Publications

Les publications qui suivent sont des exemples de recherches rendues possibles grâce aux données de CanPath et de ses cohortes régionales.

2025

Provincial variation in colorectal cancer screening adherence in Canada; evidence from the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health

Auteurs : M. Darvishian, A. Moustaqim-Barrette, P. Awadalla, P. Bhatti, P. Broet, R. A. Murphy, K. Skead, R. Urquhart, J. Vena, T. J. B. Dummer.

The researchers investigated how social and medical characteristics influence adherence to breast cancer screening in Canada. They used data from five regional cohorts of the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health (CanPath): the BC Generations Project (BCGP), Alberta’s Tomorrow Project (ATP), the Ontario Health Study (OHS), Quebec’s CARTaGENE, and the Atlantic Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health Study (Atlantic PATH). They analyzed self-reported data on screening mammography among 79,986 participants aged 50-74 and 46,907 participants aged 40-49. Most participants reported undergoing screening within two years of enrollment, with rates ranging from 77.8% in OHS to 86.3% in BCGP. Factors linked to lower odds of screening included lower household income, being single or never married, current daily smoking, poor self-perceived health, no history of breastfeeding, and longer intervals since the last routine medical check-up. Among women aged 40-49 with a first-degree family history of breast cancer, screening adherence varied by region and was lower among those post-menopause or with longer intervals since medical check-ups. These findings highlight key factors for targeting underserved communities and suggest that early screening guidelines may benefit from considering regional differences and individual health characteristics.

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2025

Covert vascular brain injury and cognitive dysfunction among Chinese adults living in Canada and China

Auteurs : C. Ke, S.S. Anand, E.E. Smith , K.M. Schulze, A. Moody

The researchers examined how country of residence influences covert cerebrovascular disease (VBI) and cognitive dysfunction among Chinese adults living in Canada and China. The study compared Chinese adults in Canada and China. They found that people in Canada had a lower prevalence of covert VBI and cognitive dysfunction than those living in China, even though both groups shared the same ethnicity. Living in China was associated with a much higher risk of covert VBI and lower cognitive function, although the link between cognitive dysfunction and country of residence was explained by education and traditional cerebrovascular risk factors, such as blood pressure and cholesterol.

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2024

Exposure to air pollutants and subclinical carotid atherosclerosis measured by magnetic resonance imaging: A cross-sectional analysis

Auteurs : S. M. Azab, D. Doiron, K. M. Schulze, J. R. Brook, M. Brauer, E. E. Smith, A. R. Moody, D. Desai, M. G. Friedrich, S. I. Bangdiwala, D. Zeraatkar, D. Lee, T. J. B. Dummer, P. Poirier, J.-C. Tardif, K. K. Teo, S. Lear, S. Yusuf, S. S. Anand, R. J. de Souza.

The researchers examined how long-term exposure to air pollution affects early signs of heart disease. They used data to explore whether low levels of air pollutants are linked to the thickening of artery walls. The study included 6,645 adults from five Canadian provinces and estimated their exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), ozone (O₃), and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) over several years. Using MRI scans to measure carotid artery wall thickness, the researchers found mixed results. Higher levels of ozone were linked to thicker artery walls, suggesting a potential negative effect, while higher nitrogen dioxide levels were associated with thinner artery walls, a finding that requires further investigation.

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2024

Investigating the genetic architecture of eye colour in a Canadian cohort

Auteurs : F.Lona-Durazo, R.Thakur, E. Pairo-Castineira, K. Funderburk, T. Zhang, M. A. Kovacs, J. Choi, I. J. Jackson, K. M. Brown, E. J. Parra

Researchers used data from 5,641 participants of European ancestry from the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health (CanPath) and performed genome-wide association studies to investigate the genetic basis of eye color. The study identified multiple independent candidate causal variants in the HERC2/OCA2 region, along with single candidate variants near other genes such as IRF4, SLC24A4, TYR, and TYRP1. These findings suggest that eye color variation is influenced by specific molecular processes in iris melanocytes.

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2024

Early Changes in Tumor-Naive Cell-Free Methylomes and Fragmentomes Predict Outcomes in Pembrolizumab-Treated Solid Tumors

Auteurs : Eric Y. Stutheit-Zhao, Enrique Sanz-Garcia; Zhihui (Amy) Liu; Derek Wong; Kayla Marsh; Albiruni R. Abdul Razak; Anna Spreafico; Philippe L. Bedard; Aaron R. Hansen; Stephanie Lheureux; Dax Torti; Bernard Lam; Shih Yu Cindy Yang; Justin Burgener; Ping Luo; Yong Zeng; Nicholas Cheng; Philip Awadalla; Scott V. Bratman; Pamela S. Ohashi; Trevor J. Pugh; Lillian L. Siu

The researchers investigated pharmacodynamic biomarkers of response to pembrolizumab in 106 patients with advanced solid tumors. Researchers analyzed genome-wide methylation and fragment-length profiles using cfMeDIP-seq in 204 plasma samples from 87 patients. Two cohorts of normal control cfMeDIP-seq data, including 72 healthy women from the Ontario Health Study, were used for comparison. CSM and FLS are strongly correlated with tumor-informed ctDNA levels. The study found that early kinetics of cancer-specific methylation (CSM) predicted overall survival and progression-free survival, independent of tumor type, PD-L1, and tumor mutation burden. The researchers’ tumor-naïve mutation-agnostic ctDNA approach integrating methylomics and fragmentomics could predict outcomes in patients treated with pembrolizumab.

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2024

Risk factors for early-onset colorectal cancer: A Canadian prospective cohort study

Auteurs : Dylan E O'Sullivan, Yibing Ruan, Eliya Farah, John M Hutchinson, Robert J Hilsden, Darren R Brenner

Researchers aimed to determine associations between specific risk factors and early-onset colorectal cancer (eoCRC). Accordingly, the researchers utilized data from 127,852 healthy study participants who were less than 50 years of age and were either part of the Ontario Health Study cohort or the Alberta’s Tomorrow Project cohort. Ninety-eight cases of eoCRC were identified after an average follow-up of 6.63 years. Analyses indicated that a family history of CRC alone or with a history of other cancer types was associated with a heightened risk of developing eoCRC. However, there was no significant association between eoCRC and a family history of solely non-CRC cancer. Those classified as heavy smokers at baseline had a higher risk of eoCRC compared to non-smokers. Lastly, there were no significant associations between sex, socioeconomic factors, diabetes, alcohol consumption, and other factors with the risk of eoCRC.

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2024

The mediating role of health behaviors in the association between depression, anxiety and cancer incidence: An individual participant data meta-analysis

Auteurs : Kuan-Yu Pan, Lonneke van Tuijl , Maartje Basten, Judith J M Rijnhart, Alexander de Graeff, Joost Dekker , Mirjam I Geerlings, Adriaan Hoogendoorn, Adelita V Ranchor, Roel Vermeulen, Lützen Portengen, Adri C Voogd, Jessica Abell, Philip Awadalla, Aartjan T F Beekman, Ottar Bjerkeset, Andy Boyd, Yunsong Cui, Philipp Frank, Henrike Galenkamp, Bert Garssen, Sean Hellingman, Monika Hollander, Martijn Huisman, Anke Huss, Melanie R Keats, Almar A L Kok, Steinar Krokstad, Flora E van Leeuwen, Annemarie I Luik, Nolwenn Noisel, Yves Payette, Brenda W J H Penninx , Susan Picavet, Ina Rissanen, Annelieke M Roest, Judith G M Rosmalen, Rikje Ruiter, Robert A Schoevers, David Soave, Mandy Spaan, Andrew Steptoe, Karien Stronks, Erik R Sund, Ellen Sweeney, Alison Teyhan, Emma L Twait, Kimberly D van der Willik, Femke Lamers

Researchers investigated how various health behaviors might mediate the relationships between depression, anxiety, and the onset of different types of cancer. They conducted individual participant data meta-analyses using participants from 18 cohorts from the Psychosocial Factors and Cancer Incidence consortium.The cohorts analyzed included the Atlantic Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health, Ontario Health Study, and CARTaGENE. The findings suggested that smoking serves as a mediating factor that connects depression and anxiety with lung cancer and other cancers related to smoking.

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2024

Age- and sex-specific associations of frailty with mortality and healthcare utilization in community-dwelling adults from Ontario, Canada

Auteurs : Chris P. Verschoor, Olga Theou, Jinhui Ma, Phyllis Montgomery, Sharolyn Mossey, Parveen Nangia, Refik Saskin, David W. Savage

The researchers sought to estimate the association of frailty with the risk of death, hospital admissions, and length of hospital stay. Using data from the Ontario Health Study linked to all-cause mortality and hospital admissions data from ICES, they found that frailty is an important health construct for both younger and older adults.

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2024

Psychosocial factors, health behaviors and risk of cancer incidence: Testing interaction and effect modification in an individual participant data meta-analysis

Auteurs : Maartje Basten, Kuan-Yu Pan, Lonneke A vanTuijl, Alexander de Graeff, Joost Dekker, Adriaan W Hoogendoorn, Femke Lamers, Adelita V Ranchor, Roel Vermeulen, Lützen Portengen, Adri C Voogd, Jessica Abell, Philip Awadalla, Aartjan T.F. Beekman, Ottar Bjerkeset, Andy Boyd, Yunsong Cui, Philipp Frank, Henrike Galenkamp, Bert Garssen, Sean Hellingman, Martijn Huisman, Anke Huss, Melanie R. Keats, Almar A.L. Kok, Steinar Krokstad, Flora E. van Leeuwen, Annemarie I. Luik, NolwennNoisel, Yves Payette, Brenda W.J.H. Penninx, Ina Rissanen, Annelieke M. Roest, Judith G.M. Rosmalen, Rikje Ruiter, Robert A. Schoevers, David Soave, Mandy Spaan, Andrew Steptoe, Karien Stronks, Erik R. Sund, Ellen Sweeney, Emma L. Twait, Alison Teyhan, W.M. Monique Verschuren, Kimberly D. van der Willik, Mirjam I. Geerlings

Researchers determined whether psychosocial factors interact with or modify the effects of health behaviors, such as smoking and alcohol use, in relation to cancer incidence. Data were used from 22 cohorts, including the Ontario Health Study, Atlantic Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health, and CARTaGENE. After exploring 744 combinations of psychosocial factors, the researchers found no evidence that psychosocial factors interacted with or modified health behaviors related to cancer incidence.

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2023

Factors associated with change in moderate or severe symptoms of anxiety and depression in community-living adults and older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic

Auteurs : Helen-Maria Vasiliadis, Jessica Spagnolo, Mary Bartram, Marie-Josée Fleury, Jean-Philippe Gouin, Sébastien Grenier, Pasquale Roberge, Grace Shen-Tu, Jennifer E Vena, Catherine Lamoureux-Lamarche , JianLi Wang

Researchers explored changes in moderate or severe symptoms of anxiety or depression (MSSANXDEP) from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, and examined associated sociodemographic, economic, psychosocial, health behavior and lifestyle, and clinical factors. Data from 59,997 participants from the five established cohorts of the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health (CanPath) were used. Analyses indicated that certain sociodemographic, economic, lifestyle, health behavior, psychosocial, and clinical factors were associated with remitted, incident, and persistent MSSANXDEP.

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