Grant Details
Grant Number: |
2R01CA063464-06 Interpret this number |
Primary Investigator: |
Henderson, Brian |
Organization: |
University Of Southern California |
Project Title: |
Genetic Susceptibility to Cancer in Multiethnic Cohorts |
Fiscal Year: |
2001 |
Abstract
DESCRIPTION: (provided by Applicant)
For nearly a half century, epidemiologists have been intrigued by
international and racial-ethnic variations in cancer risk, including cancers
of the breast, prostate, and colorectum. The etiology of these cancers is
most likely due to a complex interplay between genetic and environmental risk
factors. To explore these factors, we established a multi-ethnic cohort of
215,251 men and women in Los Angeles and Hawaii (MEC) in 1993, to study
environmental, especially dietary, determinants of risk. The current grant
began in 1996 to evaluate the genetic component of racial/ethnic variability
in risk to these cancers and the interplay between genes and environment.
Using a candidate gene approach we have made significant progress in terms of
understanding the genetic basis of these diseases in the past four years, even
though we are still in the early stages of understanding the molecular genetic
pathways which cause these diseases (see Progress Report). To expand these
gene environment studies to include more rapidly fatal cancers of these and
other sites, we propose in this renewal application to establish a
biorepository of prospectively collected blood specimens from 46,000 African
American, Latino, and Japanese participants in the Los Angeles portion of the
MEC, ultimately resulting in 100,000 samples in the combined Los Angeles and
Hawaii biorepository. We believe that beyond our initial studies, the MEC has
tremendous potential to serve as a national resource for studying genetic and
environmental causes of cancer and other chronic disease endpoints that are
important causes of morbidity and mortality in the minority populations of the
MEC and nationally. Their special lifestyle and cultural characteristics and
their unusual distribution of cancer and mortality outcomes make these
populations particularly interesting for gene by environment studies. We have
developed a highly efficient system of sample collection to minimize the
substantial cost involved in this undertaking. In this renewal application we
also propose to continue our exploration of molecular genetic pathways using
both the candidate gene hypothesis driven approach as we have in the past four
years, but also using a high-throughput genome analysis to identify and
evaluate novel candidate gene polymorphisms through an ongoing collaboration
with the Whitehead/MIT Cancer for Genome Research, a leading center for
genomic and human genetics.
Publications
None