Using the largest sample of prospective cohort data available globally, we will either confirm or rule out associations with glioma for dietary factors, body size and physical activity, for which the current epidemiological evidence is limited or equivocal.– Professor Roger Milne
Background
Glioma is an aggressive type of brain cancer. It is a rare disease, but the most common type of cancer originating in the brain or central nervous system; it is much more deadly than many other, more common cancers, and causes significant life-long disability. A person’s risk of developing glioma increases with age, and is higher in males, and in white Europeans when compared with other racial groups. Survival varies considerably by subtype of glioma, a subtype called “glioblastoma” being the most aggressive, with only 6% of those diagnosed surviving more than 5 years. It is not well known why glioma develops in some people but not others – the only known environmental risk factor is exposure to high-dose radiation (for example for the treatment of cancer in childhood). Most studies looking at additional risk factors have been limited by small numbers or problems with their design, thereby giving rise to unreliable results. The ideal approach to identify risk factors for glioma is to recruit healthy people into a study, assess their lifestyle-related characteristics, activities and exposures and then follow the participants over time to identify those who go on to develop the disease. Because glioma is a rare disease, even very large studies of this nature are limited by the relatively small number of cases that are diagnosed during the follow up phase. Combining data across multiple studies is the only way to be able to draw definitive conclusions about what causes glioma and how big the associated risks are. Glioma has not yet been included in the WCRF Global Cancer Update Programme; this project will fill this gap.
Aims and objectives
This study aims to determine whether: 1.your risk of developing glioma is influenced by how much alcohol, tea or coffee you drink, how healthy your diet is, your body size and how physically active you are. 2.the influence of these factors differs between men and women, or between the types of glioma that people might develop.
How it will be done
The NCI Cohort Consortium offers a unique opportunity to definitively investigate these issues using by far the largest sample size available anywhere in the world. We propose to use data from more than 2 million people (6,323 of whom have developed glioma) participating in 21 high-quality studies from four regions of the world.
Potential impact
This project will bring together the world’s highest-quality data and expert researchers to generate the clear evidence required to inform the prevention of glioma.