Southern Community Cohort Study

William J. Blot, Ph.D.
Vanderbilt University and International Epidemiology Institute, Ltd.
Nashville, Tenn., and Rockville, Md.
Funded since 2001
Web site

The current body of knowledge regarding the etiology and prevention of cancer draws substantially from prospective epidemiologic studies, among which African Americans have been greatly underrepresented. Meanwhile, African Americans experience a disproportionate incidence of and/or mortality from many major cancers and other chronic diseases for reasons that remain unknown.

Our objective is to initiate a long-term prospective cohort study comprised of approximately 90,000 residents age 40 to 79, over two-thirds African American, of southeastern U.S. states. Comprehensive baseline information will be collected about dietary, lifestyle, medical, occupational, and other factors, and a large biospecimen repository will be established that can be used to test future hypotheses involving individual susceptibility to environmental carcinogens.

Over 80% of the cohort members are being recruited from southern community health centers, providing health services to primarily low-income residents without health insurance. Here participants are being offered an in-person assisted interview using a structured questionnaire and the collection of blood, buccal cells, and urine specimens in a practical and convenient setting. The remainder will be recruited from the general population, identified from drivers license and voter registration records, and other sources. The cohort will then be followed actively via periodic repeat contact and passively via linkage with state cancer registries and the National Death Index.

The cohort was designed to be large enough to begin analyses of specific risk factors for common cancers (prostate, lung, breast, colorectal) within a few years of enrollment completion. Furthermore, the large study size will enable the assessment of less common cancers afflicting blacks more than other racial groups shortly thereafter, and the biospecimen repository will provide an invaluable resource for the evaluation of biomarkers of cancer risk.

Cohort recruitment is still currently active at nearly 20 community health centers. Over 82,000 persons have enrolled by mid-2008, with 92% providing biologic specimens for future assay. The study should help answer questions regarding the etiology of certain cancers, elucidate causes of the disparities in cancer incidence and mortality across racial groups, and lead to the development of measures aimed at the prevention of cancer and other diseases, especially among African Americans.