Understanding Ethnic Differences in Cancer: The Multiethnic Cohort Study

描述(由申请人提供)：本申请寻求对多种族队列(MEC)研究的基础设施的支持，该研究于1993至1996年间在夏威夷和加利福尼亚州南部建立，研究癌症和其他慢性病的风险因素。这项研究旨在利用这两个地理区域的种族和文化多样性，以及高级调查人员在营养、族裔/种族研究以及随后的遗传学方面的专门知识。这是现存的种族差异最大的癌症队列。在基准线上，该队列包括关于215,000名男性和女性的信息，根据设计，他们几乎全部由五个族裔/种族人口组成：高加索人、日裔美国人、夏威夷土著人、非裔美国人和拉丁美洲人。该资源后来被扩大到包括一个预期的生物库，其中包括来自约7万名参与者的血液和尿液样本。MEC的领导需要高度互动的团队方法；调查人员已经充分表明他们愿意分享数据并积极参与财团项目。这份申请书描述了我们在未来五年中维护和加强MEC基础设施的目标，以及利用队列资源在遗传和营养流行病学领域进行方法学研究的计划。到目前为止的研究成果包括对了解癌症的遗传和环境风险因素的重大贡献，特别是与乳腺癌、前列腺癌、结直肠癌和肺癌有关的因素。描述这些发现的论文已经发表了近250篇。此外，主要是在过去20年里，围绕MEC建立了50多项研究资助，并对50多名学生和博士后研究员进行了研究培训。这笔新的拨款将使一项旨在评估环境因素和基因变异作为癌症和其他常见慢性病风险因素的综合研究计划的继续成为可能。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application seeks support for the infrastructure of the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC) Study, which was established in Hawaii and southern California between 1993 and 1996 to study risk factors for cancer and other chronic diseases. The study was designed to take advantage of the ethnic and cultural diversity of the two geographic areas, as well as the expertise of the senior investigators in nutrition, ethnic/racial studies, and, subsequently, genetics. It is the most ethnically heterogeneous cancer cohort in existence. At baseline, the cohort included information on 215,000 men and women, comprised, by design, almost entirely of five ethnic/racial populations: Caucasians, Japanese Americans, Native Hawaiians, African Americans, and Latinos. The resource was later expanded to include a prospective bio repository of blood and urine specimens from ~ 70,000 of the participants. Leadership of the MEC entails a highly interactive, team approach; and the investigators have amply demonstrated their willingness to share data and participate actively in consortium projects. This application describes our aims over the next five years for maintaining and enhancing the infrastructure of the MEC, as well as plans for methodological research in the areas of genetic and nutritional epidemiology that utilize the resources of the cohort. Research accomplishments to date include significant contributions to understanding both genetic and environmental risk factors for cancer, particularly related to breast, prostate, colorectal and lun cancers. Nearly 250 papers describing these findings have been published. In addition, primarily over the last 20 years, more than 50 research grants have been built around the MEC, and more than 50 students and postdoctoral fellows have been trained on the study. This new grant will make possible the continuation of a well-integrated program of research aimed at evaluating environmental factors and genetic variants as risk factors for cancer and other common chronic diseases.