Starting date: January 2021
Work Programme
The overarching aim of the Hormones Team (HorM) is to advance research on the role of hormones and metabolism in cancer etiology, building on established molecular epidemiology studies on hormone-dependent cancers.
Within this context, HorM will:
- study the association between hormones, inflammation, metabolic imbalance, and cancer, with a particular focus on cancers of the breast, endometrium, ovary, and thyroid;
- investigate the role of biomarkers in mediating lifestyle–cancer associations to identify candidate mechanisms of cancer development; and
- identify modifiable risk factors, with a particular emphasis on body fatness, obesity, and metabolic health, associated with circulating concentrations of cancer-associated biomarkers, specific to different populations, which can be used to support local, targeted initiatives aimed at cancer prevention.
This research programme largely relies on the application of cutting-edge laboratory-based technologies to large-scale epidemiological studies, with two different approaches: (i) collaborations with existing cohorts in high-income settings; and (ii) development of targeted population-based studies to better understand population-specific risk factors, in countries in epidemiological transition. Crucial support for the activities of HorM is provided by the laboratory facilities that have been specifically tailored to the application of novel molecular technologies to epidemiological studies.
Currently, key activities of HorM focus on measuring hormones, inflammatory factors, fatty acids, and endogenous metabolites (targeted metabolomics), analysed by a variety of assays, such as immunoassays, gas chromatograms (GC), and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS), in samples from large-scale epidemiological studies. Recently, a proteomics platform via multiplexed assays was also integrated (in collaboration with GEM).
Technological development is also a major focus of HorM and is crucial to support evolving research.
Team Composition
Team Leaders: Dr Sabina Rinaldi (Deputy Branch Head) and Dr Laure Dossus, Nutrition and Metabolism Branch (NME), IARC Emails: RinaldiS@iarc.who.int; DossusL@iarc.who.int
Team members:
Dr Agnès Fournier (Visiting Scientist, NME; INSERM CESP)
Dr Esther Gonzalez Gil (Visiting Scientist, NME)
Dr Yahya Mahamat-Saleh (Postdoctoral Scientist, NME)
Dr Sabrina Wang (Postdoctoral Scientist, NME)
Dr Azam Majidi (Postdoctoral Scientist, NME)
Dr Nahid Ahmadi (Postdoctoral Scientist, NME)
Dr Carlota Castro Espin (Postdoctoral Scientist, NME)
Dr Emma Fontvieille (Postdoctoral Scientist, NME)
Dr Sanam Shah (IARC Postdoctoral Fellow, NME)
Ms Fanélie Vasson (Doctoral Student, NME)
Ms Sara Mori (Doctoral Student, NME)
Ms Carine Biessy (Senior Research Assistant, Data Management/Analysis, NME)
Ms Anne-Sophie Navionis (Laboratory Technician, NME)
Ms Béatrice Vozar (Senior Research Assistant, Lab Services, NME)
Ms Karine Racinoux (Administrative Assistant, NME)
Key networks: European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) (https://epic.iarc.who.int), Molecular Subtypes of Premenopausal Breast Cancer in Latin American Women (PRECAMA) (https://precama.iarc.who.int), South Africa Breast Cancer (SABC) study (https://sabc.iarc.who.int), Determinants of Breast Cancer in Morocco (EDSMAR) (https://edsmar.iarc.who.int/), Kandahar Obesity Research (KOR)
Key funding: World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), Institut national du Cancer (INCa), Ligue nationale contre le Cancer (LNCC), Fondation pour la Recherche sur le Cancer (ARC), Cancer Research UK (CRUK)
Key publications
- Castro-Espin C, Cairat M, Navionis AS, Dahm CC, Antoniussen CS, Tjønneland A, et al. (2024). Prognostic role of pre-diagnostic circulating inflammatory biomarkers in breast cancer survival: evidence from the EPIC cohort study. Br J Cancer. 131(9):1496–505. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41416-024-02858-6 PMID:39342063
- Mahamat-Saleh Y, Aune D, Freisling H, Hardikar S, Jaafar R, Rinaldi S, et al. (2024). Association of metabolic obesity phenotypes with risk of overall and site-specific cancers: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies. Br J Cancer. 131(9):1480–95. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41416-024-02857-7 PMID:39317703
- Wang SE, Viallon V, Lee M, Dimou N, Hamilton F, Biessy C, et al. (2024). Circulating inflammatory and immune response proteins and endometrial cancer risk: a nested case-control study and Mendelian randomization analyses. EBioMedicine. 108:105341. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2024.105341 PMID:39278107
- González-Gil EM, Peruchet-Noray L, Sedlmeier AM, Christakoudi S, Biessy C, Navionis AS, et al. (2024). Association of body shape phenotypes and body fat distribution indexes with inflammatory biomarkers in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) and UK Biobank. BMC Med. 22(1):334. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-024-03544-3 PMID:39148045
- Rinaldi S, Dossus L, Keski-Rahkonen P, Kiss A, Navionis AS, Biessy C, et al. (2024). Circulating endogenous sex steroids and risk of differentiated thyroid carcinoma in men and women. Int J Cancer. 154(12):2064–74. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijc.34872 PMID:38357914
- His M, Gunter MJ, Keski-Rahkonen P, Rinaldi S (2024). Application of metabolomics to epidemiologic studies of breast cancer: new perspectives for etiology and prevention. J Clin Oncol. 42(1):103–15. https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.22.02754 PMID:37944067
- Jacobs I, Taljaard-Krugell C, Wicks M, Cubasch H, Joffe M, Laubscher R, et al. (2022). Degree of food processing and breast cancer risk in black urban women from Soweto, South African: the South African Breast Cancer study. Br J Nutr. 128(11):2278–89. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007114522000423 PMID:35109954
- Mahamat-Saleh Y, Rinaldi S, Kaaks R, Biessy C, Gonzalez-Gil EM, Murphy N, et al. (2023). Metabolically defined body size and body shape phenotypes and risk of postmenopausal breast cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. Cancer Med. 12(11):12668–82. https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.5896 PMID:37096432
- Fournier A, Cairat M, Severi G, Gunter MJ, Rinaldi S, Dossus L (2023). Use of menopausal hormone therapy and ovarian cancer risk in a French cohort study. J Natl Cancer Inst. 115(6):671–9. https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djad035 PMID:36809347
- Fontvieille E, His M, Biessy C, Navionis AS, Torres-Mejía G, Ángeles-Llerenas A, et al.; PRECAMA team (2022). Inflammatory biomarkers and risk of breast cancer among young women in Latin America: a case-control study. BMC Cancer. 22(1):877. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-022-09975-6 PMID:35948877