A Prospective Study of Diet and Cancer in Members of the American Association of Retired Persons

This is a prospective cohort study of diet and cancer in relation to several major cancers, especially breast, prostate, and colorectal malignancies. The cohort comprises 50-69 year-old male and female members of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). In 1995-6 we mailed baseline questionnaires to 3.5 million AARP members. Over 615,000 AARP members responded, with over 540,000 providing adequate dietary data. Preliminary analysis indicates that the cohort, both men and women, has the desired wide distributions of percent calories from fat, dietary fiber, fruits and vegetables, and red meat. Approximately 330,000 of the initial respondents (with satisfactory data) returned a second questionnaire containing questions on exposures not assessed in the first instrument.

In terms of field activities, the study has been relatively quiescent over the past year. At the end of the five-year period of observation, we will mail to cohort members a brief follow-up questionnaire primarily targeted to endpoint assessment. (Because of cancer registry lag-time, we do not expect to mail this questionnaire until early 2002.) Follow-up will be largely passive, through established state registries. The initial questionnaire mailing will be to AARP members in those states selected on the basis of having registries with adequate coverage and quality. We will use active follow-up, with record retrieval, for the small percentage of cohort members who have moved out of the cancer registry areas. The buccal cell collection pilot study has been completed; over 50% of those pilot study partricipants who had completed the baseline and risk factor questionnaires returned buccal cell speciments. Preliminary data from a pilot study of the end point ascertainment procedure indicate that cohort incidence rates for major cancers, determined from registry data, are consistent with SEER rates.

This is a prospective cohort study to investigate relations among diet, lifestyle and cancer. The cohort comprises 50-69 year-old male and female members of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). In 1995-96 we mailed baseline questionnaires to 3.5 million AARP members. Over 615,000 AARP members responded, with over 540,000 providing adequate dietary data. Preliminary analysis indicates that the cohort, both men and women, has the desired wide distributions of percent calories from fat, dietary fiber, fruits and vegetables, and red meat. Approximately 330,000 of the initial respondents (with satisfactory data) returned a second questionnaire containing questions on exposures not assessed in the first instrument. In 2004-2006 we mailed a follow-up questionnaire to all living participants to assess non-cancer endpoints and lifestyle factors.

• Nutrition
• Cancer

• Sinha R, Cross AJ, Daniel CR, Graubard BI, Wu JW, Hollenbeck AR, Gunter MJ, Park Y, Freedman ND. Caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee and tea intakes and risk of colorectal cancer in a large prospective study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2012 Aug;96(2):374-81. Epub 2012 Jun 13.
• Daniel CR, Sinha R, Park Y, Graubard BI, Hollenbeck AR, Morton LM, Cross AJ. Meat intake is not associated with risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in a large prospective cohort of U.S. men and women. J Nutr. 2012 Jun;142(6):1074-80. Epub 2012 Apr 25.
• Matthews CE, George SM, Moore SC, Bowles HR, Blair A, Park Y, Troiano RP, Hollenbeck A, Schatzkin A. Amount of time spent in sedentary behaviors and cause-specific mortality in US adults. Am J Clin Nutr. 2012 Feb;95(2):437-45. Epub 2012 Jan 4.
• Daniel CR, Cross AJ, Graubard BI, Park Y, Ward MH, Rothman N, Hollenbeck AR, Chow WH, Sinha R. Large prospective investigation of meat intake, related mutagens, and risk of renal cell carcinoma. Am J Clin Nutr. 2012 Jan;95(1):155-62. Epub 2011 Dec 14.

• INCLUSION CRITERIA:

Patients participating will be selected from the American Association of Retired Persons age 50-69 living in one of the following state and metropolitan areas: California (minus Los Angeles county), Florida, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Louisiana, North Carolina, Detroit, and Atlanta.