METHODS: A nested case-control study in nonsmoking postmenopausal women (334 cases, 417 controls) was conducted within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. Unconditional logistic regression models were used to estimate ORs and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between HbAA, HbGA, HbAA+HbGA, and HbGA/HbAA and EOC and invasive serous EOC risk.
RESULTS: No overall associations were observed between biomarkers of acrylamide exposure analyzed in quintiles and EOC risk; however, positive associations were observed between some middle quintiles of HbGA and HbAA+HbGA. Elevated but nonstatistically significant ORs for serous EOC were observed for HbGA and HbAA+HbGA (ORQ5vsQ1, 1.91; 95% CI, 0.96-3.81 and ORQ5vsQ1, 1.90; 95% CI, 0.94-3.83, respectively); however, no linear dose-response trends were observed.
CONCLUSION: This EPIC nested case-control study failed to observe a clear association between biomarkers of acrylamide exposure and the risk of EOC or invasive serous EOC.
IMPACT: It is unlikely that dietary acrylamide exposure increases ovarian cancer risk; however, additional studies with larger sample size should be performed to exclude any possible association with EOC risk.
METHODS: We conducted a nested case-control study in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort to evaluate C-reactive protein (CRP), IL6, and EOC risk by tumor characteristics. A total of 754 eligible EOC cases were identified; two controls (n = 1,497) were matched per case. We used multivariable conditional logistic regression to assess associations.
RESULTS: CRP and IL6 were not associated with overall EOC risk. However, consistent with prior research, CRP >10 versus CRP ≤1 mg/L was associated with higher overall EOC risk [OR, 1.67 (1.03-2.70)]. We did not observe significant associations or heterogeneity in analyses by tumor characteristics. In analyses stratified by waist circumference, inflammatory markers were associated with higher risk among women with higher waist circumference; no association was observed for women with normal waist circumference [e.g., IL6: waist ≤80: ORlog2, 0.97 (0.81-1.16); waist >88: ORlog2, 1.78 (1.28-2.48), Pheterogeneity ≤ 0.01].
CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that high CRP is associated with increased risk of overall EOC, and that IL6 and CRP may be associated with EOC risk among women with higher adiposity.
IMPACT: Our data add to global evidence that ovarian carcinogenesis may be promoted by an inflammatory milieu.
METHODS AND FINDINGS: We followed a cohort of 308,036 women recruited in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Study. At enrollment, participants completed a questionnaire and provided serum. After a 9-year median follow-up, 261 ICC and 804 CIN3/CIS cases were reported. In a nested case-control study, the sera from 609 cases and 1,218 matched controls were tested for L1 antibodies against HPV types 11,16,18,31,33,35,45,52,58, and antibodies against Chlamydia trachomatis and Human herpesvirus 2. Multivariate analyses were performed to estimate hazard ratios (HR), odds ratios (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI). The cohort analysis showed that number of full-term pregnancies was positively associated with CIN3/CIS risk (p-trend = 0.03). Duration of oral contraceptives use was associated with a significantly increased risk of both CIN3/CIS and ICC (HR = 1.6 and HR = 1.8 respectively for ≥ 15 years versus never use). Ever use of menopausal hormone therapy was associated with a reduced risk of ICC (HR = 0.5, 95%CI: 0.4-0.8). A non-significant reduced risk of ICC with ever use of intrauterine devices (IUD) was found in the nested case-control analysis (OR = 0.6). Analyses restricted to all cases and HPV seropositive controls yielded similar results, revealing a significant inverse association with IUD for combined CIN3/CIS and ICC (OR = 0.7).
CONCLUSIONS: Even though HPV is the necessary cause of CC, our results suggest that several hormonal factors are risk factors for cervical carcinogenesis. Adherence to current cervical cancer screening guidelines should minimize the increased risk of CC associated with these hormonal risk factors.