Publications by authors named "Tracy OMara"

Objective: Endometrial cancer is one of the few cancers for which mortality is still increasing. A lack of treatment options remains a major challenge, particularly for some subtypes of the disease. GZD824, also known as olverembatinib, is a multi-kinase inhibitor previously investigated in clinical trials for chronic myeloid leukaemia and Ph+ acute lymphoblastic leukaemia as a BCR-ABL inhibitor.

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  • Known genetic risk factors account for about one-third of familial endometrial cancer cases, but the link between rare germline copy number variants (CNVs) and cancer risk is not well understood.
  • A study analyzed DNA from over 4,000 endometrial cancer patients and nearly 18,000 controls, finding that the cancer group had a significantly higher number of CNVs.
  • The research identified 141 gene loci potentially related to endometrial cancer risk, highlighting a specific area (16p11.2) with recurrent deletions that could help further investigations into genetic susceptibility.
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Background: There is evidence that inflammatory arthritis in the form of ankylosing spondylitis (AS), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), and rheumatoid arthritis are both positively and negatively associated with certain female-specific cancers. However, the study results are very heterogeneous.

Methods: Based on up to 375,814 European women, we performed an iterative two-sample Mendelian randomization to assess causal effects of the occurrence of the inflammatory arthritis on the risk of female-specific cancer in form of breast, endometrial, and ovarian cancer sites as well as their subtypes.

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Background: Inflammation and immune dysregulation are hypothesized contributors to endometrial carcinogenesis; however, the precise underlying mechanisms remain unclear.

Methods: We measured pre-diagnostically 152 plasma protein biomarkers in 624 endometrial cancer case-control pairs nested within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. Odds ratios (ORs) were estimated using conditional logistic regression, accounting for confounding and multiple comparisons.

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  • The American Cancer Society suggests that doctors should talk to women about endometrial cancer risks when they reach menopause, but more younger women under 50 are being diagnosed.
  • A study looked at nearly 14,000 women with endometrial cancer and found that factors like body weight and diabetes increase the risk for both younger and older women.
  • Educating women about these risk factors could help reduce the number of cases, as many endometrial cancer cases in both age groups are linked to these factors.
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Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have accelerated the exploration of genotype-phenotype associations, facilitating the discovery of replicable genetic markers associated with specific traits or complex diseases. This narrative review explores the statistical methodologies developed using GWAS data to investigate relationships between various phenotypes, focusing on endometrial cancer, the most prevalent gynecological malignancy in developed nations. Advancements in analytical techniques such as genetic correlation, colocalization, cross-trait locus identification, and causal inference analyses have enabled deeper exploration of associations between different phenotypes, enhancing statistical power to uncover novel genetic risk regions.

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Background: Mendelian randomization (MR) studies are susceptible to metadata errors (e.g. incorrect specification of the effect allele column) and other analytical issues that can introduce substantial bias into analyses.

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Background: The incidence rates of endometrial cancer are increasing, which may partly be explained by the rising prevalence of obesity, an established risk factor for endometrial cancer. Hypertension, another component of metabolic syndrome, is also increasing in prevalence, and emerging evidence suggests that it may be associated with the development of certain cancers. The role of hypertension independent of other components of metabolic syndrome in the etiology of endometrial cancer remains unclear.

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To detect novel endometrial cancer risk variants, we leveraged information from endometrial cancer risk factors in a multi-trait GWAS analysis. We first assessed causal relationships between established and suspected endometrial cancer risk factors, and endometrial cancer using Mendelian randomization. Following multivariable analysis, five independent risk factors (waist circumference, testosterone levels, sex hormone binding globulin levels, age at menarche, and age at natural menopause) were included in a multi-trait Bayesian GWAS analysis.

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  • This study investigates the relationship between polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and the risk of various cancers using a Mendelian randomization approach in individuals of European and East Asian descent.
  • The research found that increased PUFA desaturase activity was significantly associated with higher risks for colorectal cancer, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, lung cancer, and basal cell carcinoma, while showing no notable links to reproductive or urinary system cancers.
  • The findings suggest that certain omega 6 PUFAs may serve as potential mediators in these associations, highlighting the need for further exploration of how PUFA-related mechanisms could influence cancer risk.
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Background: Adult obesity is a strong risk factor for endometrial cancer (EC); however, associations of early life obesity with EC are inconclusive. We evaluated associations of young adulthood (18-21 years) and adulthood (at enrolment) body mass index (BMI) and weight change with EC risk in the Epidemiology of Endometrial Cancer Consortium (E2C2).

Methods: We pooled data from nine case-control and 11 cohort studies in E2C2.

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Background: Limited data from prospective studies suggest that higher dietary intake of long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCn3PUFA), which hold anti-inflammatory properties, may reduce endometrial cancer risk; particularly among certain subgroups characterized by body mass and tumor pathology.

Materials And Methods: Data from 12 prospective cohort studies participating in the Epidemiology of Endometrial Cancer Consortium were harmonized as nested case-control studies, including 7268 endometrial cancer cases and 26,133 controls. Habitual diet was assessed by food frequency questionnaire, from which fatty acid intakes were estimated.

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  • This study examines the genetic factors contributing to the risk of different cancers by analyzing data from 12 genome-wide association studies, involving nearly 910,000 participants.
  • Researchers discovered 15 new cancer susceptibility loci and found that some genetic variants are shared between multiple cancer types, despite much of the heritability being specific to individual cancers.
  • The findings indicate the importance of using larger sample sizes for more effective cross-cancer analyses, which could unveil additional genetic regions linked to increased cancer risk.
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Alternative splicing contributes to cancer development. Indeed, splicing analysis of cancer genome-wide association study (GWAS) risk variants has revealed likely causal variants. To systematically assess GWAS variants for splicing effects, we developed a prioritization workflow using a combination of splicing prediction tools, alternative transcript isoforms, and splicing quantitative trait locus (sQTL) annotations.

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Given the strong association between obesity and endometrial cancer risk, dietary factors may play an important role in the development of this cancer. However, observational studies of micro- and macronutrients and their role in endometrial cancer risk have been inconsistent. Clarifying these relationships are important to develop nutritional recommendations for cancer prevention.

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Background: A common 30 kb deletion affecting the APOBEC3A and APOBEC3B genes has been linked to increased APOBEC activity and APOBEC-related mutational signatures in human cancers. The role of this deletion as a cancer risk factor remains controversial.

Materials And Methods: We genotyped the APOBEC3A/B deletion in a sample of 1,470 Norwegian endometrial cancer cases and compared to 1,918 healthy controls.

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Increased adiposity is a known risk factor for endometrial cancer (EC). This study aimed to disentangle the separate causal roles of child and adult adiposity on EC risk in adults, including endometrioid and non-endometrioid histological subtypes using multivariable Mendelian randomisation. These analyses employed genetic associations derived from UK Biobank as proxies for child and adult body size in 12,906 cases and 108,979 controls that participated in the Endometrial Cancer Association Consortium.

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  • This study explored the potential causal relationships between factors like the number of live births, age at last live birth, and years ovulating, with the risk of endometrial cancer (EC).
  • Using data from the UK Biobank, researchers conducted observational analyses and multivariate analysis to investigate how these factors interact with others, such as BMI and age at menopause.
  • The findings suggest that having more live births is linked to a lower EC risk, and this relationship remains significant even when considering other risk factors, highlighting the complexity of reproductive health impacts on cancer risk.
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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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Purpose: Single-nucleotide variations (SNVs) (formerly single-nucleotide polymorphism [SNV]) influence genetic predisposition to endometrial cancer. We hypothesized that a polygenic risk score (PRS) comprising multiple SNVs may improve endometrial cancer risk prediction for targeted screening and prevention.

Methods: We developed PRSs from SNVs identified from a systematic review of published studies and suggestive SNVs from the Endometrial Cancer Association Consortium.

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It is unclear if body weight in early life affects cancer risk independently of adult body weight. To investigate this question for 6 obesity-related cancers, we performed univariable and multivariable analyses using 1) Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis and 2) longitudinal analyses in prospective cohorts. Both the MR and longitudinal analyses indicated that larger early life body size was associated with higher risk of endometrial (odds ratioMR = 1.

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  • Endometrial cancer is the most prevalent gynecological cancer in high-income nations and has a significant connection to elevated body mass index (BMI), which is a modifiable risk factor that may influence this cancer more than others.
  • Using Mendelian randomization, researchers examined the causal impact of 14 genetic and molecular risk factors, along with BMI, on the risk of developing endometrial cancer.
  • The analyses revealed a strong link between higher BMI and increased endometrial cancer risk, with additional contributions from hormonal factors like total testosterone, indicating that these molecular traits may mediate the relationship between BMI and the disease.
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Endometrial cancer is a common gynaecological cancer with increasing incidence and mortality. In the last decade, endometrial cancer genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have provided a resource to explore aetiology and for functional interpretation of heritable risk variation, informing endometrial cancer biology. Indeed, GWAS data have been used to assess relationships with other traits through correlation and Mendelian randomisation analyses, establishing genetic relationships and potential risk factors.

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