The predictors of prostate cancer in the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study

1990年，我们开展了一项关于饮食和健康的长期研究。其目的是测量健康人群的饮食和其他风险因素，以了解它们如何影响癌症的未来发展。为此，我们招募了41500名年龄在40岁至69岁之间的人，测量了他们的饮食，并收集了生活方式、病史和常见疾病家族史等方面的信息。所有人都测量了身高、体重和血压，并提供了血液样本。被选中的人包括男人、女人和来自意大利和希腊的移民。通过这种方式，我们可以扩大饮食习惯、其他生活方式因素和遗传变异（通过血液DNA测量）的范围。从那时起，参与者完成了另一份调查表，并从自我报告和检查医疗记录中记录了疾病情况。我们想分析研究中700名患前列腺癌（PC）的男性的数据。首先，我们将分析所有17000名男性的数据（在加入研究时收集的数据，以及在随访时收集的数据）。接下来，我们将只使用700名患有PC的男性和1400名没有患PC的男性的数据。这项研究将侧重于测量血液中的物质。我们想要测量一系列脂肪、维生素、抗氧化剂和植物雌激素，以及男性性激素和相关物质。在血液DNA中，我们计划测量影响男性性激素和其他对前列腺重要的生长因子如何产生和使用的基因变异。然后我们将能够估计这些因素对患PC的风险有什么影响。我们也将能够看到它们中的任何一个共同作用是否会使某些男性患前列腺癌的风险更高。这项工作应该确定哪些生活方式因素可以降低患PC的风险。它还应该确定哪些遗传变异与前列腺癌风险增加有关，从而确定可能从早期医疗或生活方式改变中受益的男性亚群。

In 1990 we set up a long-term study of diet and health. The aim was to measure diet and other risk factors in healthy people in order to see how they might affect future development of cancer. To do this we recruited 41,500 people aged 40 to 69, measured what they ate and drank, and collected information on other aspects of lifestyle, medical history, and family history of common diseases. All had height and weight and blood pressure measured and gave a blood sample. People were selected so that men and women and migrants from Italy and Greece would be included. In this way we could widen the range of dietary habits, other lifestyle factors and genetic variation (measured in DNA from blood). Since then participants have completed another questionnaire and instances of disease have been noted from self reports and from examining medical records. We want to analyse data from 700 men in the study who have developed prostate cancer (PC). First we will analyse data collected on all 17,000 men (collected when joining the study, and at follow up). Next we will use data from only the 700 men with PC and 1400 men who have not developed PC. This study will focus on measuring substances in the blood. We want to measure a range of fats, vitamins, antioxidants and phytoestrogens, as well as male sex hormones and related substances. In the DNA from the blood we plan to measure variations in genes that influence how male sex hormones and other growth factors important in the prostate are produced and used. We will then be able to estimate what affect these factors have on the risk of getting PC. We will also be able to see if any of them act together to make the risk of PC much higher in certain men. This work should identify what lifestyle factors could reduce the risk of PC. It should also identify what genetic variations are associated with increased risk of PC and thus identify a sub group of men who might benefit from early medical attention or from changes in lifestyle.