Development of a Biomarker for Dietary Furanocoumarins

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This project expects to develop the career of the candidate through didacticand research activities that complement the candidate's 5-year goal of studyingfuranocoumarins and cancer prevention in humansand 10- year goal ofstudying diet patterns and protection against cancer. Specifically, the career developmentplan includes the following objectives: 1) acquire knowledge and skillsin biomarker development,2) develop skills in epidemiologic study of diet and cancer prevention, and 3) build interdisciplinaryresearch associations and collaborations. The research plan will utilize the extensive resources and expertise at the Universityof Minnesota Masonic CancerCenter, an NCIdesignated ComprehensiveCancerCenter,to address two specific aims. The first aim is to develop a urinary biomarker of dietary exposure to furanocoumarins which are a group of compoundsthat may decrease cancer risk through inhibiting.activation of carcinogens. The second aim is to validate the biomarker for use in epidemiologicstudies to generate more human data in this area ofcancer prevention research. Senior faculty from the MasonicCancer Center will provide scientific and professional guidance in addition to the data and urine samples from a large prospective cohort in Singapore. First,we will modify existing methods for furanocoumarin analysis ofplants and various human biospecimens and develop a method for use with pooled human urine samples spiked with the analytes of interest. After determinationof the necessary conditionsand steps for optimal characterization of each analyte, we will chemically validate the method usingurine samples from 10 individualsgiven controlled amounts of furanocoumarin food sources and study excretion time and dose response. Lastly,usingdiet intake data (obtained by food frequeny questionnaire) and urine samples from the Singapore Chinese HealthStudy, we will validate the use of the urinary furanocoumarin biomarker with spot urine samples. This will includeanalysis of furanocoumarin food sources from Singaporeto calculate furanocoumarin intake based on the food frequencyquestionnaire data. RELEVANCE (See instructions): The results of this project will provide a much-needed tool for subsequent study of whether dietary furancoumarins can decrease the risk of cancer, the second leading cause of death in the United States. The project will also expand the number of dietary biomarkers available and the ability to assess whether various diet patterns protect against cancer.