studies have yielded conflicting results. A population-based and hospital-based case-control study of children 0 to 15 years with newly diagnosed CBTs from 1997 to 2003 recruited across Ontario through paediatric oncology centres was conducted.

Ontario's COVID-19 Modelling Consensus Table: mobilizing scientific expertise to support pandemic response.

Setting: COVID-19 has highlighted the need for credible epidemiological models to inform pandemic policy. Traditional mechanisms of commissioning research are ill-suited to guide policy during a rapidly evolving pandemic. At the same time, contracting with a single centre of expertise has been criticized for failing to reflect challenges inherent in specific modelling approaches.

Prediagnostic consumption of vitamin D, calcium and dairy products and colorectal cancer survival: results from the Newfoundland Colorectal Cancer Registry Cohort Study.

Vitamin D, Ca and dairy products are negatively associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence, but little is known of their influence on CRC survival. To investigate prediagnostic intakes of vitamin D, Ca and dairy products for their relevance to CRC prognosis, we analysed 504 CRC patients enrolled in the Newfoundland Colorectal Cancer Registry Cohort Study who were diagnosed for the first time with CRC between 1999 and 2003. Follow-up for mortality and cancer recurrence was through April 2010.