Research Highlights - News Updates
Summaries of research conducted by DCEG investigators.
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Fusion Genes Linked to Metastasis after Thyroid Cancer
Patients with papillary thyroid carcinomas, the most common thyroid cancer, driven by gene fusions are more likely to present with cervical lymph node metastases at diagnosis than those with PTCs driven by point mutations, study finds.
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Researchers Identify Rare Cancers Possibly Caused by Viruses
Investigators in the Infections and Immunoepidemiology Branch, led by Drs. Cameron Haas and Eric Engels, identified several rare cancers not known to be caused by a virus, for which people with a compromised immune system had a higher risk, providing strong evidence that these cancers could be caused by an infectious agent.
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Acrylonitrile Exposure at Work Associated with Significant Risk to Workers
Dr. Alexander Keil and colleagues used novel methods to correct for healthy worker bias in this large study of workers exposed to acrylonitrile. Their findings suggest previous reports of the association with lung cancer mortality may have been underestimated.
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Tumor Genetic Signatures May Help Explain Global Kidney Cancer Rates: Cancer Currents
Stephen Chanock was featured in the latest Cancer Currents: An NCI Cancer Research Blog post, which covers the latest study on global kidney tumor mutational signatures.
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How Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tools Work: Cancer Currents
The latest Cancer Currents: An NCI Cancer Research Blog post features DCEG researchers, Drs. Ruth Pfeiffer and Peter Kraft, who discuss how breast cancer risk assessment tools are created and how people can use them to understand and manage their risk.
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Taking Daily Multivitamin Not Associated with Lower Risk of Death
The latest NCI Media Advisory featured research led by Erikka Loftfield, investigator in the Metabolic Epidemiology Branch (MEB), which showed that daily multivitamin use was not associated with lower risk of death.
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Connect for Cancer Prevention: Update on the Cohort
The Connect for Cancer Prevention Study is a new prospective cohort seeking to enroll 200,000 adults in the United States. Connect is designed to further investigate the etiology of cancer and its outcomes, which may inform new approaches in precision prevention and early detection. We will update the research community as to the progress of Connect across multiple topics of interest.
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Power of Cohorts: Public Health Advances from Prospective Cohort Studies
Prospective cohort studies have informed our understanding of cancer, directing scientific inquiries in basic and clinical laboratory science, as well as translational studies and treatment trials, and led to the development of guidelines and regulatory actions to protect public health. Learn about the different DCEG cohort studies based in the United States and the major accomplishments they have achieved to date.
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Mosaic Loss of Chromosome X in Older Women Influenced by Inherited Factors
NCI Media Advisory features DCEG research which identified inherited genetic variants that may predict loss of X chromosome in older women (mLOX).
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Gen X Projected to Experience Greater Increases in Cancer Incidence than Previous Generations
In age-period-cohort modeling of SEER data, researchers led by Philip Rosenberg in the Biostatistics Branch projected that Generation X will experience larger per-capita increases in the incidence of leading cancers combined than any prior generation.
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Breast Cancer Survivors Treated with Anthracyclines and/or Trastuzumab Have Long-term Increase in Cardiovascular Disease Risk
Using data from the NCI-Kaiser Permanente Breast Cancer Survivors Cohort, Dr. Jacqueline B. Vo and colleagues observed that breast cancer survivors treated with anthracyclines and/or trastuzumab had an increased risk of cardiovascular disease that persisted 10+ years after breast cancer diagnosis and was heightened for women diagnosed before age 65 years, compared to women who did not receive chemotherapy. This study may inform long-term and age-specific cardiovascular disease follow-up for breast cancer survivors
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Early-Pregnancy Thyroid Autoimmunity Associated with Maternal Thyroid Cancer
Data from the Finnish Maternity cohort suggest early-pregnancy thyroid autoimmunity is associated with elevated risk for maternal papillary thyroid cancer and may shed light onto mechanisms of thyroid carcinogenesis.
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LGBTQ+ Voices: Listening to Sexual and Gender Minority People Affected by Cancer
Sarah Jackson, Ph.D., M.P.H., Earl Stadtman investigator in the Infections and Immunoepidemiology Branch, was featured in a Cancer Currents: An NCI Cancer Research blog post on cancer disparities among LGBTQ+ people.
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Analysis Identifies 50 New Genomic Regions Associated with Kidney Cancer Risk
In a new analysis of genetic susceptibility to kidney cancer, researchers identified 50 new areas across the genome that are associated with the risk of developing kidney cancer. These insights could one day be used to advance our understanding of the molecular basis of kidney cancer, inform screening efforts for those at highest risk, and identify new drug targets.
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Cancer Treatment Disparities Persist for People with HIV
Using the NCI’s HIV/AIDS Cancer Match Study data from 2001-2019, Jennifer McGee-Avila, postdoctoral fellow in the Infections and Immunoepidemiology Branch, finds that people with HIV are less likely to receive treatment for many different cancer types compared to people without HIV.
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For Childhood Cancer Survivors, Inherited Genetic Factors Influence Risk of Cancers Later in Life
Common inherited genetic factors that predict cancer risk in the general population may also predict elevated risk of new cancers among childhood cancer survivors. Findings could potentially inform screening and long-term follow-up of those at greatest risk.
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Enduring Guidelines: Methods and Dual Stain for Cervical Cancer Screening Triage
Continual improvement of cervical cancer screening and management to include new technologies and approaches requires a flexible approach to guidelines. A description of the Enduring Guidelines effort—methods and principles to ensure swift adoption of changes—and a review and decision on the first new technology to be added to the guidelines—dual stain cytology—were published in the Journal of the Lower Genital Tract Diseases.
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Benefits of Reducing Smoking Quantified in Prospective Cohort Study
Reductions in cigarettes per day and the amount of time smoked were both associated with lower risk of lung cancer among men in the prospective cohort study, Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study. Serial questionnaires collected every four months allowed for precision of estimates.
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Carcinogenic Industrial Air Pollution Emitted Inequitably Across the U.S.
African American, Hispanic, and Latino people, as well as individuals with limited education or experiencing poverty, reside in areas disproportionately affected by carcinogenic industrial emissions, a new study finds.
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Adding Polygenic Risk Score Improves Breast Cancer Risk Prediction for Black Women
Risk prediction for incident breast cancer among U.S. Black women was improved with the addition of polygenic risk score (PRS) to questionnaire-based factors. Ruth Pfeiffer and colleagues validated the performance of a previously published PRS for Black women and tested its performance when combined with models using questionnaire-based risk factors. Performance metrics were similar to models for women of European ancestry.