Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in women and the third in men worldwide. It accounts for about 10% of total cancers and is the third-leading cause of cancer death in women and the fourth in men globally.
CRC is a multifactorial disease. The rates vary more than 10 times across the world, suggesting it is a largely preventable cancer. Screening also has a major impact on CRC.
Investigators at the Channing Division of Network Medicine (CDNM) have built a comprehensive research strategy to:
We apply a multidisciplinary approach to understand CRC etiology, heterogeneity, and pathobiology to improve diagnosis and prognosis, and to develop primary and secondary strategies for prevention and therapeutics for treatment.
Early research at Channing demonstrated that red and processed meat, alcohol, smoking, and obesity were associated with an increased risk of CRC, whereas folate, calcium, vitamin D, aspirin, and physical activity were associated with decreased risk of CRC. Moreover, modifiable factors, such as physical activity, vitamin D, folate, insulin and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1, and diet quality, were identified to be associated with survival among CRC patients.
In recent years, molecular pathological epidemiological studies have been actively conducted and have shown refined results by molecular subtypes of CRC.
Genetics is a crucial aspect of our research, including:
CDNM scientists model molecular interactions using complex network approaches, for example:
Study populations developed by CDNM investigators include:
CDNM leads collaborations within such groups as the Colorectal Transdisciplinary Study, the Genetics and Epidemiology of Colorectal Cancer Consortium (GECCO), An International Pooling Project of 17 Cohorts (plasma data), and the Pooling Project of Prospective Studies of Diet and Cancer.
