Research Highlights - News Updates
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Risk-Based Oral Cancer Screening Can Cut Costs While Maintaining High Sensitivity
Li Cheung, Ph.D., staff scientist in the Biostatistics Branch finds risk-based oral cancer screening may improve the efficiency of screening programs and still maintain high sensitivity. Findings have public health implications for low-resource settings.
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Strategic Plan Outlines Research Priorities
The five-year strategic plan outlines the critical elements to evaluate emerging exposures, including novel biomarkers, employing cutting-edge exposure assessment for a research program that utilizes the full potential of new analytic technologies and data sources. A key focus is a research program that reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of the U.S. population.
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Chromosomal Changes in White Blood Cells May Increase Risk of Infections
Postdoctoral fellow Shu-Hong Lin, Ph.D., M.S., and Earl Stadtman tenure-track investigator Mitchell Machiela, Sc.D., M.P.H., in the Integrative Tumor Epidemiology Branch analyzed nearly 770,000 individuals across five biobanks and find mosaic chromosomal alterations may increase the risk of different types of infections, including severe COVID-19.
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Higher Body Mass Index May Increase Risk of Second Cancer in Breast Cancer Survivors
Investigators in the Integrative Tumor Epidemiology Branch and Radiation Epidemiology Branch find that increasing body mass index may increase the risk of second cancers, including obesity-related cancers, second breast cancer, and estrogen receptor positive second breast cancer.
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International Research Teams Explore Genetic Effects of Chernobyl Radiation
In two landmark studies, researchers have used cutting-edge genomic tools to investigate the potential health effects of exposure to ionizing radiation, a known carcinogen, from the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine. One study found no evidence that radiation exposure to parents resulted in new genetic changes being passed from parent to child. The second study documented the genetic changes in the tumors of people who developed thyroid cancer after being exposed as children or fetuses to the radiation released by the accident.
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Transgender Patients and Cancer Disparities
Sarah Jackson, Ph.D., M.P.H., postdoctoral fellow in the Infections and Immunoepidemiology Branch and colleagues using data from the National Cancer Database found that transgender people may be diagnosed at later stages, be less likely to receive treatment, and have worse survival for many cancer types compared to cisgender patients.
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ClinGen TP53 Variant Curation Expert Panel Guidelines Finalized
A multi-year process of expert review resulted in new rule specifications for the interpretation of germline genetic variants in TP53, reducing the number of clinically-relevant discrepancies and decreasing reports of variants of uncertain significance from 28% to 12%, compared with the original guidelines.
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Acid Reflux Disease Associated with Increased Risk of Esophageal and Laryngeal Cancers
Christian Abnet, Ph.D., chief of the Metabolic Epidemiology Branch (MEB) and colleagues, found gastroesophageal reflux disease was associated with a two-fold increased risk of esophageal or laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas, using data from the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study.
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COVID-19 Research Across the Division: DCEG Experts Address the Pandemic
Investigators have uncovered important differences in mortality patterns over the course of the pandemic, identified a novel isoform of ACE2, launched a hub to monitor seroprevalence, evaluated risks for cancer patients, and possible late effects of COVID-19, and more.
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COVID-19 Research by DCEG Featured in NCI Cancer Currents Blog
Researchers in DCEG have applied their expertise to address various aspects of the coronavirus pandemic, from volunteering in the NIH staff testing program to investigations of the underlying biology of coronavirus infections. Read about some of those activities and the work of other NCI scientists on the Cancer Currents blog.
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Subsequent Cancer Risk in Retinoblastoma Survivors
Sara Schonfeld, Ph.D., in the Radiation Epidemiology Branch (REB) and colleagues, find that survivors of hereditary retinoblastoma have an increased long-term risk of certain subsequent epithelial cancers and of developing multiple subsequent cancers.
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AI Tools Provide Picture of Cervical Health: Artificial Intelligence Simplifies Cervical Cancer Screening
I Am Intramural Blog describes DCEG research to develop artificial intelligence to create a fast, inexpensive, and easy to use method of identifying possible signs of cervical cancer using nothing more than a smartphone.
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Definition of Breast Cancer Genes for Panel Testing
An international team of scientists, known collectively as the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC), conducted an analysis of more than 113,000 women to define the genes that are most clinically useful for inclusion in panel testing and provide precise risk estimates for genetic counseling.
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Racial Disparities May Decrease with Life-Gained Approach to Lung Cancer Screening
Postdoctoral fellow Rebecca Landy, Ph.D., predoctoral fellow Corey Young, M.S., and senior investigator Hormuzd Katki, Ph.D., in the Biostatistics Branch found that the draft 2020 lung cancer screening guidelines by the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) may increase racial/ethnic disparities. However, augmenting the guidelines to include people eligible according to the Life-Years From Screening-Computed Tomography model may reduce disparities.
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Birth Defects Associated with Increased Risk of Cancer in Adulthood
Rebecca Troisi, Sc.D., staff scientist in the Trans-Divisional Research Program, and collaborators examined cancer incidence associated with chromosomal and non-chromosomal congenital anomalies in a large Nordic population-based case-control study. Findings were published in BMJ on December 2, 2020.
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SeroHub Launched: Interactive Dashboard Comparing COVID-19 Seroprevalence Studies
The COVID-19 Seroprevalence Studies Hub (SeroHub) was developed by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Cancer Institute, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, parts of the National Institutes of Health, to provide an interactive dashboard to compare COVID-19 seroprevalence studies across the country.
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Cancer Deaths in the U.S. Resulted in Over Four Million Potential Years of Life Lost in 2017
Minkyo Song, Ph.D., and colleagues estimated the potential years of life lost due to premature death from cancer among Americans aged 75 and younger. They report common malignancies contributed to the largest number of years lost overall: lung cancer, followed by colorectal and breast cancer.
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Daily, Low-dose Aspirin Use May Be Associated with Reduced Ovarian Cancer Risk
Daily, low-dose use of aspirin by women younger than 70 may be associated with reduced risk of ovarian cancer. These findings were published in September 2020 in the journal Gynecologic Oncology.
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Donor IFNL4-null Genotype Associated with Improved Survival in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Recipients with Acute Leukemia
Shahinaz Gadalla, M.D., Ph.D., Ludmila Prokunina-Olsson, Ph.D., and colleagues find acute leukemia patients receiving a hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) from donors with IFNL4-null genotype experience reduced risk of death from non-relapse related causes. Findings published October 2020 in Lancet Haematology.
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Novel Isoform of ACE2 Resolves Concern about Interferon-based Treatments for COVID-19
An international team of experts led by Dr. Prokunina-Olsson identified dACE2, a novel isoform of ACE2 (the cell receptor used by the SARS-CoV-2 virus to infect the body). The new report suggests that production of dACE2 and not ACE2 is affected by the presence of interferons, contributed by treatment or various viral infections, including SARS-CoV-2.