Publications
1358 results found
Papadimitriou N, Muller D, van den Brandt PA, et al., 2019, A nutrient-wide association study for risk of prostate cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition and the Netherlands Cohort Study, European Journal of Nutrition, Vol: 59, Pages: 2929-2937, ISSN: 0044-264X
PurposeThe evidence from the literature regarding the association of dietary factors and risk of prostate cancer is inconclusive.MethodsA nutrient-wide association study was conducted to systematically and comprehensively evaluate the associations between 92 foods or nutrients and risk of prostate cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Cox proportional hazard regression models adjusted for total energy intake, smoking status, body mass index, physical activity, diabetes and education were used to estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals for standardized dietary intakes. As in genome-wide association studies, correction for multiple comparisons was applied using the false discovery rate (FDR < 5%) method and suggested results were replicated in an independent cohort, the Netherlands Cohort Study (NLCS).ResultsA total of 5916 and 3842 incident cases of prostate cancer were diagnosed during a mean follow-up of 14 and 20 years in EPIC and NLCS, respectively. None of the dietary factors was associated with the risk of total prostate cancer in EPIC (minimum FDR-corrected P, 0.37). Null associations were also observed by disease stage, grade and fatality, except for positive associations observed for intake of dry cakes/biscuits with low-grade and butter with aggressive prostate cancer, respectively, out of which the intake of dry cakes/biscuits was replicated in the NLCS.ConclusionsOur findings provide little support for an association for the majority of the 92 examined dietary factors and risk of prostate cancer. The association of dry cakes/biscuits with low-grade prostate cancer warrants further replication given the scarcity in the literature.
Carmeli C, Kutalik Z, Kelly-Irving M, et al., 2019, Early life socioeconomic position and adult systemic inflammation: the role of gene regulation, Publisher: OXFORD UNIV PRESS, Pages: 88-88, ISSN: 1101-1262
Castagne R, Chadeau-Hyam M, Karimi M, et al., 2019, Social patterning of inflammation over the lifecourse and its relationship with mortality, Publisher: OXFORD UNIV PRESS, ISSN: 1101-1262
Berger E, Krogh V, Palli D, et al., 2019, Socio-economic position across the lifecourse and risk of breast cancer: findings from EPIC-Italy, Publisher: OXFORD UNIV PRESS, Pages: 28-28, ISSN: 1101-1262
Krauskopf J, van Veldhoven K, Chadeau-Hyam M, et al., 2019, Cell-free, circulating microRNAs reflect air pollution-induced environmental health risks, 55th Congress of the European-Societies-of-Toxicology (EUROTOX) - Toxicology - Science Providing Solutions, Publisher: ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD, Pages: S68-S68, ISSN: 0378-4274
Robinson O, Vineis P, 2019, The exposome in practice, 55th Congress of the European-Societies-of-Toxicology (EUROTOX) - Toxicology - Science Providing Solutions, Publisher: ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD, Pages: S40-S40, ISSN: 0378-4274
Robinson O, Vineis P, 2019, EXPOsOMICS: Novel approach to the assessment of exposure to high priority environmental pollutants, 55th Congress of the European-Societies-of-Toxicology (EUROTOX) - Toxicology - Science Providing Solutions, Publisher: ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD, Pages: S18-S18, ISSN: 0378-4274
Battram T, Richmond RC, Baglietto L, et al., 2019, Appraising the causal relevance of DNA methylation for risk of lung cancer., International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol: 48, Pages: 1493-1504, ISSN: 0300-5771
BACKGROUND: DNA methylation changes in peripheral blood have recently been identified in relation to lung cancer risk. Some of these changes have been suggested to mediate part of the effect of smoking on lung cancer. However, limitations with conventional mediation analyses mean that the causal nature of these methylation changes has yet to be fully elucidated. METHODS: We first performed a meta-analysis of four epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) of lung cancer (918 cases, 918 controls). Next, we conducted a two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis, using genetic instruments for methylation at CpG sites identified in the EWAS meta-analysis, and 29 863 cases and 55 586 controls from the TRICL-ILCCO lung cancer consortium, to appraise the possible causal role of methylation at these sites on lung cancer. RESULTS: Sixteen CpG sites were identified from the EWAS meta-analysis [false discovery rate (FDR) < 0.05], for 14 of which we could identify genetic instruments. Mendelian randomization provided little evidence that DNA methylation in peripheral blood at the 14 CpG sites plays a causal role in lung cancer development (FDR > 0.05), including for cg05575921-AHRR where methylation is strongly associated with both smoke exposure and lung cancer risk. CONCLUSIONS: The results contrast with previous observational and mediation analysis, which have made strong claims regarding the causal role of DNA methylation. Thus, previous suggestions of a mediating role of methylation at sites identified in peripheral blood, such as cg05575921-AHRR, could be unfounded. However, this study does not preclude the possibility that differential DNA methylation at other sites is causally involved in lung cancer development, especially within lung tissue.
Vineis P, Kelly-Irving M, 2019, Biography and biological capital, EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY, Vol: 34, Pages: 979-982, ISSN: 0393-2990
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- Citations: 9
Font-Ribera L, Marco E, Grimalt JO, et al., 2019, Exposure to disinfection by-products in swimming pools and biomarkers of genotoxicity and respiratory damage - The PISCINA2 Study., Environment International, Vol: 131, Pages: 1-11, ISSN: 0160-4120
BACKGROUND: Swimming in pools is a healthy activity that entails exposure to disinfection by-products (DBPs), some of which are irritant and genotoxic. OBJECTIVES: We evaluated exposure to DBPs during swimming in a chlorinated pool and the association with short-term changes in genotoxicity and lung epithelium permeability biomarkers. METHODS: Non-smoker adults (N = 116) swimming 40 min in an indoor pool were included. We measured a range of biomarkers before and at different times after swimming: trihalomethanes (THMs) in exhaled breath (5 min), trichloroacetic acid (TCAA) in urine (30 min), micronuclei in lymphocytes (1 h), serum club cell protein (CC16) (1 h), urine mutagenicity (2 h) and micronuclei in reticulocytes (4 days in a subset, N = 19). Several DBPs in water and trichloramine in air were measured, and physical activity was extensively assessed. We estimated interactions with polymorphisms in genes related to DBP metabolism. RESULTS: Median level of chloroform, brominated and total THMs in water was 37.3, 9.5 and 48.5, μg/L, respectively, and trichloramine in air was 472.6 μg/m3. Median exhaled chloroform, brominated and total THMs increased after swimming by 10.9, 2.6 and 13.4, μg/m3, respectively. Creatinine-adjusted urinary TCAA increased by 3.1 μmol/mol. Micronuclei in lymphocytes and reticulocytes, urine mutagenicity and serum CC16 levels remained unchanged after swimming. Spearman correlation coefficients showed no association between DBP exposure and micronuclei in lymphocytes, urine mutagenicity and CC16. Moderate associations were observed for micronuclei in reticulocytes and DBP exposure. CONCLUSIONS: The unchanged levels of the short-term effect biomarkers after swimming and null associations with personal estimates of exposure to DBPs suggest no measurable effect on genotoxicity in lymphocytes, urine mutagenicity and lung epithelium permeability at the observed exposure levels. The moderate associations with micronuclei in reticul
Din L, Sheikh M, Kosaraju N, et al., 2019, Genetic overlap between autoimmune diseases and non-Hodgkin lymphoma subtypes, GENETIC EPIDEMIOLOGY, Vol: 43, Pages: 844-863, ISSN: 0741-0395
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- Citations: 20
His M, Viallon V, Dossus L, et al., 2019, Prospective analysis of circulating metabolites and breast cancer in EPIC, BMC Medicine, Vol: 17, Pages: 1-13, ISSN: 1741-7015
BackgroundMetabolomics is a promising molecular tool to identify novel etiologic pathways leading to cancer. Using a targeted approach, we prospectively investigated the associations between metabolite concentrations in plasma and breast cancer risk.MethodsA nested case-control study was established within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer cohort, which included 1624 first primary incident invasive breast cancer cases (with known estrogen and progesterone receptor and HER2 status) and 1624 matched controls. Metabolites (n = 127, acylcarnitines, amino acids, biogenic amines, glycerophospholipids, hexose, sphingolipids) were measured by mass spectrometry in pre-diagnostic plasma samples and tested for associations with breast cancer incidence using multivariable conditional logistic regression.ResultsAmong women not using hormones at baseline (n = 2248), and after control for multiple tests, concentrations of arginine (odds ratio [OR] per SD = 0.79, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.70–0.90), asparagine (OR = 0.83 (0.74–0.92)), and phosphatidylcholines (PCs) ae C36:3 (OR = 0.83 (0.76–0.90)), aa C36:3 (OR = 0.84 (0.77–0.93)), ae C34:2 (OR = 0.85 (0.78–0.94)), ae C36:2 (OR = 0.85 (0.78–0.88)), and ae C38:2 (OR = 0.84 (0.76–0.93)) were inversely associated with breast cancer risk, while the acylcarnitine C2 (OR = 1.23 (1.11–1.35)) was positively associated with disease risk. In the overall population, C2 (OR = 1.15 (1.06–1.24)) and PC ae C36:3 (OR = 0.88 (0.82–0.95)) were associated with risk of breast cancer, and these relationships did not differ by breast cancer subtype, age at diagnosis, fasting status, menopausal status, or adiposity.ConclusionsThese findings point to potentially novel pathways and biomarkers of
Tarallo S, Ferrero G, Gallo G, et al., 2019, Altered Fecal Small RNA Profiles in Colorectal Cancer Reflect Gut Microbiome Composition in Stool Samples, MSYSTEMS, Vol: 4, ISSN: 2379-5077
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- Citations: 52
Castagne R, Kelly-Irving M, Kyrtopoulos SA, et al., 2019, A MULTI-OMICS APPROACH TO INVESTIGATE THE INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE OF LIFE COURSE SOCIOECONOMIC POSITION: FINDINGS FROM EPIC-ITALY, Publisher: BMJ PUBLISHING GROUP, Pages: A40-A40, ISSN: 0143-005X
Karimi M, Castagne R, Delpierre C, et al., 2019, Early-life inequalities and biological ageing: A multi-system biological health score approach in the Understanding Society study, Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, Vol: 73, Pages: 693-702, ISSN: 0143-005X
Social position is known to play a role in the quality of ageing, notably through the stimulation/dysregulation of key physiological systems in response to external stresses. Using data from one wave of the Understanding Society panel study including 9,088 participants, we defined, as an extension of the Allostatic Load, a synthetic biological health score (BHS) capturing the wear-and-tear of four physiological systems (endocrine, inflammatory, cardiovascular, and metabolic systems), and two organs (liver and kidney). We used 16 established blood-derived biomarkers of these systems to calculate the BHS and explored the relative contribution of socio-economic position to the BHS and its main components across age groups.We identified a systematic decreasing education-related gradient of the BHS (p<0.001) leading to lower biological risk in participants with longer education. Education-related differences in the BHS were detected early in life, and were not attributable to lifestyle and behavioural factors. We found a consistent contribution of the inflammatory and metabolic systems to the overall score throughout from early adulthood onwards, while the contribution of the other four systems seem to vary across age groups and gender. Our findings highlight the social-to-biological processes ultimately leading to health inequalities, and suggest that such disparities can already be detected in the 20-40 years old age group and cannot be fully explained by lifestyle and behavioural factors. This may define early adulthood social condition as a precursor to accelerated biological ageing and as an important target for public health policies.
Fortner RT, Poole EM, Wentzensen NA, et al., 2019, Ovarian cancer risk factors by tumor aggressiveness: an analysis from the Ovarian Cancer Cohort Consortium, International Journal of Cancer, Vol: 145, Pages: 58-69, ISSN: 0020-7136
Ovarian cancer risk factors differ by histotype; however, within subtype there is substantial variability in outcomes. We hypothesized that risk factor profiles may influence tumor aggressiveness, defined by time between diagnosis and death, independent of histology. Among 1.3 million women from 21 prospective cohorts, 4,584 invasive epithelial ovarian cancers were identified and classified as highly aggressive (death in <1 year, n=864), very aggressive (death in 1-<3 years, n=1,390), moderately aggressive (death in 3-<5 years, n=639), and less aggressive (lived 5+ years, n=1,691). Using competing risks Cox proportional hazards regression, we assessed heterogeneity of associations by tumor aggressiveness for all cases and among serous and endometrioid/clear cell tumors. Associations between parity (phet =0.01), family history of ovarian cancer (phet =0.02), body mass index (BMI; phet ≤0.04) and smoking (phet <0.01) and ovarian cancer risk differed by aggressiveness. A first/single pregnancy, relative to nulliparity, was inversely associated with highly aggressive disease (HR: 0.72; 95% CI [0.58-0.88]), no association was observed for subsequent pregnancies (per pregnancy, 0.97 [0.92-1.02]). In contrast, first and subsequent pregnancies were similarly associated with less aggressive disease (0.87 for both). Family history of ovarian cancer was only associated with risk of less aggressive disease (1.94 [1.47-2.55]). High BMI (≥35 vs. 20-<25 kg/m2 , 1.93 [1.46-2.56] and current smoking (vs. never, 1.30 [1.07-1.57]) were associated with increased risk of highly aggressive disease. Results were similar within histotypes. Ovarian cancer risk factors may be directly associated with subtypes defined by tumor aggressiveness, rather than through differential effects on histology. Studies to assess biological pathways are warranted.
Solans M, Benavente Y, Saez M, et al., 2019, Adherence to the mediterranean diet and lymphoma risk in the european prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition., International Journal of Cancer, Vol: 145, Pages: 122-131, ISSN: 0020-7136
There is a growing evidence of the protective role of the Mediterranean diet (MD) on cancer. However, no prospective study has yet investigated its influence on lymphoma. We evaluated the association between adherence to the MD and risk of lymphoma and its subtypes in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. The analysis included 476,160 participants, recruited from 10 European countries between 1991 and 2001. Adherence to the MD was estimated through the adapted relative MD (arMED) score excluding alcohol. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used while adjusting for potential confounders. During an average follow-up of 13.9 years, 3,136 lymphomas (135 Hodgkin lymphoma [HL], 2,606 non-HL and 395 lymphoma not otherwise specified) were identified. Overall, a 1-unit increase in the arMED score was associated with a 2% lower risk of lymphoma (95% CI: 0.97; 1.00, p-trend = 0.03) while a statistically nonsignificant inverse association between a high versus low arMED score and risk of lymphoma was observed (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.91 [95% CI 0.80; 1.03], p-trend = 0.12). Analyses by lymphoma subtype did not reveal any statistically significant associations. Albeit with small numbers of cases (N = 135), a suggestive inverse association was found for HL (HR 1-unit increase = 0.93 [95% CI: 0.86; 1.01], p-trend = 0.07). However, the study may have lacked statistical power to detect small effect sizes for lymphoma subtype. Our findings suggest that an increasing arMED score was inversely related to the risk of overall lymphoma in EPIC but not by subtypes. Further large prospective studies are warranted to confirm these findings.
Krauskopf J, van Veldhoven K, Chadeau-Hyam M, et al., 2019, Short-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution reveals a compound-specific circulating miRNA profile indicating multiple disease risks, Environment International, Vol: 128, Pages: 193-200, ISSN: 0160-4120
Traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) is a complex mixture of compounds that contributes to the pathogenesis of many diseases including several types of cancer, pulmonary, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, and more recently also diabetes mellitus. In search of an early diagnostic biomarker for improved environmental health risk assessment, recent human studies have shown that certain extracellular miRNAs are altered upon exposure to TRAP. Here, we present a global circulating miRNA analysis in a human population exposed to different levels of TRAP. The cross-over study, with sampling taking place during resting and physical activity in two different exposure scenarios, included for each subject personal exposure measurements of PM10,PM2.5, NO, NO2, CO, CO2, BC and UFP. Next-generation sequencing technology was used to identify global circulating miRNA levels across all subjects. We identified 8 miRNAs to be associated with the mixture of TRAP and 27 miRNAs that were associated with the individual pollutants NO, NO2, CO, CO2, BC and UFP. We did not find significant associations between miRNA levels and PM10 or PM2.5. Integrated network analysis revealed that these circulating miRNAs are potentially involved in processes that are implicated in the development of air pollution-induced diseases. Altogether, this study demonstrates that signatures consisting of circulating miRNAs present a potential novel biomarker to be used in health risk assessment.
Pardini B, Cordero F, Naccarati A, et al., 2019, Urine microRNA profiling by next generation sequencing and multiple mutations in urinary exfoliated cells in bladder cancer, 51st Conference of the European-Society-of-Human-Genetics (ESHG) in conjunction with the European Meeting on Psychosocial Aspects of Genetics (EMPAG), Publisher: NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP, Pages: 603-604, ISSN: 1018-4813
Lanzoni A, Castoldi AF, Kass GEN, et al., 2019, Advancing human health risk assessment, EFSA JOURNAL, Vol: 17
Vineis P, 2019, Public Health and Independent Risk Assessment, AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Vol: 109, Pages: 978-980, ISSN: 0090-0036
Ribeiro AI, Fraga S, Kelly-Irving M, et al., 2019, Neighbourhood socioeconomic deprivation and allostatic load: a multi-cohort study, SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, Vol: 9, ISSN: 2045-2322
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- Citations: 28
Mostafavi N, Jeong A, Vlaanderen J, et al., 2019, The mediating effect of immune markers on the association between ambient air pollution and adult-onset asthma, Scientific Reports, Vol: 9, Pages: 1-11, ISSN: 2045-2322
We aim to investigate to what extent a set of immune markers mediate the association between air pollution and adult-onset asthma. We considered long-term exposure to multiple air pollution markers and a panel of 13 immune markers in peripheral blood samples collected from 140 adult cases and 199 controls using a nested-case control design. We tested associations between air pollutants and immune markers and adult-onset asthma using mixed-effects (logistic) regression models, adjusted for confounding variables. In order to evaluate a possible mediating effect of the full set of immune markers, we modelled the relationship between asthma and air pollution with a partial least square path model. We observed a strong positive association of IL-1RA [OR 1.37; 95% CI (1.09, 1.73)] with adult-onset asthma. Univariate models did not yield any association between air pollution and immune markers. However, mediation analyses indicated that 15% of the effect of air pollution on risk of adult-onset asthma was mediated through the immune system when considering all immune markers as a latent variable (path coefficient (β) = 0.09; 95% CI: (−0.02, 0.20)). This effect appeared to be stronger for allergic asthma (22%; β = 0.12; 95% CI: (−0.03, 0.27)) and overweight subjects (27%; β = 0.19; 95% CI: (−0.004, 0.38)). Our results provides supportive evidence for a mediating effect of the immune system in the association between air pollution and adult-onset asthma.
Fasanelli F, Giraudo MT, Vineis P, et al., 2019, DNA methylation, colon cancer and Mediterranean diet: results from the EPIC-Italy cohort, Epigenetics, Vol: 14, Pages: 977-988, ISSN: 1559-2294
The biological mechanisms through which adherence to Mediterranean Diet (MD) protects against colon cancer (CC) are poorly understood. Evidence suggests that chronic inflammation may be implicated in the pathway. Both diet and CC are related to epigenetic regulation.We performed a nested case-control study on 161 pairs from the Italian component of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort, in which we looked for the methylation signals in DNA extracted from leucocytes associated with both CC and MD in 995 CpGs located in 48 inflammation genes. The DNA methylation signals detected in this analysis were validated in a subgroup of 47 case-control pairs and further replicated (where validated) in 95 new pairs by means of pyrosequencing.Among the CpG sites selected a-priori in inflammation-related genes, seven CpG sites were found to be associated with CC status and with MD, in line with its protective effect. Only two CpG sites (cg17968347-SERPINE1 and cg20674490-RUNX3) were validated using bisulphite pyrosequencing and, after replication, we found that DNA methylation of cg20674490-RUNX3 may be a potential molecular mediator explaining the protective effect of MD on CC onset.The use of a ‘meet-in-the-middle’ approach to identify the overlap between exposure and predictive markers of disease is innovative in studies on the relationship between diet and cancer, in which exposure assessment is difficult and the mechanisms through which the nutrients exert their protective effect is largely unknown.
McCrory C, Fiorito G, Ni Cheallaigh C, et al., 2019, How does socio-economic position (SEP) get biologically embedded? A comparison of allostatic load and the epigenetic clock(s), Psychoneuroendocrinology, Vol: 104, Pages: 64-73, ISSN: 0306-4530
Individuals of lower socio-economic position (SEP) carry a heavier burden of disease and morbidity and live shorter lives on average compared with their more advantaged counterparts. This has sparked research interest in the processes and mechanisms via which social adversity gets biologically embedded. The present study directly compares the empirical worth of two candidate mechanisms: Allostatic Load (AL) and the Epigenetic Clock(s) for advancing our understanding of embodiment using a sub-sample of 490 individuals from the Irish Longitudinal Study (TILDA) who were explicitly selected for this purpose based on their inter-generational life course social class trajectory. A battery of 14 biomarkers representing the activity of 4 different physiological systems: Immunological, Cardiovascular, Metabolic, and Renal was used to construct the AL score. Biomarkers were dichotomised into high and low risk groups according to sex-specific quartiles of risk and summed to create a count ranging from 0-14. Three measures of epigenetic age acceleration were computed according to three sets of age-associated Cytosine-phosphate-Guanine (CpG) sites described by Horvath, Hannum and Levine. AL was strongly socially patterned across a number of measures of SEP, while the epigenetic clocks were not. AL partially mediated the association between measures of SEP and an objective measure of physiological functioning: performance on the Timed Up and Go (TUG test). We conclude that AL may represent the more promising candidate for understanding the pervasive link between SEP and health.
Espina C, Bauld L, Bonanni B, et al., 2019, The essential role of prevention in reducing the cancer burden in Europe: A commentary from Cancer Prevention Europe, Tumori Journal, Vol: 105, Pages: 54-56, ISSN: 2038-2529
Kachuri L, Saarela O, Bojesen SE, et al., 2019, Mendelian Randomization and mediation analysis of leukocyte telomere length and risk of lung and head and neck cancers, International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol: 48, Pages: 751-766, ISSN: 1464-3685
Background: Evidence from observational studies of telomere length (TL) has been conflicting regarding its direction of association with cancer risk. We investigated the causal relevance of TL for lung and head and neck cancers using Mendelian Randomization (MR) and mediation analyses. Methods: We developed a novel genetic instrument for TL in chromosome 5p15.33, using variants identified through deep-sequencing, that were genotyped in 2051 cancer-free subjects. Next, we conducted an MR analysis of lung (16 396 cases, 13 013 controls) and head and neck cancer (4415 cases, 5013 controls) using eight genetic instruments for TL. Lastly, the 5p15.33 instrument and distinct 5p15.33 lung cancer risk loci were evaluated using two-sample mediation analysis, to quantify their direct and indirect, telomere-mediated, effects. Results: The multi-allelic 5p15.33 instrument explained 1.49-2.00% of TL variation in our data (p = 2.6 × 10-9). The MR analysis estimated that a 1000 base-pair increase in TL increases risk of lung cancer [odds ratio (OR) = 1.41, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.20-1.65] and lung adenocarcinoma (OR = 1.92, 95% CI: 1.51-2.22), but not squamous lung carcinoma (OR = 1.04, 95% CI: 0.83-1.29) or head and neck cancers (OR = 0.90, 95% CI: 0.70-1.05). Mediation analysis of the 5p15.33 instrument indicated an absence of direct effects on lung cancer risk (OR = 1.00, 95% CI: 0.95-1.04). Analysis of distinct 5p15.33 susceptibility variants estimated that TL mediates up to 40% of the observed associations with lung cancer risk. Conclusions: Our findings support a causal role for long telomeres in lung cancer aetiology, particularly for adenocarcinoma, and demonstrate that telomere maintenance partially mediates the lung cancer susceptibility conferred by 5p15.33 loci.
Gallo V, Vineis P, Cancellieri M, et al., 2019, Exploring causality of the association between smoking and Parkinson's disease, International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol: 48, Pages: 912-925, ISSN: 1464-3685
Background: The aim of this paper is to investigate the causality of the inverse association between cigarette smoking and Parkinson's disease (PD). The main suggested alternatives include a delaying effect of smoking, reverse causality or an unmeasured confounding related to a low-risk-taking personality trait. Methods: A total of 715 incident PD cases were ascertained in a cohort of 220 494 individuals from NeuroEPIC4PD, a prospective European population-based cohort study including 13 centres in eight countries. Smoking habits were recorded at recruitment. We analysed smoking status, duration, and intensity and exposure to passive smoking in relation to PD onset. Results: Former smokers had a 20% decreased risk and current smokers a halved risk of developing PD compared with never smokers. Strong dose-response relationships with smoking intensity and duration were found. Hazard ratios (HRs) for smoking <20 years were 0.84 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.67-1.07], 20-29 years 0.73 (95% CI 0.56-0.96) and >30 years 0.54 (95% CI 0.43-0.36) compared with never smokers. The proportional hazard assumption was verified, showing no change of risk over time, arguing against a delaying effect. Reverse causality was disproved by the consistency of dose-response relationships among former and current smokers. The inverse association between passive smoking and PD, HR 0.70 (95% CI 0.49-0.99) ruled out the effect of unmeasured confounding. Conclusions: These results are highly suggestive of a true causal link between smoking and PD, although it is not clear which is the chemical compound in cigarette smoking responsible for the biological effect.
Gruzieva O, Xu C-J, Yousefi P, et al., 2019, Prenatal Particulate Air Pollution and DNA Methylation in Newborns: An Epigenome-Wide Meta-Analysis, ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES, Vol: 127, ISSN: 0091-6765
Bodelon C, Ambatipudi S, Dugué P-A, et al., 2019, Blood DNA methylation and breast cancer risk: a meta-analysis of four prospective cohort studies, Breast Cancer Research, Vol: 21, ISSN: 1465-5411
BACKGROUND: Environmental and genetic factors play an important role in the etiology of breast cancer. Several small blood-based DNA methylation studies have reported risk associations with methylation at individual CpGs and average methylation levels; however, these findings require validation in larger prospective cohort studies. To investigate the role of blood DNA methylation on breast cancer risk, we conducted a meta-analysis of four prospective cohort studies, including a total of 1663 incident cases and 1885 controls, the largest study of blood DNA methylation and breast cancer risk to date. METHODS: We assessed associations with methylation at 365,145 CpGs present in the HumanMethylation450 (HM450K) Beadchip, after excluding CpGs that did not pass quality controls in all studies. Each of the four cohorts estimated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between each individual CpG and breast cancer risk. In addition, each study assessed the association between average methylation measures and breast cancer risk, adjusted and unadjusted for cell-type composition. Study-specific ORs were combined using fixed-effect meta-analysis with inverse variance weights. Stratified analyses were conducted by age at diagnosis (< 50, ≥ 50), estrogen receptor (ER) status (+/-), and time since blood collection (< 5, 5-10, > 10 years). The false discovery rate (q value) was used to account for multiple testing. RESULTS: The average age at blood draw ranged from 52.2 to 62.2 years across the four cohorts. Median follow-up time ranged from 6.6 to 8.4 years. The methylation measured at individual CpGs was not associated with breast cancer risk (q value > 0.59). In addition, higher average methylation level was not associated with risk of breast cancer (OR = 0.94, 95% CI = 0.85, 1.05; P = 0.26; P for study heterogeneity = 0.86
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