The French prospective cohort, E3N (Etude Epidémiologique auprès de femmes de l’Education Nationale), is composed of women whom were under a health insurance plan, MGEN (Mutuelle Générale de l'Education Nationale), for school teachers and co-workers. In 1990, about 100,000 women from the ages 40-65 were recruited from all over France. The main objective of this study is to investigate cancer risk factors such as diet, hormonal treatments, reproductive factors, physical activity and anthropometry. Blood samples were collected from about 25% of the participants. About 75,000 of the E3N women answered the diet history questionnaire sent in 1993, and represent the EPIC-France cohort.

Each participant is actively followed up by self-administered questionnaires approximately every two years since 1990, the latest follow-up was mailed in 2008. Questionnaires address medical history, menopausal status and a variety of lifestyle factors. Other follow-up methods include health insurance records and cancer/pathology reports. By the end of 2009, 3,789 participants had died and there was 14,749 cancer cases.