Approved Research

Genetic and environmental factors for gastrointestinal cancer incidence and prognosis

Lay summary

Gastrointestinal (GI) cancer is one of the most common malignancies and leading cancer deaths worldwide. Both environmental and genetic risk factors as well as their interactions play an important role in the development and progression of GI cancer. UK Biobank is a large prospective natural population cohort containing high quality individual data and extensive information. This project aims to investigate the effect of genetic and/or environmental factors on gastrointestinal cancer etiology. The purposes of this study are as follows: (1) to identify genetic variants (single-nucleotide polymorphisms, SNPs) associated with GI cancer risk and/or prognosis, and examine causal relationship between lifestyle and modifiable factors, and cancer risk and/or prognosis, (2) to investigate potential gene-environment interactions in GI cancer, (3) to combine multiple genetic and environmental variables into a predictive model of GI cancer risk and/or prognosis, and estimate how well model predicts cancer risk or survival of cancer patients.Our results will inform prevention strategies for gastrointestinal cancer and eventually contribute to reduce future gastrointestinal cancer burden.

The duration of this project is expected to last 36 months. This study will help clarify the relationship between various risk factors and GI cancers and identify high-risk individuals based on predictive models, which has important public health implications for the precise prevention and management of GI tumors.