Joellen M. Schildkraut

While childbearing protects against risk of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), few studies have explored the impact on maternal EOC risk of sex of offspring, which may affect the maternal environment during pregnancy. We performed a pooled an…

To investigate the association between self-reported endometriosis and the putative functional promoter +331C/T single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and the PROGINS allele.

As a follow-up to genome-wide association analysis of common variants associated with ovarian carcinoma (cancer), our study considers seven well-known ovarian cancer risk factors and their interactions with 28 genome-wide significant common…

PURPOSE: Although the incidence rate of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is somewhat lower in African American (AA) than white women, survival is worse. The Ovarian Cancer in Women of African Ancestry (OCWAA) consortium will overcome small, …

We aimed to validate the prognostic association of p16 expression in ovarian high-grade serous carcinomas (HGSC) and to explore it in other ovarian carcinoma histotypes. p16 protein expression was assessed by clinical-grade immunohistochemi…

BACKGROUND: The association between common benign gynecologic conditions and ovarian cancer remains under-studied in African Americans. Therefore, we examine the association between self-reported history of benign gynecologic conditions and…

BACKGROUND: Ovarian cancer incidence differs substantially by race/ethnicity, but the reasons for this are not well understood. Data were pooled from the African American Cancer Epidemiology Study (AACES) and 11 case-control studies in the …

There have been recent proposals advocating the use of additive gene-environment interaction instead of the widely used multiplicative scale, as a more relevant public health measure. Using gene-environment independence enhances statistical…

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Only recently has it become clear that epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is comprised of such distinct histotypes--with different cells of origin, morphology, molecular features, epidemiologic factors, clinical features, an…

BACKGROUND: Smoking is a risk factor for mucinous ovarian cancer (OvCa) in Caucasians. Whether a similar association exists in African Americans (AA) is unknown. METHODS: We conducted a population-based case-control study of incident OvCa …

With recent ovarian cancer screening studies showing no clinically significant mortality benefit, preventing this disease, identifying high-risk populations, and extending survival remain priorities. However, several challenges are impeding…

Chronic inflammation has been implicated in the development of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC); yet the contribution of inflammatory foods and nutrients to EOC risk has been understudied. We investigated the association between the dietary …

Background: Comorbidities can affect survival of ovarian cancer patients by influencing treatment efficacy. However, little evidence exists on the association between individual concurrent comorbidities and prognosis in ovarian cancer patie…

To identify common alleles associated with different histotypes of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), we pooled data from multiple genome-wide genotyping projects totaling 25,509 EOC cases and 40,941 controls. We identified nine new susceptib…

PURPOSE: Incessant ovulation has been consistently linked to epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Although reproductive characteristics differ substantially by race, the association between incessant ovulation and EOC has been evaluated only in…

Menstrual pain, a common gynecological condition, has been associated with increased risk of ovarian cancer in some, but not all studies. Furthermore, potential variations in the association between menstrual pain and ovarian cancer by hist…

PURPOSE: Over the past decade, a number of consortia have formed to further investigate genetic associations, pathogenesis, and epidemiologic risk and prognostic factors for ovarian cancer. Here, we review the benefits that ovarian cancer c…

INTRODUCTION: The association between common benign gynecologic conditions and ovarian cancer remains under-studied in African Americans (AA). Therefore, we examined the association between self-reported history of benign gynecologic condit…

Inflammation has been implicated in ovarian carcinogenesis. However, studies investigating the association between pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and ovarian cancer risk are few and inconsistent. We investigated the association between P…

Although the inverse association between hysterectomy and epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) was considered well established, investigators in recent studies including women diagnosed after 2000 have observed modest increases in risk. Most stu…

PURPOSE: Tubal ligation has been associated with reduced risk of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) in studies of primarily white women, but less is known about the association in African American (AA) women. We sought to evaluate the associat…

BACKGROUND: Existing literature examining analgesic medication use and epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) risk has been inconsistent, with the majority of studies reporting an inverse association. Race-specific effects of this relationship hav…

Menopausal estrogen-alone therapy (ET) is a well-established risk factor for serous and endometrioid ovarian cancer. Genetics also plays a role in ovarian cancer, which is partly attributable to 18 confirmed ovarian cancer susceptibility lo…

BACKGROUND: Many epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) risk factors relate to hormone exposure and elevated estrogen levels are associated with obesity in postmenopausal women. Therefore, we hypothesized that gene-environment interactions related…

BACKGROUND: Regulatory T (Treg) cells, a subset of CD4+ T lymphocytes, are mediators of immunosuppression in cancer, and, thus, variants in genes encoding Treg cell immune molecules could be associated with ovarian cancer. METHODS: In a po…