New Hot Paper Comment by Dimitrios Trichopoulos and Antonia Trichopoulou

Dimitrios Trichopoulos and Antonia Trichopoulou answer a few questions about this month's new hot paper in the field of Social Science, general.

From •>>May 2004

Field: Social Science, general
Article Title: European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition (EPIC): study populations and data collection
Authors: Riboli, E;Hunt, KJ;Slimani, N;Ferrari, P;Norat, T;Fahey, M;Charrondiere, UR;Hemon, B;Casagrande, C;Vignat, J;Overvad, K;Tjonneland, A;Clavel-Chapelon, F;Thiebaut, A;Wahrendorf, J;Boeing, H;Trichopoulos, D;Trichopoulou, A;Vineis, P;Palli, D;Bueno-de-Mesquita, HB;Peeters, PHM;Lund, E;Engeset, D;Gonzalez, CA;Barricarte, A;Berglund, G;Hallmans, G;Day, NE;Key, TJ;Kaaks, R;Saracci, R
Journal: PUBLIC HEALTH NUTR
Volume: 5
Page: 1113-1124
Year: DEC 2002
* Int Agcy Res Canc, Unit Nutr & Canc, WHO, 150 Cours Albert Thomas, F-69372 Lyon 08, France.
* Int Agcy Res Canc, Unit Nutr & Canc, WHO, F-69372 Lyon 08, France.
* Univ Texas, Hlth Sci Ctr, Div Clin Epidemiol, San Antonio, TX USA.
* Univ Aarhus, Dept Epidemiol & Social Med, Aarhus, Denmark.
* Danish Canc Soc, Inst Canc Epidemiol, Copenhagen, Denmark.
* Inst Gustave Roussy, INSERM, U521, F-94805 Villejuif, France.
* German Canc Res Ctr, D-6900 Heidelberg, Germany.
* German Inst Human Nutr, Dept Epidemiol, Potsdam, Germany.
* Univ Athens, Sch Med, Dept Hyg & Epidemiol, GR-10679 Athens, Greece.
* Harvard Univ, Sch Publ Hlth, Dept Epidemiol, Boston, MA 02115 USA.
* Univ Turin, Dept Biomed Sci & Human Oncol, I-10124 Turin, Italy.
* Sci Inst Tuscany, CSPO, Mol & Nutr Epidemiol Unit, Florence, Italy.
* Natl Inst Publ Hlth & Environm, Dept Epidemiol, NL-3720 BA Bilthoven, Netherlands.
* Univ Utrecht, Julius Ctr Gen Practice & Patient Oriented Res, Utrecht, Netherlands.
* Univ Tromso, Inst Community Med, Tromso, Norway.
* Catalan Inst Oncol, Dept Epidemiol, Barcelona, Spain.
* Inst Publ Hlth Navarra, Serv Surveillance & Epidemiol Control, Pamplona, Spain.
* Lund Univ, Malmo Univ Hosp, Dept Med, S-22100 Lund, Sweden.
* Univ Hosp No Sweden, Umea, Sweden.
* Univ Cambridge, Sch Clin Med, Dept Publ Hlth & Primary Care, Cambridge CB2 1TN, England.
* Univ Oxford, Canc Res UK, Epidemiol Unit, Oxford OX1 2JD, England.
* IARC, WHO, Hormones & Canc Grp, Lyon, France.
* IFC Natl Res Council, Div Epidemiol, Pisa, Italy.

Why do you think your paper is highly cited?

The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) is conducted in 22 research centers across 10 European countries under the coordination of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), with the purpose of investigating the role of biological, dietary, lifestyle, and environmental factors in the etiology of cancer and other chronic diseases. The project is an important one and is likely to generate much new information. Currently, many studies are published or are in progress and most of them are obviously citing this paper, which provides details on the philosophy, essence, and scope of EPIC.

Does it describe a new discovery or a new methodology that's useful to others?

The paper describes the methodology of what is probably the largest-ever epidemiological undertaking in Europe.

Could you summarize the significance of your paper in layman's terms?

Etiology of disease in humans relies principally on studies undertaken in humans and large prospective investigations represent the best non-invasive design. EPIC focuses on both genetic and environmental etiologic components of chronic diseases, includes approximately half a million Europeans who are prospectively followed up and has already generated important information that has been published in the peer-reviewed literature.

How did you become involved in this research?

EPIC is coordinated by IARC, but data are collected in centers across 10 European countries. Data from Greece are collected by the Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology of the University of Athens Medical School. Antonia Trichopoulou, M.D., Ph.D. is the principal investigator of the Greek EPIC component. Dimitrios Trichopoulos, M.D., Ph.D. is a senior epidemiology consultant.

Dimitrios Trichopoulos, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Cancer Prevention and Professor of Epidemiology
Department of Epidemiology
Harvard School of Public Health
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Professor of Hygiene and Epidemiology
Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology
University of Athens Medical School
Athens, Greece

Antonia Trichopoulou, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Nutrition and Preventive Medicine
Director of the WHO Collaborating Center for Nutrition in Greece
Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology
University of Athens Medical School
Professor Emeritus of Nutrition and Biochemistry
Hellenic National School of Public Health
Athens, Greece

ESI Special Topics, May 2004
Citing URL - http://www.esi-topics.com/nhp/2004/may-04-Trichopoulos_Trichopoulou.html