• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 

Cohort Description

EPIC in 2016

From the recruitment of study participants in 1992 – 1999 until 2015, the cohort accumulated more than 8 million person-years (PY). More than 67 000 EPIC participants were diagnosed with cancer (Table 1), including about 16 700 cases of breast cancer, 4600 of lung cancer, 7100 of colorectal cancer, and 7500 of prostate cancer. Also, 58 000 deaths were reported, and 8500 participants developed at least two incident morbid conditions (including cancers, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases), thus allowing investigation of co-morbidities.

Table 1. Number of incident cancers and deaths in EPIC in 2016

EPIC in 2021

By 2020, the number of cancers that may develop in the cohort is projected to increase to more than 109 000 and will include approximately 27 000 cases of breast cancer, 14 000 of colorectal cancer, 9000 of lung cancer, 13 000 of prostate cancer, 2400 of gastro-intestinal cancer, 5300 of bladder cancer, 3000 of pancreatic cancer, 4000 of endometrial cancer, 1100 of liver cancer, and 1500 of thyroid cancer (Table 2). The large number of incident cancer cases with prospectively collected lifestyle data and blood specimens will allow EPIC to address state-of-the-art hypotheses about the etiology and prevention of several forms of common and rarer cancers.

Table 2. Sex-specific expected frequency of major cancer sites available by 2021