Perceived Interpersonal Racism and Incident Stroke Among US Black Women.

Importance: Black individuals in the US experience stroke and stroke-related mortality at younger ages and more frequently than other racial groups. Studies examining the prospective association of interpersonal racism with stroke are lacking.

Objective: To examine the association of perceived interpersonal racism with incident stroke among US Black women.

"Does Religious Service Attendance Modify the Relationship between Everyday Discrimination and Risk of Obesity? Results from the Study on Stress, Spirituality and Health".

This study examined the association of everyday discrimination with risk of obesity and the potential modifying effect of religious service attendance. Participants included Black, South Asian, and white women in three cohort studies that belong to the Study on Stress, Spirituality and Health. Logistic regression models estimated odds of obesity classification (BMI ≥ 30) relative to experiences of everyday discrimination.

Enhancing Mammography and Empowering Solutions for Breast Cancer Disparities.

Mammography enables early detection of breast cancer, a critical factor in improving treatment outcomes and breast cancer mortality. Yet, not all women benefit equally, and striking racial disparities in breast cancer mortality persist, with Black women 40% more likely to die from breast cancer compared with non-Hispanic White women. The current issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention presents three informative reports revealing racial and ethnic variations in mammography's performance in risk stratification, detection, and surveillance.

Maximizing utility of neuropsychological measures in sex-specific predictive models of incident Alzheimer's disease in the Framingham Heart Study.

Introduction: Sex differences in neuropsychological (NP) test performance might have important implications for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study investigates sex differences in neuropsychological performance among individuals without dementia at baseline.

Methods: Neuropsychological assessment data, both standard test scores and process coded responses, from Framingham Heart Study participants were analyzed for sex differences using regression model and Cox proportional hazards model.

Menopausal hormone therapy use and risk of ovarian cancer by race: the ovarian cancer in women of African ancestry consortium.

Background: Most studies examining post-menopausal menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) use and ovarian cancer risk have focused on White women and few have included Black women.

Methods: We evaluated MHT use and ovarian cancer risk in Black (n = 800 cases, 1783 controls) and White women (n = 2710 cases, 8556 controls), using data from the Ovarian Cancer in Women of African Ancestry consortium. Logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association of MHT use with ovarian cancer risk, examining histotype, MHT type and duration of use.

Identification of an ε4-specific blood-based molecular pathway for Alzheimer's disease risk.

Introduction: The precise apolipoprotein E () ε4-specific molecular pathway(s) for Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk are unclear.

Methods: Plasma protein modules/cascades were analyzed using weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative study. Multivariable regression analyses were used to examine the associations among protein modules, AD diagnoses, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) phosphorylated tau (p-tau), and brain glucose metabolism, stratified by genotype.

Hair relaxer use and risk of uterine cancer in the Black Women's Health Study.

Background: Chemical hair relaxers, use of which is highly prevalent among Black women in the US, have been inconsistently linked to risk of estrogen-dependent cancers, such as breast cancer, and other reproductive health conditions. Whether hair relaxer use increases risk of uterine cancer is unknown.

Methods: In the Black Women's Health Study, 44,798 women with an intact uterus who self-identified as Black were followed from 1997, when chemical hair relaxer use was queried, until 2019.

Sarcoidosis and its relation to other immune-mediated diseases: Epidemiological insights.

Several epidemiological studies show a co-occurrence of sarcoidosis with other immune-mediated diseases (IMD). There are many similarities between sarcoidosis and IMDs in their geographical distribution and risk factors. Understanding these similarities and identifying the differences can help us to better understand sarcoidosis and put it into context with other IMDs.

Pathways to lung cancer diagnosis among individuals who did not receive lung cancer screening: a qualitative study.

Background: Although early detection of lung cancer through screening is associated with better prognosis, most lung cancers are diagnosed among unscreened individuals. We therefore sought to characterize pathways to lung cancer diagnosis among unscreened individuals.

Methods: Participants were individuals with lung cancer who did not undergo asymptomatic lung cancer screening (n = 13) and healthcare providers who may be involved in the pathway to lung cancer diagnosis (n = 13).

Multimodal Machine Learning for 10-Year Dementia Risk Prediction: The Framingham Heart Study.

Background: Early prediction of dementia risk is crucial for effective interventions. Given the known etiologic heterogeneity, machine learning methods leveraging multimodal data, such as clinical manifestations, neuroimaging biomarkers, and well-documented risk factors, could predict dementia more accurately than single modal data.

Objective: This study aims to develop machine learning models that capitalize on neuropsychological (NP) tests, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures, and clinical risk factors for 10-year dementia prediction.

Developing a culturally tailored digital health intervention for insomnia in Black women.

Insomnia disorder is highly prevalent among Black women. Cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is considered the optimal treatment, but very little efficacy research has been conducted in minority populations. Culturally tailoring intervention content may increase participant engagement and improve treatment outcomes.

Vitamin D and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) among U.S. Black women.

Purpose: Risk factors for monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), the asymptomatic precursor to multiple myeloma, are largely unknown. We hypothesized that low vitamin D levels might be associated with higher MGUS prevalence in a national cohort of U.S.

Pre-treatment Amino Acids and Risk of Paclitaxel-induced Peripheral Neuropathy in SWOG S0221.

Background: Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a treatment-limiting and debilitating neurotoxicity of many commonly used anti-cancer agents, including paclitaxel. The objective of this study was to confirm the previously found inverse association between pre-treatment blood concentrations of histidine and CIPN occurrence and examine relationships of other amino acids with CIPN severity.

Methods: Pre-treatment levels of 20 amino acid concentrations were measured via a targeted mass spectrometry assay in banked serum from the SWOG S0221 (NCT00070564) trial of patients with early-stage breast cancer receiving paclitaxel.

Daytime napping, nighttime sleeping duration, and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma and liver disease-related mortality.

Background & Aims: Sleep duration has been linked to metabolic dysfunction and chronic inflammation, which may contribute to the development of liver cancer and chronic liver disease (CLD). However, little is known about the relationship between sleep or napping duration and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk and CLD mortality.

Methods: We followed 295,837 individuals in the National Institutes of Health-American Association of Retired Persons (NIH-AARP) Diet and Health Study.

Validating a model for predicting breast cancer and nonbreast cancer death in women aged 55 years and older.

Background: To support mammography screening decision making, we developed a competing-risk model to estimate 5-year breast cancer risk and 10-year nonbreast cancer death for women aged 55 years and older using Nurses' Health Study data and examined model performance in the Black Women's Health Study (BWHS). Here, we examine model performance in predicting 10-year outcomes in the BWHS, Women's Health Initiative-Extension Study (WHI-ES), and Multiethnic Cohort (MEC) and compare model performance to existing breast cancer prediction models.

Methods: We used competing-risk regression and Royston and Altman methods for validating survival models to calculate our model's calibration and discrimination (C index) in BWHS (n = 17 380), WHI-ES (n = 106 894), and MEC (n = 49 668).

Urban-rural differences in cancer mortality: Operationalizing rurality.

Objective: To assess urban-rural differences in cancer mortality across definitions of rurality as (1) established binary cut-points, (2) data-driven binary cut-points, and (3) continuous.

Methods: We used Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data between 2000 and 2016 to identify incident adult screening-related cancers. Analyses were based on one testing and four validation cohorts (all n = 26,587).

Impact of age, race, and family history on COVID-19-related changes in breast cancer screening among the Boston mammography cohort study.

Purpose: We studied women enrolled in the Boston Mammography Cohort Study to investigate whether subgroups defined by age, race, or family history of breast cancer experienced differences in the incidence of screening or diagnostic imaging rates during the COVID-19 lockdown and had slower rebound in the incidence of these rates during reopening.

Methods: We compared the incidence of monthly breast cancer screening and diagnostic imaging rates over during the pre-COVID-19 (January 2019-February 2020), lockdown (March-May 2020), and reopening periods (June-December 2020), and tested for differences in the monthly incidence within the same period by age (< 50 vs ≥ 50), race (White vs non-White), and first-degree family history of breast cancer (yes vs no).

Results: Overall, we observed a decline in breast cancer screening and diagnostic imaging rates over the three time periods (pre-COVID-19, lockdown, and reopening).

Aspirin and nonaspirin nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug use and occurrence of colorectal adenoma in Black American women.

Evidence suggests that aspirin use reduces the occurrence of colorectal neoplasia. Few studies have investigated the association among Black Americans, who are disproportionately burdened by the disease. We assessed aspirin use in relation to colorectal adenoma among Black women.

Ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) and challenges in the design of a randomized controlled trial to test the online return of cancer genetic research results to U.S. Black women.

Background: A central challenge to precision medicine research efforts is the return of genetic research results in a manner that is effective, ethical, and efficient. Formal tests of alternate modalities are needed, particularly for racially marginalized populations that have historically been underserved in this context.

Methods: We are conducting a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test scalable modalities for results return and to examine the clinical utility of returning genetic research results to a research cohort of Black women.