Research Highlights - News Updates
Summaries of research conducted by DCEG investigators.
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Both Smoking-attributable and Smoking-unrelated Lung Cancer Death Rates Continue to Decline
Smoking-attributable and smoking-unrelated lung cancer death rates declined from 1991 to 2018 in the U.S., according to a new study from Dr. Meredith Shiels and colleagues.
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Anal Cancer Risk and Survival in People with HIV
A series of studies using data from the HIV/AIDS Cancer Match Study provide evidence to inform recommendations for anal cancer screening and emphasize the importance of early anal cancer detection and treatment among people with HIV. The papers were published by Drs. Haas and Shing, part of Dr. Shiels’s research group. The findings
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Poor Sleep Quality Associated with Increased Prostate Cancer Risk
Poor sleep quality, as measured by accelerometers, was associated with a 15-20% greater risk of prostate cancer in a study of over 30,000 men in the UK Biobank. Neither sleep duration nor sleep timing were associated with prostate cancer risk. These novel findings need to be replicated in future studies and in more diverse study populations.
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Differences in Knowledge of HPV and the HPV Vaccine by Education, Race, and Ethnicity
Ms. Erica Stephens and Dr. Jaimie Shing used data from a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults to ascertain awareness of HPV and the HPV vaccine, as well as knowledge that HPV can cause cancers, by educational attainment, race, and ethnicity. They found profound disparities that signal the importance of continued education around HPV and the HPV vaccine.
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Biomarkers of Exposure to Combustion Products Associated with Esophageal Cancer
By-products of combustion—from pollution, cooking, heating, or other sources—were associated with elevated risk of esophageal cancer in a population without occupational exposure and where tobacco use is not common. Researchers from the Metabolic Epidemiology Branch, in collaboration with the Food and Drug Administration, and laboratories at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Ultrafine Particulate Matter Associated with Lung Cancer
Ultrafine particulate matter found in traffic-related air pollution—particularly long-term exposure—is associated with elevated risk of lung cancer, particularly adenocarcinoma of the lung. Rena Jones and Debra Silverman in the Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch (OEEB) conducted the study in a population of residents in California.
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PFAS Levels and Kidney Cancer Risk in the Multiethnic Cohort Study
Using data from the Multiethnic Cohort Study, researchers in the Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch led the first study to explore the relationship between blood levels of PFAS and risk of kidney cancer in different racial and ethnic groups.
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Novel Method Improves Polygenic Risk Prediction for Diverse Ancestries
A multidisciplinary and international team of scientists from academia, industry, and government, has developed a new statistical method for generating polygenic risk scores for heritable traits and diseases that improves performance across diverse populations.
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High Levels of Particulate Air Pollution Associated with Increased Breast Cancer Incidence
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health found that living in an area with high levels of particulate air pollution was associated with an increased incidence of breast cancer. The study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, is one of the largest studies to date looking at the relationship between outdoor air pollution, specifically fine particulate matter, and breast cancer incidence. The research was done by scientists at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Cancer Institute.
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Serum PFAS Associated with Testicular Cancer Risk in U.S. Air Force Servicemen
Dr. Mark Purdue and colleagues found that higher levels of PFOS, a specific PFAS, in blood collected from U.S. Air Force servicemen was associated with higher risk of developing testicular cancer.
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Extended Follow-up of Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study Cohort Reveals New Insights
The Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study (DEMS) II extends the follow-up of the original study by 18 years. Researchers in the Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch observed lung cancer risk remained elevated 20 or more years after diesel exhaust exposure ceased; reported novel association between diesel exhaust exposure and death from non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
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NIH Intramural Blog Examines Genetic Influences on Lung Cancer
Dr. Jiyeon Choi, Earl Stadtman investigator in the Laboratory of Translational Genomics, discusses her lab's research on the influence of genetics on lung cancer risk in NIH’s Intramural Research Program blog, I am Intramural.
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First Direct Comparison of Screening Methods for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma
Investigators in the Infections and Immunoepidemiology Branch, led by Dr. Zhiwei Liu, tenure-track investigator, compared two approaches for Epstein-Barr virus screening for early detection of nasopharyngeal carcinoma: antibody and DNA-based approaches. Their findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
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Drug Overdose and Firearm Homicide Contributed Significantly to U.S. Mortality Rates from 1999-2020
Dr. Wayne Lawrence and colleagues found a rapid rise in death rates due to unintentional poisoning (drug overdoses) and firearm homicides in the U.S. from 1999-2020. Rates of death from external causes further accelerated in 2019 and 2020, after the onset of COVID-19.
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Twelve Lung Adenocarcinoma Risk Variants Identified for East Asian Individuals
A genome-wide association study of lung adenocarcinoma in a population of East Asian ancestry identified 12 novel susceptibility variants. The findings of this genome-wide association study were published May 26, 2023, in Nature Communications.
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Bladder Cancer GWAS Reveals Novel Susceptibility Loci
A collaboration, led by Drs. Stella Koutros, investigator, and Nathaniel Rothman, senior investigator in the Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, analyzed data from 32 bladder cancer genome-wide association studies, revealing novel genetic susceptibility loci and enabling the creation of a new polygenic risk score associated with bladder cancer risk.
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Disparities in Mortality Rates Revealed by Disaggregating Data on Asian American and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Individuals
Anika Haque and Dr. Meredith Shiels in the Infections and Immunoepidemiology Branch analyzed cancer death rates across racial/ethnic groups in the U.S. during 2018-2020, revealing substantial differences between Asian American and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander individuals
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Disaggregating Data on Asian American and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Populations by Ethnicity Reveals Disparities in HPV-Associated Cancers
An analysis led by Drs. Jacqueline B. Vo in the Radiation Epidemiology branch and Jaimie Z. Shing in the Infections and Immunoepidemiology Branch revealed disparities in incidence rates of human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers in Asian American and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations when disaggregated by race and ethnicity.
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Exposure-Response Observed for Urine Glyphosate Concentrations, Markers of Oxidative Stress
Drs. Jonathan Hofmann and Vicky Chang, Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, and colleagues, reported exposure-response relationships between urine glyphosate concentrations and increasing levels of two established urinary biomarkers of oxidative stress.
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Opportunities to Achieve President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Goal of Reducing Cancer Death Rates in the U.S.
Drs. Shiels, Freedman, and colleagues, have outlined opportunities for achieving President Biden and First Lady Biden’s Cancer Moonshot℠ national goal of reducing the cancer death rate by at least 50% over the next 25 years. A study published April 17, 2023, in Cancer Discovery, led by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of NIH, has concluded that achieving this goal will require increased access to and use of interventions known to prevent common causes of cancer death.