Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T13:32:10.389Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC): study populations and data collection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2007

E Riboli ,
KJ Hunt ,
N Slimani ,
P Ferrari ,
T Norat ,
M Fahey ,
UR Charrondière ,
B Hémon ,
C Casagrande  and
J Vignat
...Show all authors
E Riboli*
Affiliation:
Unit of Nutrition and Cancer, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC–WHO), 150 cours Albert-Thomas, 69372 Lyon Cedex 08, France
KJ Hunt
Affiliation:
Division of Clinical Epidemiology, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX, USA
N Slimani
Affiliation:
Unit of Nutrition and Cancer, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC–WHO), 150 cours Albert-Thomas, 69372 Lyon Cedex 08, France
P Ferrari
Affiliation:
Unit of Nutrition and Cancer, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC–WHO), 150 cours Albert-Thomas, 69372 Lyon Cedex 08, France
T Norat
Affiliation:
Unit of Nutrition and Cancer, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC–WHO), 150 cours Albert-Thomas, 69372 Lyon Cedex 08, France
M Fahey
Affiliation:
Unit of Nutrition and Cancer, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC–WHO), 150 cours Albert-Thomas, 69372 Lyon Cedex 08, France
UR Charrondière
Affiliation:
Unit of Nutrition and Cancer, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC–WHO), 150 cours Albert-Thomas, 69372 Lyon Cedex 08, France
B Hémon
Affiliation:
Unit of Nutrition and Cancer, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC–WHO), 150 cours Albert-Thomas, 69372 Lyon Cedex 08, France
C Casagrande
Affiliation:
Unit of Nutrition and Cancer, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC–WHO), 150 cours Albert-Thomas, 69372 Lyon Cedex 08, France
J Vignat
Affiliation:
Unit of Nutrition and Cancer, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC–WHO), 150 cours Albert-Thomas, 69372 Lyon Cedex 08, France
K Overvad
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of Aarhus, Denmark
A Tjønneland
Affiliation:
Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark
F Clavel-Chapelon
Affiliation:
INSERM, U521, Institute Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France
A Thiébaut
Affiliation:
INSERM, U521, Institute Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France
J Wahrendorf
Affiliation:
German Cancer Research Centre, Heidelberg, Germany
H Boeing
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition, Potsdam-Rehbrücke, Germany
D Trichopoulos
Affiliation:
Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, School of Medicine, University of Athens, Greece Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
A Trichopoulou
Affiliation:
Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, School of Medicine, University of Athens, Greece
P Vineis
Affiliation:
Department of Biomedical Sciences and Human Oncology, University of Turin, Italy
D Palli
Affiliation:
Molecular & Nutrition Epidemiology Unit, CSPO, Scientific Institute of Tuscany, Florence, Italy
HB Bueno-de-Mesquita
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands
PHM Peeters
Affiliation:
Julius Center for General Practice and Patient Oriented Research, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
E Lund
Affiliation:
Institute of Community Medicine, University of Tromsø, Norway
D Engeset
Affiliation:
Institute of Community Medicine, University of Tromsø, Norway
CA González
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, Catalan Institute of Oncology, Barcelona, Spain
A Barricarte
Affiliation:
Service of Surveillance and Epidemiological Control, Institute of Public Health of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
G Berglund
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Lund University, Malmö University Hospital, Sweden
G Hallmans
Affiliation:
Public Health and Clinical Medicine, University Hospital of Northern Sweden, Umeå, Sweden
NE Day
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health and Primary Care, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, UK
TJ Key
Affiliation:
Cancer Research UK, Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford, UK
R Kaaks
Affiliation:
Hormones and Cancer Group, IARC–WHO, Lyon, France
R Saracci
Affiliation:
Unit of Nutrition and Cancer, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC–WHO), 150 cours Albert-Thomas, 69372 Lyon Cedex 08, France Division of Epidemiology, IFC National Research Council, Pisa, Italy
*
*Corresponding author: Email [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) is an ongoing multi-centre prospective cohort study designed to investigate the relationship between nutrition and cancer, with the potential for studying other diseases as well. The study currently includes 519 978 participants (366 521 women and 153 457 men, mostly aged 35–70 years) in 23 centres located in 10 European countries, to be followed for cancer incidence and cause-specific mortality for several decades. At enrolment, which took place between 1992 and 2000 at each of the different centres, information was collected through a non-dietary questionnaire on lifestyle variables and through a dietary questionnaire addressing usual diet. Anthropometric measurements were performed and blood samples taken, from which plasma, serum, red cells and buffy coat fractions were separated and aliquoted for long-term storage, mostly in liquid nitrogen. To calibrate dietary measurements, a standardised, computer-assisted 24-hour dietary recall was implemented at each centre on stratified random samples of the participants, for a total of 36 900 subjects. EPIC represents the largest single resource available today world-wide for prospective investigations on the aetiology of cancers (and other diseases) that can integrate questionnaire data on lifestyle and diet, biomarkers of diet and of endogenous metabolism (e.g. hormones and growth factors) and genetic polymorphisms. First results of case–control studies nested within the cohort are expected early in 2003. The present paper provides a description of the EPIC study, with the aim of simplifying reference to it in future papers reporting substantive or methodological studies carried out in the EPIC cohort.

Keywords

NutritionCancerChronic diseasesCohort studyAnthropometryBiological samplesEPIC studyEurope
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 5 , Issue 6b , December 2002 , pp. 1113 - 1124
Copyright
Copyright © CABI Publishing 2002

References

1Tannenbaum, A. Initiation and growth of tumors; introduction: effects of underfeeding. Am. J. Cancer 1940; 39: 335–50.Google Scholar
2Doll, R, Payne, P, Waterhouse, J. Cancer Incidence in Five Continents: A Technical Report. Berlin: Springer, 1966.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3Doll, R, Payne, P, Waterhouse, J. Cancer Incidence in Five Continents. Berlin: Springer, 1970.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4Armstrong, B, Doll, R. Environmental factors and cancer incidence and mortality in different countries, with special reference to dietary practices. Int. J. Cancer 1975; 15: 617–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute of Cancer Research (WCRF/AICR). Food, Nutrition and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective. Washington, DC: WCRF/AICR, 1997.Google Scholar
6Riboli, E. Nutrition and cancer: background and rationale of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Ann. Oncol. 1992; 3: 783–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7Riboli, E. The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition: perspectives for cancer prevention. Nestle Nutr. Workshop Ser. Clin. Perform. Programme 2000; 4: 117–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8Riboli, E. The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC): plans and progress. J. Nutr. 2001; 131: 170S–5S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9Riboli, E, Kaaks, R. The EPIC Project: rationale and study design. European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. Int. J. Epidemiol. 1997; 26(Suppl. 1): S6–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10Riboli, E, Kaaks, R. Invited commentary: the challenge of multi-center cohort studies in the search for diet and cancer links. Am. J. Epidemiol. 2000; 151: 371–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11Berglund, G, Elmstahl, S, Janzon, L, Larsson, SA. The Malmö Diet and Cancer Study. Design and feasibility. J. Intern. Med. 1993; 233: 45–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12Clavel-Chapelon, F, van Liere, MJ, Giubout, C, Niravong, MY, Goulard, H, Le Corre, C, et al. E3N, a French cohort study on cancer risk factors. E3N Group. Etude Epidémiologique auprès de femmes de l'Education Nationale. Eur. J. Cancer Prev. 1997; 6: 473–8.Google ScholarPubMed
13Hjartåker, A, Lund, E. Relationship between dietary habits, age, lifestyle, and socio-economic status among adult Norwegian women. The Norwegian Women and Cancer Study. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 1998; 52: 565–72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14Boeing, H, Wahrendorf, J, Becker, N. EPIC–Germany – a source for studies into diet and risk of chronic diseases. Ann. Nutr. Metab. 1999; 43: 195–204.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15Boeing, H, Korfmann, A, Bergmann, MM. Recruitment procedures of EPIC–Germany. European Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. Ann. Nutr. Metab. 1999; 43: 205–15.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16Day, N, Oakes, S, Luben, R, Khaw, KT, Bingham, S, Welch, A, et al. EPIC–Norfolk: study design and characteristics of the cohort. European Prospective Investigation of Cancer. Br. J. Cancer. 1999; 80(Suppl. 1): 95–103.Google Scholar
17. Keinan-Boker, L, van Noord, PAH, van der Schouw, YT, Koot, NVCM, Bueno-de-Mesquita, HB, Riboli, E, et al. Prospect–EPIC Utrecht: study design and characteristics of the cohort population. Eur. J. Epidemiol. 2002; in press.Google Scholar
18Schulze, MD, Kroke, A, Saracci, R, Boeing, H. The effect of measurement procedure differences on the comparability of blood pressure estimates in multi-centre studies. Blood Press. Monit. 2000; 7: 95–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19Overvad, K, Tjønneland, A, Haraldsdóttir, J, Bang, S, Ewertz, M, Møller-Jensen, O. Development of a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire to assess food, energy and nutrient intake in Denmark. Int. J. Epidemiol. 1991; 20: 906–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20Bingham, SA, Gill, C, Welch, A, Day, K, Cassidy, A, Khaw, KT, et al. Comparison of dietary assessment methods in nutritional epidemiology: weighted records v. 24 h recalls, food-frequency questionnaires and estimated-diet records. Br. J. Nutr. 1994; 72: 619–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21Margetts, BM, Pietinen, P, Riboli, E, eds. EPIC: European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition: validity studies on dietary assessment methods [special issue]. Int. J. Epidemiol. 1997; 26(Suppl. 1): S1–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22Riboli, E, Elmståhl, S, Saracci, R, Gullberg, B, Lindgärde, F. The Malmö Food Study: validity of two dietary assessment methods for measuring nutrient intakes. Int. J. Epidemiol. 1997; 26: S161–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23Kroke, A, Klipstein-Grobusch, K, Voss, S, Moseneder, J, Thielecke, F, Noack, R, et al. Validation of a self-administered food-frequency questionnaire administered in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Study: comparison of energy, protein, and macronutrient intakes estimated with the doubly labeled water, urinary nitrogen, and repeated 24-h dietary recall methods. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 1999; 70: 439–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24Slimani, N, Deharveng, G, Charrondière, RU, van Kappel, AL, Ocké, MC, Welch, A, et al. Structure of the standardized computerized 24-h diet recall interview used as reference method in the 22 centers participating in the EPIC project. European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. Comput. Meth. Programs Biomed. 1999; 58: 251–66.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
25Slimani, N, Ferrari, P, Ocké, M, Welch, A, Boeing, H, Liere, M, et al. Standardization of the 24-hour diet recall calibration method used in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC): general concepts and preliminary results. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 2000; 54: 900–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
26Slimani, N, Kaaks, R, Ferrari, P, Casagrande, C, Clavel-Chapelon, F, Lotze, G, et al. European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) calibration study: rationale, design and population characteristics. Public Health Nutr. 2002; 5(6B): 1125–45.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
27Kaaks, R, Riboli, E. Validation and calibration of dietary intake measurements in the EPIC project: methodological considerations. European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. Int. J. Epidemiol. 1997; 26(Suppl. 1): S15–25.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
28Kaaks, R, Plummer, M, Riboli, E, Esteve, J, van Staveren, W. Adjustment for bias due to errors in exposure assessments in multicenter cohort studies on diet and cancer: a calibration approach. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 1994; 59: 245S–50S.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
29Kaaks, R, Riboli, E, Esteve, J, van Kappel, AL, van Staveren, WA. Estimating the accuracy of dietary questionnaire assessments: validation in terms of structural equation models. Stat. Med. 1994; 13: 127–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
30Kaaks, R, Riboli, E, van Staveren, W. Sample size requirements for calibration studies of dietary intake measurements in prospective cohort investigations. Am. J. Epidemiol. 1995; 142: 557–65.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
31Kaaks, R, Riboli, E, van Staveren, W. Calibration of dietary intake measurements in prospective cohort studies. Am. J. Epidemiol. 1995; 142: 548–56.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
32Slimani, N, Charrondière, UR, van Staveren, W, Riboli, E. Standardization of food composition databases for the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC): general theoretical concept. J. Food Comp. Anal. 2000; 13: 567–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
33Charrondière, UR, Vignat, J, Møller, A, Ireland, J, Becker, W, Church, S, et al. The European Nutrient Database (ENDB) for nutritional epidemiology. J. Food Comp. Anal. 2002; 15(4): 435–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
34Haftenberger, M, Lahmann, PH, Panico, S, González, CA, Seidell, JC, Boeing, H, et al. Overweight, obesity and body fat distribution in 50- to 64-year-old participants in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Public Health Nutr. 2002; 5(6B): 1147–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
35Ireland, J, van Erp-Baart, AMJ, Charrondière, UR, Møller, A, Smithers, G, Trichopoulou, A, for the EFCOSUM Group. Selection of a food classification system and a food composition database for future food consumption surveys. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 2002; 56(Suppl. 2): S33–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar