Lifetime Pesticide Use and Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance in a Prospective Cohort of Male Farmers.

Background: Farmers have a higher incidence of multiple myeloma, and there is suggestive evidence of an elevated prevalence of its precursor, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), relative to the general population. Pesticide exposures are suspected to play a role; however, the biologic plausibility for associations with multiple myeloma remains unclear.

Objectives: Our objectives were to examine the prevalence of MGUS and evaluate associations with a wide range of pesticides in a large sample of farmers.

Employment After Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Among Women in the Sister and the Two Sister Studies.

Purpose Women undergoing diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer may face challenges in employment. We investigated the impact of demographic, clinical, workplace, and psychosocial characteristics on loss of employment after a breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. We further describe changes in work status and work environment for cancer survivors who sustain employment.

Selenium modifies associations between multiple metals and neurologic symptoms in Gulf states residents.

Background: Metals have been shown to have a wide range of neurologic effects across the life course, but most studies consider neurodevelopment or neurodegenerative diseases in older adults. We investigated exposure to metals during adulthood in association with subclinical neurologic endpoints, considering the metals individually and as a mixture, and potential interactions among exposures.

Methods: We measured blood levels of cadmium, lead, mercury, manganese, and selenium in 1007 Gulf state residents and estimated cross-sectional associations between ranked levels of blood metals and the presence of self-reported neurologic symptoms.

Association Between Serum Iron Biomarkers and Breast Cancer.

Background: Iron is both essential to life and potentially toxic at higher levels. Epidemiologic studies of iron and breast cancer are sparse, with substantial heterogeneity found in a recent meta-analysis. Evidence based on a comprehensive set of iron biomarkers and a large sample size could help clarify relationships between iron body stores and breast cancer risk.

Adolescent use of hair dyes, straighteners and perms in relation to breast cancer risk.

Hair products can contain hormonally active and carcinogenic compounds. Adolescence may be a period of enhanced susceptibility of the breast tissue to exposure to chemicals. We therefore evaluated associations between adolescent hair product use and breast cancer risk.

Evidence for familial clustering in breast cancer age of onset.

Background: Familial clustering of age at onset would have implications for both personalized screening and aetiology, but has not been studied for breast cancer.

Methods: We prospectively studied a cohort of 23 145 sisters to explore whether their breast cancer risk changed near the age at diagnosis of a previously affected older sister. Using an age-time-dependent variable in a Cox regression model, we estimated hazard ratios for breast cancer when participants were near their sister's diagnosis age, relative to similarly aged women whose sister was diagnosed at a very different age.

Health-related quality of life outcomes among breast cancer survivors.

Background: Data from a nationwide sample of US breast cancer survivors were used to examine associations between patient characteristics (breast cancer clinical features, prognostic factors, and treatments) and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Associations between postdiagnosis HRQOL and mortality were then evaluated.

Methods: The authors identified female breast cancer survivors (n = 2453) from the Sister Study or Two Sister Study who were at least 1 year from breast cancer diagnosis and who had responded to a survivorship survey in 2012.

Measurement of mitochondrial DNA copy number in dried blood spots: A pilot study.

Background: We evaluated the feasibility of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number measurement in dried blood spots (DBS), its comparability with measurement in whole blood samples, and stability of mtDNA copy number from DBS over time.

Methods: Women in this pilot study were participants in the Sister Study, a large prospective cohort. Sister Study participants provided a whole blood sample and DBS at enrollment.

Genome-wide association study meta-analysis identifies three novel loci for circulating anti-Müllerian hormone levels in women.

Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) is expressed by antral stage ovarian follicles in women. Consequently, circulating AMH levels are detectable until menopause. Variation in age-specific AMH levels has been associated with breast cancer and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), amongst other diseases.

Association of Neighborhood Deprivation With Epigenetic Aging Using 4 Clock Metrics.

Importance: Neighborhood deprivation is associated with age-related disease, mortality, and reduced life expectancy. However, biological pathways underlying these associations are not well understood.

Objective: To evaluate the association between neighborhood deprivation and epigenetic measures of age acceleration and genome-wide methylation.

Pesticide exposure and incident thyroid cancer among male pesticide applicators in agricultural health study.

Background: Many pesticides are known to have thyroid-disrupting properties. However, few studies have evaluated the association between specific pesticide ingredients and risk of thyroid cancer. We investigated self-reported pesticide use and incident thyroid cancer in the Agricultural Health Study (AHS), a large cohort of occupationally-exposed male pesticide applicators.

Pubertal timing and breast cancer risk in the Sister Study cohort.

Background: Earlier age at menarche is an established risk factor for breast cancer. While age at menarche has been fairly stable over the past half-century, age at breast development (thelarche) has continued to decrease. Recently, earlier age at thelarche and a longer time between thelarche and menarche (pubertal tempo) were shown to be associated with increased breast cancer risk.

Occupational pesticide use and self-reported olfactory impairment in US farmers.

Objectives: Pesticide exposure may impair human olfaction, but empirical evidence is limited. We examined associations between occupational use of 50 specific pesticides and olfactory impairment, both self-reported, among 20 409 participants in the Agricultural Health Study, a prospective cohort of pesticide applicators (mostly farmers, 97% male).

Methods: We used logistic regression models to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for associations between pesticide use at enrolment (1993-1997) and olfactory impairment reported two decades later (2013-2016), adjusting for baseline covariates.

Estimates of Occupational Inhalation Exposures to Six Oil-Related Compounds on the Four Rig Vessels Responding to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.

Background: The 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill involved thousands of workers and volunteers to mitigate the oil release and clean-up after the spill. Health concerns for these participants led to the initiation of a prospective epidemiological study (GuLF STUDY) to investigate potential adverse health outcomes associated with the oil spill response and clean-up (OSRC). Characterizing the chemical exposures of the OSRC workers was an essential component of the study.

Hazardous air pollutants and telomere length in the Sister Study.

Background: Telomeres are vital for genomic integrity and telomere length has been linked to many adverse health outcomes. Some hazardous air pollutants, or air toxics, increase oxidative stress and inflammation, two possible determinants of shortened telomere length. No studies have examined air toxic-telomere length associations in a non-occupational setting.

Modeled Air Pollution from In Situ Burning and Flaring of Oil and Gas Released Following the Deepwater Horizon Disaster.

The GuLF STUDY, initiated by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, is investigating the health effects among workers involved in the oil spill response and clean-up (OSRC) after the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) explosion in April 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. Clean-up included in situ burning of oil on the water surface and flaring of gas and oil captured near the seabed and brought to the surface. We estimated emissions of PM2.

Pesticide use and incident Parkinson's disease in a cohort of farmers and their spouses.

Background: Extensive literature suggests an association between general pesticide use and Parkinson's disease (PD). However, with few exceptions, little is known about associations between specific pesticides and PD.

Objective: We evaluated use of pesticides and incident PD in 38,274 pesticide applicators and 27,836 of their spouses in the Agricultural Health Study cohort followed over 20 years.

Airborne metals exposure and risk of hypertension in the Sister Study.

Background: Hypertension-related disease burden is a major challenge globally, with an estimated 1.56 billion adults expected to be affected by hypertension by 2025. Environmental factors, such as metals, could be risk factors for hypertension, but the relationship between airborne metals and hypertension is rarely studied.

Epigenome-wide analysis uncovers a blood-based DNA methylation biomarker of lifetime cannabis use.

Cannabis use is highly prevalent and is associated with adverse and beneficial effects. To better understand the full spectrum of health consequences, biomarkers that accurately classify cannabis use are needed. DNA methylation (DNAm) is an excellent candidate, yet no blood-based epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) in humans exist.

Perinatal and postnatal exposures and risk of young-onset breast cancer.

Background: Perinatal factors have been associated with some adult health outcomes, but have not been well studied in young-onset breast cancer. We aimed to evaluate the association between young-onset breast cancer and perinatal exposures and to explore etiologic heterogeneity in the relationship between associated perinatal factors and estrogen receptor status of the tumor.

Methods: We addressed this in a sister-matched case-control study.

Ovarian Cancer Risk Factor Associations by Primary Anatomic Site: The Ovarian Cancer Cohort Consortium.

Background: Epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, and primary peritoneal cancers have shared developmental pathways. Few studies have prospectively examined heterogeneity in risk factor associations across these three anatomic sites.

Methods: We identified 3,738 ovarian, 337 peritoneal, and 176 fallopian tube incident cancer cases in 891,731 women from 15 prospective cohorts in the Ovarian Cancer Cohort Consortium.

The Association Between Periodontal Disease and Breast Cancer in a Prospective Cohort Study.

Periodontal disease may be associated with increased breast cancer risk, but studies have not considered invasive breast cancer and ductal carcinoma (DCIS) separately in the same population. We assessed the relationship between periodontal disease and breast cancer in a large prospective cohort study. The Sister Study followed women without prior breast cancer ages 35 to 74 years from 2003 to 2017 ( = 49,968).

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in the Relationship Between Traumatic Childhood Experiences and Suboptimal Sleep Dimensions Among Adult Women: Findings from the Sister Study.

Background: Traumatic childhood experiences (TCEs) are associated with poor adulthood sleep, but racial/ethnic disparities have not been well-studied. We investigated the TCE-adulthood sleep relationship among non-Hispanic (NH)-White, NH-Black, and Hispanic/Latina women.

Method: Women enrolled in the Sister Study from 2003 to 2009 reported the following TCEs in a follow-up interview (2008-2012): natural disasters; major accidents; household dysfunction; and sexual, physical, and psychological/emotional abuse.

Occupational Pesticide Use and Risk of Renal Cell Carcinoma in the Agricultural Health Study.

Background: Agricultural work and occupational pesticide use have been associated with increased risk of renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the most common form of kidney cancer. However, few prospective studies have investigated links to specific pesticides.

Objective: We evaluated the lifetime use of individual pesticides and the incidence of RCC.

Herbicide, fumigant, and fungicide use and breast cancer risk among farmers' wives.

Unlabelled: Evidence from epidemiologic and laboratory studies relating pesticides to breast cancer risk is inconsistent. Women engaging in agricultural work or living in agricultural areas may experience appreciable exposures to a wide range of pesticides, including herbicides, fumigants, and fungicides.

Methods: We examined exposure to herbicides, fumigants, and fungicides in relation to breast cancer risk among farmers' wives with no prior history of breast cancer in the Agricultural Health Study.