Research and Findings

SCCS investigators have a wide and growing range of research interests.  Over the next several years, the cohort will enable detailed studies of potential cancer risk factors, particularly for the four most common cancers (lung, prostate, breast, and colorectal). Studies will focus on environmental (i.e., non-genetic) exposures, genetic exposures, and gene-environment interactions. 
General areas of current interest include:
  • Vitamin D (an important hormone created in the body from sunshine exposure that has been linked to lowered risk of various cancers and other diseases)
  • Inflammation (a normal and important immune system function that, when chronic, may provide an enhanced setting for cancer development)
  • Energy balance (factors such as physical activity, diet and obesity may be related to cancer through various mechanisms, including through interrelationships with other key exposures of interest such as inflammation)
  • Diet (diet as a whole, and its numerous and varied components, hold promise to identify readily modifiable risk factors for cancer)
  • Tobacco carcinogen metabolism (individual differences in how we metabolize the harmful components of cigarette smoke may account for differences in lung cancer rates associated with smoking)
  • Genetic propensity (genes involved in key exposure pathways as well as those identified through ongoing genome-wide scans will be evaluated in relation to cancer risk)
  • Health services utilization (patterns of health care utilization, including cancer screening practices, will impact how and when cancers are diagnosed and the subsequent prognosis)