Prof Paolo Vineis
Faculty of Medicine
Imperial College London
London, UK
http://www1.imperial.ac.uk/medicine
http://www.environment-health.ac.uk/About.aspx
Project title
One carbon metabolism and pancreatic cancer (2008/51)
Scientific abstract
Over the past 15 years, evidence has been mounting for folate being an important nutrient in the prevention of cancer, with some discordant findings.
The study proposes to measure 1-carbon metabolism biomarkers in 600 incident cases of pancreatic cancer and 600 matched controls in the EPIC prospective investigation.
The objectives for this project are:
- To examine the association between dietary intake of folate and the risk of pancreas cancer in a cohort analysis with sufficient power, in a European population with diverse dietary habits, a broad range of folate intakes, and little or no supplementation.
- To examine biomarkers of factors in the one carbon pathway, namely plasma levels of folate, vitamin B12, pyridoxal-5’phosphate, total homocysteine, and the risk of pancreas cancer in a nested case control study within the same cohort. Approximately 600 cases of pancreatic cancer will be available for analysis, with a statistical power of >80% to detect an odds ratio of 0.5 for the highest vs the lowest quintile of plasma folate distribution.
Strengths of the study include the prospective nature of dietary assessment and blood collection, a larger sample size compared to previous studies, and the diversity of the EPIC population.
Project plain language abstract
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal types of cancer. No markers are known for early diagnosis and primary prevention is limited by little knowledge of risk factors. Over the past years evidence has been mounting for folate being an important nutrient in the etiology of pancreatic cancer. Prospective studies in Finland and Sweden found a protective effect from folate intake, while a US study showed a protective association with folate intake from foods but not from supplements. Only two studies reported data on biomarker measurements, which are expected to be more reliable than questionnaire-based estimates. In a cohort of Finnish smokers, one of us reported a significant twofold reduction in pancreas cancer risk with more adequate serum folate status.
We have access to a very large prospective study (EPIC) in which 520,000 healthy volunteers have been interviewed about their dietary habits, have donated blood and have been followed up for 10 years. We propose to measure 1-carbon metabolism (folate) biomarkers in 600 incident cases of pancreatic cancer and 600 matched controls in the EPIC investigation. Strengths of the study include its prospective nature, a larger sample size compared to previous studies, and the diversity of the EPIC population.
| Institution and location | Degree | Year | Scientific Field |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Torino, Torino, Italy | MD | 1976 | Medicine |
| University of Torino, Torino, Italy | PhD | 1979 | Occupational Medicine |
| Since 2004 | Chair of Environmental Epidemiology, Imperial College, London, UK |
| Since 2001 | Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology, J Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York |
| Since 1998 | Adjunct Professor of Biostatistics, School of Biotechnologies, University of Torino, Italy |
| Since 1998 | Associate Professor of Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Torino, Italy |
| 1984–1990 | Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology, Post-doctoral School of Biometrics and Medical Statistics, University of Milano, Italy |
Research interests
Genetics, Epidemiology; Public Health.
