Environmental Factor – March 2021: Innovative research into cancer, DNTP Board meeting addresses

Two initiatives — expanding knowledge about how certain environmental factors can increase cancer risk and assessing risks from exposure to a mixture of chemicals — are titled National Toxicology Program (NTP) Board of Scientific Advisers meeting on February 2.

At the fall 2019 meeting of the Society for Environmental Genetics and Mutagenesis, Wang described the ten main characteristics of carcinogens. (Image credits to Steve McCaw / NIEHS)

Attention to cancer prevention

Amy Wang, Ph.D., and Arun Banderi, Ph.D., describe the Cancer-Causing Health Effects Innovation Program. It is one of three projects focused on disease-based toxicology, which are part of the NTP Division’s (DNTP) research strategy. Other projects – studying how the environment affects cardiovascular health and neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism – were the subject of a board meeting in December 2020.

“It is estimated that four out of ten people will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives,” Wang said, explaining the public health importance of the carcinogenicity program. Among people with cancer, one in five dies from it. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States as well as worldwide.”

Cancer incidence and mortality rates have decreased dramatically in recent years. However, much work remains to improve prevention efforts and reduce disparities. For example, although the curve slopes downward, blacks still have the highest cancer mortality rate of any racial group.

“We know a lot about Essence [biological] risk factors, but these account for less than 30% of cancer cases.” She stressed the importance of identifying environmental contributors, noting that up to half of all cancers are preventable.

3D Organisms, Cancer Genetics, Data Sharing

Traditional DNTP cancer studies are subject to rigorous peer review and yield valuable data, but it may take some time before decision makers and the public receive such information. Banderi said that to speed up research and make results more easily available, program scientists will adopt advanced testing approaches and expand collaboration with outside experts. Below are some of the program’s objectives.

Banderi said an important aspect of the carcinogenicity program is outreach to stakeholders and the public through white papers, workshops and social media. (Image credits to Steve McCaw / NIEHS)

• Integrating human cancer genetics research into cancer studies to advance understanding of exposures that cause tissue-specific tumours, such as early colorectal cancer.
• Development of human-relevant 3D organisms to investigate cancer mechanisms and origins. Organelles are tissue cultures that model a specific organ, such as the heart or liver.
• He partnered with researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute in the UK, the Ramazzini Institute in Italy, and TwinStrand Biosciences in the US, and other industry and academic partners to quickly predict cancer risk.
• Establish and adhere to a database that supports and adheres to computational methods in carcinogenicity studies Principles of FAIR Searchability, accessibility, interoperability and reuse.

all mixed up

Toxicologist Cynthia Ryder, Ph.D., told board members about Combined exposures and mixtures program(https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/about_ntp/bsc/2021/f February/meeting_materials/cem_bsc_508.pdf), one of three exposure-related DNTP initiatives. The other two focus on consumer products and workplace hazards.

“The truth is, we’re exposed to a variety of dynamic mixes throughout our days,” she said. These mixtures may contain chemicals as well as factors such as psychosocial stress.

One goal is to prioritize research on mixtures based on cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other human-related diseases. This differs from methods that tend to focus only on the similarities between environmental factors in their chemical structure or mechanism of action.

More than the sum of the parts

Ryder joined DNTP in 2010, after completing postdoctoral training at the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. (Image credits to Steve McCaw / NIEHS)

Another goal is to enhance risk analysis by developing a whole mixture testing approach and comparing results with an ingredient-based strategy. The former analyzes the toxicity of an entire mixture, while the latter uses data on individual agents to determine potential risks.

“Our hypothesis is that chemicals that target divergent signaling pathways [in the body] cumulatively contribute to the development of the disease.”

Cooperation with the public and private sectors plant safety association It’s just one way the new program benefits the broader toxicology community, she explains.

We aim [to] Identify the basic principles of hazardous mixtures, so we are using plants as an example of a complex mixture to build tools that apply to other complex mixtures,” Ryder said.

(Jesse Saffron, JD, is the media relations coordinator for the NIEHS Office of Communications and Public Communication.)

from San Jose News Bulletin https://sjnewsbulletin.com/environmental-factor-march-2021-innovative-research-into-cancer-dntp-board-meeting-addresses/