Cohort profile: Biomarkers related to folate-dependent one-carbon metabolism in colorectal cancer recurrence and survival - the FOCUS Consortium

Biljana Gigic; Eline van Roekel; Andreana N Holowatyj; Stefanie Brezina; Anne J M R Geijsen; Arve Ulvik; Jennifer Ose; Janna L Koole; Victoria Damerell; Rama Kiblawi; Tanja Gumpenberger; Tengda Lin; Gry Kvalheim; Torsten Koelsch; Dieuwertje E Kok; Franzel J van Duijnhoven; Martijn J Bours; Andreas Baierl; Christopher I Li; William Grady; Kathy Vickers; Nina Habermann; Martin Schneider; Ellen Kampman; Per Magne Ueland; Alexis Ulrich; Matty Weijenberg; Andrea Gsur; Cornelia Ulrich; FOCUS Consortium

doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2022-062930

Cohort profile: Biomarkers related to folate-dependent one-carbon metabolism in colorectal cancer recurrence and survival - the FOCUS Consortium

Biljana Gigic, Eline van Roekel, Andreana N Holowatyj, Stefanie Brezina, Anne J M R Geijsen, Arve Ulvik, Jennifer Ose, Janna L Koole, Victoria Damerell, Rama Kiblawi, Tanja Gumpenberger, Tengda Lin, Gry Kvalheim, Torsten Koelsch, Dieuwertje E Kok, Franzel J van Duijnhoven, Martijn J Bours, Andreas Baierl, Christopher I Li, William GradyKathy Vickers, Nina Habermann, Martin Schneider, Ellen Kampman, Per Magne Ueland, Alexis Ulrich, Matty Weijenberg, Andrea Gsur, Cornelia Ulrich^*, FOCUS Consortium

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

PURPOSE: The overarching goal of the FOCUS (biomarkers related to folate-dependent one-carbon metabolism in colorectal cancer (CRC) recurrence and survival) Consortium is to unravel the effect of folate and folate-mediated one-carbon metabolism (FOCM) biomarkers on CRC prognosis to provide clinically relevant advice on folate intake to cancer patients and define future tertiary prevention strategies.

PARTICIPANTS: The FOCUS Consortium is an international, prospective cohort of 2401 women and men above 18 years of age who were diagnosed with a primary invasive non-metastatic (stages I-III) CRC. The consortium comprises patients from Austria, two sites from the Netherlands, Germany and two sites from the USA. Patients are recruited after CRC diagnosis and followed at 6 and 12 months after enrolment. At each time point, sociodemographic data, data on health behaviour and clinical data are collected, blood samples are drawn.

FINDINGS TO DATE: An increased risk of cancer recurrences was observed among patients with higher compared with lower circulating folic acid concentrations. Furthermore, specific folate species within the FOCM pathway were associated with both inflammation and angiogenesis pathways among patients with CRC. In addition, higher vitamin B6 status was associated with better quality of life at 6 months post-treatment.

FUTURE PLANS: Better insights into the research on associations between folate and FOCM biomarkers and clinical outcomes in patients with CRC will facilitate the development of guidelines regarding folate intake in order to provide clinically relevant advice to patients with cancer, health professionals involved in patient care, and ultimately further tertiary prevention strategies in the future. The FOCUS Consortium offers an excellent infrastructure for short-term and long-term research projects and for combining additional biomarkers and data resulting from the individual cohorts within the next years, for example, microbiome data, omics and multiomics data or CT-quantified body composition data.

Original language	English
Article number	e062930
Number of pages	17
Journal	BMJ Open
Volume	12
Issue number	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-062930
Publication status	Published - 22 Dec 2022

Keywords

Male
Humans
Female
Folic Acid
Prospective Studies
Quality of Life
Biomarkers
Colorectal Neoplasms/metabolism
Carbon/metabolism

Access to Document

10.1136/bmjopen-2022-062930Licence: CC BY

Cite this

Gigic, B., van Roekel, E., Holowatyj, A. N., Brezina, S., Geijsen, A. J. M. R., Ulvik, A., Ose, J., Koole, J. L., Damerell, V., Kiblawi, R., Gumpenberger, T., Lin, T., Kvalheim, G., Koelsch, T., Kok, D. E., van Duijnhoven, F. J., Bours, M. J., Baierl, A., Li, C. I., ... FOCUS Consortium (2022). Cohort profile: Biomarkers related to folate-dependent one-carbon metabolism in colorectal cancer recurrence and survival - the FOCUS Consortium. BMJ Open, 12(12), Article e062930. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-062930

@article{11ec8835be294e0999db8c29925afda0,

title = "Cohort profile: Biomarkers related to folate-dependent one-carbon metabolism in colorectal cancer recurrence and survival - the FOCUS Consortium",

abstract = "PURPOSE: The overarching goal of the FOCUS (biomarkers related to folate-dependent one-carbon metabolism in colorectal cancer (CRC) recurrence and survival) Consortium is to unravel the effect of folate and folate-mediated one-carbon metabolism (FOCM) biomarkers on CRC prognosis to provide clinically relevant advice on folate intake to cancer patients and define future tertiary prevention strategies.PARTICIPANTS: The FOCUS Consortium is an international, prospective cohort of 2401 women and men above 18 years of age who were diagnosed with a primary invasive non-metastatic (stages I-III) CRC. The consortium comprises patients from Austria, two sites from the Netherlands, Germany and two sites from the USA. Patients are recruited after CRC diagnosis and followed at 6 and 12 months after enrolment. At each time point, sociodemographic data, data on health behaviour and clinical data are collected, blood samples are drawn.FINDINGS TO DATE: An increased risk of cancer recurrences was observed among patients with higher compared with lower circulating folic acid concentrations. Furthermore, specific folate species within the FOCM pathway were associated with both inflammation and angiogenesis pathways among patients with CRC. In addition, higher vitamin B6 status was associated with better quality of life at 6 months post-treatment.FUTURE PLANS: Better insights into the research on associations between folate and FOCM biomarkers and clinical outcomes in patients with CRC will facilitate the development of guidelines regarding folate intake in order to provide clinically relevant advice to patients with cancer, health professionals involved in patient care, and ultimately further tertiary prevention strategies in the future. The FOCUS Consortium offers an excellent infrastructure for short-term and long-term research projects and for combining additional biomarkers and data resulting from the individual cohorts within the next years, for example, microbiome data, omics and multiomics data or CT-quantified body composition data.",

keywords = "Male, Humans, Female, Folic Acid, Prospective Studies, Quality of Life, Biomarkers, Colorectal Neoplasms/metabolism, Carbon/metabolism",

author = "Biljana Gigic and {van Roekel}, Eline and Holowatyj, {Andreana N} and Stefanie Brezina and Geijsen, {Anne J M R} and Arve Ulvik and Jennifer Ose and Koole, {Janna L} and Victoria Damerell and Rama Kiblawi and Tanja Gumpenberger and Tengda Lin and Gry Kvalheim and Torsten Koelsch and Kok, {Dieuwertje E} and {van Duijnhoven}, {Franzel J} and Bours, {Martijn J} and Andreas Baierl and Li, {Christopher I} and William Grady and Kathy Vickers and Nina Habermann and Martin Schneider and Ellen Kampman and Ueland, {Per Magne} and Alexis Ulrich and Matty Weijenberg and Andrea Gsur and Cornelia Ulrich and {FOCUS Consortium}",

note = "{\textcopyright} Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.",

year = "2022",

month = dec,

day = "22",

doi = "10.1136/bmjopen-2022-062930",

language = "English",

volume = "12",

journal = "BMJ Open",

issn = "2044-6055",

publisher = "BMJ Publishing Group",

number = "12",

}

Gigic, B, van Roekel, E, Holowatyj, AN, Brezina, S, Geijsen, AJMR, Ulvik, A, Ose, J, Koole, JL, Damerell, V, Kiblawi, R, Gumpenberger, T, Lin, T, Kvalheim, G, Koelsch, T, Kok, DE, van Duijnhoven, FJ, Bours, MJ, Baierl, A, Li, CI, Grady, W, Vickers, K, Habermann, N, Schneider, M, Kampman, E, Ueland, PM, Ulrich, A, Weijenberg, M, Gsur, A, Ulrich, C & FOCUS Consortium 2022, 'Cohort profile: Biomarkers related to folate-dependent one-carbon metabolism in colorectal cancer recurrence and survival - the FOCUS Consortium', BMJ Open, vol. 12, no. 12, e062930. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-062930

TY - JOUR

T1 - Cohort profile

T2 - Biomarkers related to folate-dependent one-carbon metabolism in colorectal cancer recurrence and survival - the FOCUS Consortium

AU - Gigic, Biljana

AU - van Roekel, Eline

AU - Holowatyj, Andreana N

AU - Brezina, Stefanie

AU - Geijsen, Anne J M R

AU - Ulvik, Arve

AU - Ose, Jennifer

AU - Koole, Janna L

AU - Damerell, Victoria

AU - Kiblawi, Rama

AU - Gumpenberger, Tanja

AU - Lin, Tengda

AU - Kvalheim, Gry

AU - Koelsch, Torsten

AU - Kok, Dieuwertje E

AU - van Duijnhoven, Franzel J

AU - Bours, Martijn J

AU - Baierl, Andreas

AU - Li, Christopher I

AU - Grady, William

AU - Vickers, Kathy

AU - Habermann, Nina

AU - Schneider, Martin

AU - Kampman, Ellen

AU - Ueland, Per Magne

AU - Ulrich, Alexis

AU - Weijenberg, Matty

AU - Gsur, Andrea

AU - Ulrich, Cornelia

AU - FOCUS Consortium

PY - 2022/12/22

Y1 - 2022/12/22

N2 - PURPOSE: The overarching goal of the FOCUS (biomarkers related to folate-dependent one-carbon metabolism in colorectal cancer (CRC) recurrence and survival) Consortium is to unravel the effect of folate and folate-mediated one-carbon metabolism (FOCM) biomarkers on CRC prognosis to provide clinically relevant advice on folate intake to cancer patients and define future tertiary prevention strategies.PARTICIPANTS: The FOCUS Consortium is an international, prospective cohort of 2401 women and men above 18 years of age who were diagnosed with a primary invasive non-metastatic (stages I-III) CRC. The consortium comprises patients from Austria, two sites from the Netherlands, Germany and two sites from the USA. Patients are recruited after CRC diagnosis and followed at 6 and 12 months after enrolment. At each time point, sociodemographic data, data on health behaviour and clinical data are collected, blood samples are drawn.FINDINGS TO DATE: An increased risk of cancer recurrences was observed among patients with higher compared with lower circulating folic acid concentrations. Furthermore, specific folate species within the FOCM pathway were associated with both inflammation and angiogenesis pathways among patients with CRC. In addition, higher vitamin B6 status was associated with better quality of life at 6 months post-treatment.FUTURE PLANS: Better insights into the research on associations between folate and FOCM biomarkers and clinical outcomes in patients with CRC will facilitate the development of guidelines regarding folate intake in order to provide clinically relevant advice to patients with cancer, health professionals involved in patient care, and ultimately further tertiary prevention strategies in the future. The FOCUS Consortium offers an excellent infrastructure for short-term and long-term research projects and for combining additional biomarkers and data resulting from the individual cohorts within the next years, for example, microbiome data, omics and multiomics data or CT-quantified body composition data.

AB - PURPOSE: The overarching goal of the FOCUS (biomarkers related to folate-dependent one-carbon metabolism in colorectal cancer (CRC) recurrence and survival) Consortium is to unravel the effect of folate and folate-mediated one-carbon metabolism (FOCM) biomarkers on CRC prognosis to provide clinically relevant advice on folate intake to cancer patients and define future tertiary prevention strategies.PARTICIPANTS: The FOCUS Consortium is an international, prospective cohort of 2401 women and men above 18 years of age who were diagnosed with a primary invasive non-metastatic (stages I-III) CRC. The consortium comprises patients from Austria, two sites from the Netherlands, Germany and two sites from the USA. Patients are recruited after CRC diagnosis and followed at 6 and 12 months after enrolment. At each time point, sociodemographic data, data on health behaviour and clinical data are collected, blood samples are drawn.FINDINGS TO DATE: An increased risk of cancer recurrences was observed among patients with higher compared with lower circulating folic acid concentrations. Furthermore, specific folate species within the FOCM pathway were associated with both inflammation and angiogenesis pathways among patients with CRC. In addition, higher vitamin B6 status was associated with better quality of life at 6 months post-treatment.FUTURE PLANS: Better insights into the research on associations between folate and FOCM biomarkers and clinical outcomes in patients with CRC will facilitate the development of guidelines regarding folate intake in order to provide clinically relevant advice to patients with cancer, health professionals involved in patient care, and ultimately further tertiary prevention strategies in the future. The FOCUS Consortium offers an excellent infrastructure for short-term and long-term research projects and for combining additional biomarkers and data resulting from the individual cohorts within the next years, for example, microbiome data, omics and multiomics data or CT-quantified body composition data.

KW - Male

KW - Humans

KW - Female

KW - Folic Acid

KW - Prospective Studies

KW - Quality of Life

KW - Biomarkers

KW - Colorectal Neoplasms/metabolism

KW - Carbon/metabolism

U2 - 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-062930

DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-062930

M3 - Article

C2 - 36549742

SN - 2044-6055

VL - 12

JO - BMJ Open

JF - BMJ Open

IS - 12

M1 - e062930

ER -