Interaction between genomic and dietary aspects in gastric cancer risk: the international StoP project
Interaction between genomic and dietary aspects in gastric cancer risk: the international StoP project
Contact person: Stefania Boccia, Roberta Pastorino
Short Title: GenoSToP
Call for applications: Call 2022 "Targeted Research"
Project Code: RF-2021-12373951
Start date: 01/06/2023
End date: 01/04/2027
Coordinator: Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli
Funding body: Ministry of Health
Link: https://www.genostop.it/
Abstract: The project "Interaction of genomic and dietary aspects in gastric cancer risk: the global StoP project (GenoStop)" aims to examine the role of diet, lifestyle and genetic factors in the etiology of gastric cancer (CG), using data from the international consortium Stomach Cancer Pooling (StoP) project. This consortium brings together numerous studies on the etiology of CG and represents the largest global dataset on this disease. The team of the present project is among the leading and founding groups of the consortium.
The project is structured on three different complementary Work Packages (WPs), in order to pursue three specific objectives as per the initial project:
- Aim 1 (WP1) (FPG1, UNIBO): to investigate the association between CG, lifestyles and diet. In Task 1.1, the relationship between different micronutrients, macronutrients, vitamins and the risk of CG are analyzed through a two-stage analytical approach within the StoP consortium. In addition, the objective includes the analysis of the consumption of less frequent foods in the diet, in order to better understand their role in the risk of CG.
- Aim 2 (WP2) (FPG1, UNIBO): to investigate the association between traditional risk factors and CG, even in rare populations (e.g. in young patients, onset at the gastroesophageal junction or in other non-cardiac sites, etc.). In Task 2.1, an analysis of the main risk factors is conducted in subgroups of studies and in groups of rare patients, using data from the StoP consortium. As in Task 1.1, a two-stage analytical approach is adopted. In addition, the attributable risks in the population for the main modifiable risk factors are calculated, in order to assess their overall impact and estimate the preventable fraction of CG in the Italian youth population.
- Objective 3 (WP3) (FPG1, FPG2): To develop and validate a predictive model using the polygenic risk score (PRS) to assess the hereditary risk of developing CG specifically for the European population. The PRS is built during the training phase, through the creation of four different PRS models, each based on different statistical significance thresholds (p-values). These thresholds will reflect the degree of association between each single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and the risk of CG. Once developed, the model will undergo validation processes to ensure accuracy and reliability in estimating the genetic risk for the target population. Finally, we integrate PRS into traditional prediction models to determine whether the addition of PRS can improve discriminative accuracy in CG risk estimation.
The study has a duration of 3 years and involves the participation of two operating units based in Rome (FPG1, FPG2) and an academic operating unit based in Bologna (UNIBO). UNIBO is the international data center of the StoP Project and is responsible for data management, inclusion of new studies and preparation of a unique dataset for the consortium.
