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This research program aims at elucidating how chemical and physical exposures encountered in the professional and general environments influence cancer development, especially prostate cancer. Risk factors associated with the progression of this cancer will also be studied. A research tool will be developed to support future studies of the role of sedentary behaviour and physical activity in cancer and other outcomes, accounting for sex and gender-based differences in workplace tasks and energy expenditure.
Holder
Marie-Élise Parent, professor at Armand-Frappier Santé Biotechnologie Research Centre
Background
Cancer is a major public health problem in Canada and worldwide. Its causes are multiple, and include occupational, environmental, lifestyle and genetic factors. Their relative importance varies by cancer site. Identifying modifiable factors is necessary for prevention, the first essential step in the fight against cancer.
The descriptive epidemiology provides compelling evidence that environmental exposures play a role in prostate cancer development, yet very little research has been conducted to date to identify the specific factors implicated. This research program aims at elucidating how exposures encountered in the professional and general environments influence cancer development, especially prostate cancer.
Objective
A first objective of the program is to study the role of several chemical and physical agents in prostate cancer risk. This will be accomplished by exploring associations with these factors in the context of a vast population-based case-control study of the environment and prostate cancer conducted in Montreal, Canada, which collected unique information on lifetime occupational and environmental exposures.
Physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour have been linked to prostate cancer and several other adverse health outcomes. The lack of a comprehensive and reliable research tool to assess workplace energy expenditure quantitatively in large population studies has hampered progress in this area. The second objective of this research program will fill this gap. This will involve the development of a job-exposure matrix to assign levels of energy expenditure to job titles. It will be made available to the scientific community to be used in future epidemiological studies of the role of physical activity in cancer and other outcomes. A distinctive feature of this research tool is that it will account for sex and gender-based differences in workplace tasks.
An enigmatic facet of prostate cancers is that some tumours progress while others do not. A third objective of this program consists in identifying factors that are associated with prostate cancer progression.
Partners and collaborators
Several collaborations aiming at clarifying the role of environmental factors in cancer will be pursued. This internationally-based program will provide novel evidence on the role of the environment in cancer development. This will guide regulations and policies and contribute to establishing preventive strategies against cancer in the population.