The Epidemiology (EPI) Program is one of the founding programs at the University of Hawai'i Cancer Center (UHCC), and currently composed of 11 full members and 2 associate members, who are molecular, genetic and nutritional epidemiologists, biostatistician and bioinformatician with primary appointments at UHCC. The EPI Program has made significant progress in recent years, and the EPI faculty have contributed substantially to the Cancer Center's research. During the current funding cycle, the Program members have published more than 400 cancer-related research articles in peer-reviewed journals, rising from 214 in the previous funding cycle, and obtained $20.5 million research grants from NIH increasing from $16.1 million in the previous grant cycle. Recently, the EPI Program has recruited a new program leader who is a molecular epidemiologist with 30 years of cancer research experience, and he brings to the Program more translational research and interdisciplinary collaboration for further development and growth of the Program. The goal of the EPI Program is to identify environmental, lifestyle and genetic factors that are attributable to the risk of cancer development and progression in populations with diverse race and ethnicity, and use the knowledge to develop strategies and programs to reduce cancer risk and prolong patient survival. To achieve this goal, members of the EPI Program focus on 3 areas of research emphasis which are under the overarching theme of racial/ethnic diversity. The 3 research areas are 1) genetic susceptibility, 2) nutrition and lifestyle and 3) infectious agents. Under each area of research emphasis, the Program has multiple current and future aims. To achieve these aims, the Program has established and maintained valuable resources which include Hawaii Tumor Registry, Multiethnic Cohort, HPV Cohorts, Colorectal Cancer Family Registry, and Residual Tissue Repository. Using these unique resources, the Program members have completed a large number of research projects which include many molecular and genetic epidemiological studies that address the role of single nucleotide polymorphisms in genetic susceptibility to cancer. Numerous genetic polymorphisms have been investigated for their association with the risk of several major cancers, including the breast, prostate, colon, lung, endometrium and ovary. These studies have contributed significantly to our understanding of cancer genetics and susceptibility. EPI focus in this area will continue to expand to include more genetic features, their interaction with environmental and lifestyle factors and their involvement In tumor progression and treatment response. The EPI Program has also accomplished significantly in the research area of nutrition and lifestyle in cancer. The multiethnic cohort was established initially focusing mainly on diet and nutrition. Numerous studies have been conducted on the cohort to understand diet and nutrition in cancer in different ethnic groups. Gene-nutrition interaction and lifestyle-related epigenetic changes will be new focuses in this area. HPV research by the EPI faculty also generates valuable information on viral infection and cancer risk. Future research in this area will focus on more infectious agents and their interaction with epigenetic regulation in cancer etiology, detection and prevention. The EPI Program has significant interaction with other programs at the Cancer Center through focus groups, research collaboration, faculty training, seminars and other joint activities. The interactions foster strong collaborations that facilitate interdisciplinary and translational research at the Cancer Center to achieve the goal of reducing the cancer burden among people in Hawai'i.

Public Health Relevance

Accelerating progress in reducing the risk for cancer and prolonging life depends on the careful identification of environmental, lifestyle, and genetic risk factors among diverse racial/ethnic groups. Enhancing our understanding of these risks will advance progress in identifying specific targets so that this information can be translated into intervention and clinical studies that ultimately reduce the burden of cancer.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Center Core Grants (P30)
Project #
3P30CA071789-14S1
Application #
8724362
Study Section
Subcommittee G - Education (NCI)
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
2013-09-01
Budget End
2014-08-31
Support Year
14
Fiscal Year
2013
Total Cost
$6,662
Indirect Cost
$2,250
Name
University of Hawaii
Department
Type
DUNS #
965088057
City
Honolulu
State
HI
Country
United States
Zip Code
96822
Shimizu, Yoshiko; Furuya, Hideki; Tamashiro, Paulette M et al. (2018) Genetic deletion of sphingosine kinase 1 suppresses mouse breast tumor development in an HER2 transgenic model. Carcinogenesis 39:47-55
Aumueller, Nicole; Boushey, Carol J; Franke, Adrian A et al. (2018) Diet quality measured by four a priori-defined diet quality indices is associated with lipid-soluble micronutrients in the Multiethnic Cohort Study (MEC). Eur J Clin Nutr :
Huang, Brian Z; Le Marchand, Loic; Haiman, Christopher A et al. (2018) Atopic allergic conditions and pancreatic cancer risk: Results from the Multiethnic Cohort Study. Int J Cancer 142:2019-2027
Jenkins, Mark A; Win, Aung Ko; Templeton, Allyson S et al. (2018) Cohort Profile: The Colon Cancer Family Registry Cohort (CCFRC). Int J Epidemiol 47:387-388i
Naderi, Ali (2018) SRARP and HSPB7 are epigenetically regulated gene pairs that function as tumor suppressors and predict clinical outcome in malignancies. Mol Oncol 12:724-755
Franke, Adrian A; Li, Xingnan; Menden, Ariane et al. (2018) Oxytocin analysis from human serum, urine, and saliva by orbitrap liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Drug Test Anal :
Fanidi, Anouar; Muller, David C; Yuan, Jian-Min et al. (2018) Circulating Folate, Vitamin B6, and Methionine in Relation to Lung Cancer Risk in the Lung Cancer Cohort Consortium (LC3). J Natl Cancer Inst 110:
Rohrmann, Sabine; Shvetsov, Yurii B; Morimoto, Yukiko et al. (2018) Self-reported dietary flavonoid intake and serum markers of inflammation: the multiethnic cohort. Cancer Causes Control 29:601-607
Faouzi, Malika; Neupane, Ram P; Yang, Jian et al. (2018) Areca nut extracts mobilize calcium and release pro-inflammatory cytokines from various immune cells. Sci Rep 8:1075
Nishioka, Scott T; Sato, Miles M; Wong, Linda L et al. (2018) Clinical and molecular sub-classification of hepatocellular carcinoma relative to alpha-fetoprotein level in an Asia-Pacific island cohort. Hepatoma Res 4:

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