
EPIC Working Groups - Cancer Working Groups
The Lymphoma and Leukaemia Working Group |
Non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) have shown increasing incidence over the past decades in several countries. They are the 10th most common cause of cancer death in the world. They constitute a heterogeneous group that predominantly arises from B-cell lymphocytes. The etiology of NHL remains mostly unknown, and only a few risk factors have been clearly established. Among them, immune dysregulation is believed to play a major role.
The Working Group has been active in analysing exposure data on NHL and particularly in measuring a number of biomarkers. Overall, the group has identified and confirmed more than 1900 subjects with a malignant lymphoma (newly diagnosed after cohort inception) in EPIC, including more than 1700 with B-cell NHL.
Currently available biomarkers and genetic data in EPIC (obtained through a case—control approach nested in the cohort) include:
- (14;18) translocations in follicular lymphomas
- Mitochondrial DNA copy number variation (mtDNA CNV) and telomere length in white blood cells
- Omic biomarkers (epigenome-wide association study, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics) in a subset of the EnviroGenoMarkers (EGM) investigation
- Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in a subset (EGM investigation)
- Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) (phase I and replication) conducted within the NCI NHL Consortium
- IgE and IGF-1, IGF-2
- Seropositivity to anti-HCV, anti-HBc and HBsAg
- Soluble B-cell activation markers
Currently available biomarkers and genetic data in EPIC (obtained through a case–control approach nested in the cohort) include:
- Targeted sequencing of AML-associated genes
Selected publications:
- Saberi Hosnijeh F et al. Occupation and risk of lymphoid and myeloid leukaemia in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Occup Environ Med. 2013 Jul;70(7):464-70. doi: 10.1136/oemed-2012-101135. Epub 2013 Apr 10. PMID: 23576671
- Abelson S et al. Prediction of acute myeloid leukaemia risk in healthy individuals. Nature. 2018 Jul;559(7714):400-404. doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0317-6. Epub 2018 Jul 9. PMID: 29988082 Free PMC article.
- Solans M et al. Inflammatory potential of diet and risk of lymphoma in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. Eur J Nutr. 2020 Mar;59(2):813-823. doi: 10.1007/s00394-019-01947-0. Epub 2019 Mar 22. PMID: 30903361
- Kelly RS et al. Prediagnostic plasma concentrations of organochlorines and risk of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma in envirogenomarkers: a nested case-control study. Environ Health. 2017 Feb 16;16(1):9. doi: 10.1186/s12940-017-0214-8. PMID: 28202064 Free PMC article.
- Perez-Cornago A et al. Prediagnostic circulating concentrations of plasma insulin-like growth factor-I and risk of lymphoma in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. Int J Cancer. 2017 Mar 1;140(5):1111-1118. doi: 10.1002/ijc.30528. Epub 2016 Dec 27. PMID: 27870006 Free PMC article.
- Lu Y et al. Comparison of abdominal adiposity and overall obesity in relation to risk of small intestinal cancer in a European Prospective Cohort. Cancer Causes Control. 2016 Jul;27(7):919-27. doi: 10.1007/s10552-016-0772-z. Epub 2016 Jun 13. PMID: 27294726 Free PMC article.
- Kleinstern G et al. Inherited variants at 3q13.33 and 3p24.1 are associated with risk of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and implicate immune pathways. Hum Mol Genet. 2020 Jan 1;29(1):70-79. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddz228. PMID: 31600786
- McMaster ML et al. Two high-risk susceptibility loci at 6p25.3 and 14q32.13 for Waldenström macroglobulinemia. Nat Commun. 2018 Oct 10;9(1):4182. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-06541-2. PMID: 30305637 Free PMC article.
- Vermeulen R et al. Pre-diagnostic blood immune markers, incidence and progression of B-cell lymphoma and multiple myeloma: Univariate and functionally informed multivariate analyses. Int J Cancer. 2018 Sep 15;143(6):1335-1347. doi: 10.1002/ijc.31536. Epub 2018 Apr 26. PMID: 29667176 Free PMC article.
- Chadeau-Hyam M et al. on behalf of the EnviroGenoMarkers project consortium. Pre-diagnostic transcriptomic markers of chronic lymphocytic leukemia reveal perturbations 10 years before diagnosis. Ann Oncol. 2014 Feb 20. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 24558024
- Łuczyńska A et al. Plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration and lymphoma risk: results of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013 Sep;98(3):827-38. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.112.054676. Epub 2013 Jul 24. PMID: 23885049
- Berndt SI et al. Genome-wide association study identifies multiple risk loci for chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Nat Genet. 2013 Aug;45(8):868-76. doi: 10.1038/ng.2652. Epub 2013 Jun 16 PMID: 23770605
- Vermeulen R et al. Circulating soluble CD30 and future risk of lymphoma; evidence from two prospective studies in the general population. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2011 Sep;20(9):1925-7. PMID: 21784955
- Franceschi S et al. Infection with hepatitis B and C viruses and risk of lymphoid malignancies in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2011 Jan;20(1):208-14. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-10-0889. PMID: 21098651
Contact details/Working Group leader
Roel VermeulenUtrecht University
Nieuw Gildestein
Yalelaan 2
3584 CM Utrecht