ORCID Profile
0000-0001-5646-6430
Current Organisations
Duke University
,
Duke Cancer Institute
,
Duke University Medical Center
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Publisher: American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
Date: 18-03-2021
DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-20-1471
Abstract: The association between prediagnostic antibody responses to Fusobacterium nucleatum (F. nucleatum) and subsequent risk of colorectal cancer is not established. We conducted a nested case–control study of 8,126 participants in a consortium of 10 prospective cohorts in the United States. Higher seroprevalence of any F. nucleatum antibody was observed among non-White participants (51.1%) compared with White participants (31.2%). We did not find any statistically significant association between seropositivity to any of the eight F. nucleatum proteins and colorectal cancer risk. Prediagnostic antibody responses to F. nucleatum proteins were not associated with the risk of colorectal cancer. Future studies may consider a more specific detection of the immunoglobulin isotypes or focus on examining F. nucleatum in stool or tissue s les.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 30-10-2020
DOI: 10.3390/MICROORGANISMS8111698
Abstract: Previously, we found that risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) is increased in in iduals with serum antibody response to both Helicobacter pylori (HP) Vacuolating Cytotoxin (VacA) toxin or Streptococcus gallolyticus (SGG) pilus protein Gallo2178. In the present analysis, we tested the hypothesis that combined seropositivity to both antigens is a better indicator of CRC risk than seropositivity to single antigens. We used multiplex serologic assays to analyze pre-diagnostic serum for antibody responses from 4063 incident CRC cases and 4063 matched controls from 10 US cohorts. To examine whether combined SGG Gallo2178 and HP VacA sero-status was associated with CRC risk, we used conditional logistic regression models to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Compared to dual sero-negative in iduals, there was no increased risk for in iduals sero-positive to SGG Gallo2178 only (OR: 0.93 95% CI: 0.66–1.31) or to HP VacA only (OR: 1.08 95% CI: 0.98–1.19). However, dual sero-positive in iduals had a % increased odds of developing CRC (OR: 1.54 95% CI: 1.16–2.04), suggesting an interaction between antibody responses to these two pathogens and CRC risk (pinteraction = 0.06). In conclusion, this study suggests that dual sero-positivity to HP VacA and SGG Gallo2178 is an indicator of increased risk of CRC.
Publisher: American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
Date: 10-2020
DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-20-0525
Abstract: Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, the main risk factor for gastric cancer, has been decreasing in the United States however, there remains a substantial racial disparity. Moreover, the time-trends for prevalence of CagA-positive H. pylori infection, the most virulent form, are unknown in the U.S. population. We sought to assess prevalence of CagA-positive H. pylori infection over time by race in the United States. We utilized multiplex serology to quantify antibody responses to H. pylori antigens in 4,476 participants across five cohorts that s led adults from 1985 to 2009. Using log-binomial regression models, we calculated prevalence ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the association between H. pylori–CagA sero-prevalence and birth year by race. African Americans were three times more likely to be H. pylori–CagA sero-positive than Whites. After adjustment, H. pylori–CagA sero-prevalence was lower with increasing birth year among Whites (Ptrend = 0.001), but remained stable for African Americans. When stratified by sex and education separately, the decline in H. pylori–CagA sero-positivity among Whites remained only for females (Ptrend & 0.001) and was independent of educational attainment. Among African Americans, there was no difference by sex furthermore, sero-prevalence increased with increasing birth year among those with a high school education or less (P = 0.006). Among in iduals in the United States born from the 1920s to 1960s, H. pylori–CagA sero-prevalence has declined among Whites, but not among African Americans. Our findings suggest a widening racial disparity in the prevalence of the most virulent form of H. pylori, the main cause of gastric cancer.
Publisher: American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
Date: 20-07-2005
Abstract: Anecdotal reports suggest that the volume of services offered to in iduals concerned with hereditary cancer risk has increased substantially in recent years. As a follow-up to our 1993 survey, we sought to determine how the scope and volume of genetic services has changed between 1993 and 2002. We surveyed the 61 National Cancer Institute–designated cancer centers in operation in 2002 using an updated version of the questionnaire from 1993. Analysis included frequencies and summary statistics. The majority of cancer centers responding (46 of 56 centers 82.1%) provided some genetic services for evaluation of familial cancer, which is a higher proportion than in 1993 (50% P .01). Almost all centers (42 of 46 centers 91.3%) provided services not only to cancer patients and their families, but also to in iduals concerned with risk, which is a change (P = .01) from 1993, when 64.7% of centers offered such services. In addition, increases have been found for most other measures of services rendered for familial genetic services. As public awareness of cancer susceptibility genes has grown markedly in recent years, the demand has also grown for genetic services to assess familial cancer risk. Major deleterious genetic mutations are rare, and much of the current research in genetic variation focuses on higher prevalence variants that carry lower risks. This may suggest that testing for mutations will move from genetics clinics to primary care and specialty practices. Thus, it is unclear whether the scope and volume of cancer center genetics services will continue to grow as rapidly as they have over the last decade.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-2005
DOI: 10.1007/S10552-005-0330-6
Abstract: Chinese women residing in Asia and Hawaii have low consumption of tobacco but a high incidence of lung cancer. To explore this question further, we conducted a study of lung cancer among Chinese women residing in mainland US. Using data from NCI's SEER program, we identified residents of Los Angeles County, the San Francisco Metropolitan Area, and the Seattle-Puget Sound Area who were 50 years or older, diagnosed with cancer of the lung or bronchus in 1999-2001, with race specified as non-Hispanic white (n = 18,493), Chinese (n = 853), Filipino (n = 615), or Japanese (n = 282). The sex-specific observed number of lung cancer cases among each Asian sub-group was compared to the expected number of lung cancer cases for each Asian sub-group. The expected number was determined by multiplying the age-, sex-, and geographic area-adjusted incidence rates for non-Hispanic whites by the age- and sex-specific ratio of percentage of current smokers in each Asian sub-group to whites in 1990, and then by the size of the respective Asian populations. Chinese women had a four-fold increased risk of lung cancer, and Filipino women a two-fold increased risk, compared to that expected based on rates in US non-Hispanic whites with a similar proportion of cigarette smokers. Lung cancer among Chinese, Filipino, and Japanese males, as well as Japanese females, did not deviate from expected risk. Among Chinese women, the increased risk was largely restricted to adenocarcinoma and large cell undifferentiated carcinoma. Chinese female residents of the western US mainland have a much higher risk of lung cancer than would be predicted from their tobacco use patterns, just as they do in Asia.
Publisher: American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
Date: 10-2018
DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-18-0249
Abstract: Background: Antibody responses to Streptococcus gallolyticus subspecies gallolyticus (SGG) proteins, especially pilus protein Gallo2178, have been consistently associated with colorectal cancer risk. Previous case–control studies and prospective studies with up to 8 years of follow-up, however, were unable to decipher the temporality of antibody responses to SGG in the context of the long-term multistep development of colorectal cancer. In this study, we analyzed a large U.S. colorectal cancer cohort consortium with follow-up beyond 10 years for antibody responses to SGG. Methods: We applied multiplex serology to measure antibody responses to 9 SGG proteins in participants of 10 prospective U.S. cohorts (CLUE, CPSII, HPFS, MEC, NHS, NYUWHS, PHS, PLCO, SCCS, and WHI) including 4,063 incident colorectal cancer cases and 4,063 matched controls. Conditional logistic regression was used to assess whether antibody responses to SGG were associated with colorectal cancer risk, overall and by time between blood draw and diagnosis. Results: Colorectal cancer risk was increased among those with antibody responses to Gallo2178, albeit not statistically significant [OR, 1.23 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.99–1.52]. This association was stronger for cases diagnosed & years after blood draw (OR, 1.40 95% CI, 1.09–1.79), but was not found among cases diagnosed ≥10 years after blood draw (OR, 0.79 95% CI, 0.50–1.24). Conclusions: In a large cohort consortium, we reproduced the association of antibody responses to SGG Gallo2178 with colorectal cancer risk for in iduals diagnosed within 10 years after blood draw. Impact: This timing-specific finding suggests that antibody responses to SGG are associated with increased colorectal cancer risk only after tumorigenesis has begun. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 27(10) 1186–94. ©2018 AACR.
Publisher: American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
Date: 12-2020
DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-20-0780
Abstract: Auto-antibodies to tumor suppressor p53 are found in a subset of patients with colorectal cancer. A recent prospective study in the United States has reported a significant 1.8-fold increased odds for colorectal cancer development with prediagnostic seropositivity to p53. In this study, we sought to examine this association in a U.S. colorectal cancer cohort consortium to evaluate the potential utility of p53 auto-antibodies as an early biomarker for colorectal cancer. Auto-antibodies to p53 were measured in prediagnostic blood s les of 3,702 incident colorectal cancer cases and 3,702 controls, matched by age, race, and sex, from 9 U.S. prospective cohorts. The association of seropositivity to p53 with colorectal cancer risk, overall and by time between blood draw and diagnosis, was determined by conditional logistic regression. Overall, 5% of controls and 7% of cases were seropositive to p53, resulting in a statistically significant 33% increased colorectal cancer risk [odds ratio (OR), 1.33 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.09–1.61]. By follow-up time, the association was only significant with colorectal cancer diagnoses within 4 years after blood draw (OR, 2.27 95% CI, 1.62–3.19), but not thereafter (OR, 0.97 95% CI, 0.76–1.24). In this large consortium of prospective cohorts, we found that prediagnostic seropositivity to tumor suppressor p53 was significantly associated with an over 2-fold increased odds of developing colorectal cancer within 4 years after blood draw. Our finding suggests that p53 seropositivity may not be a useful predictor of long-term colorectal cancer risk however, it might be considered as a marker to aid in the early diagnosis of colorectal cancer.
Location: United States of America
Location: United States of America
No related grants have been discovered for Meira Epplein.