NIOM (Poland) VUB (Belgium) UCL (Belgium) UC (Denmark) FIOH (Finland) DKFZ (Germany)

1. Environmental Cancer Risk,Nutrition and Individual Susceptibility (ECNIS)Network of Excellence24 partners from 13 European countries(including 3 SMEs)Contract started May 1st 2005

2. NIOM(Poland) VUB(Belgium) UCL(Belgium) UC(Denmark) FIOH(Finland) DKFZ(Germany) UM(Germany) BIU(Germany) NHRF(Greece) FJOKK(Hungary) ISI(Italy) IRCCS(Italy) Collegium Med.(Poland) ICO(Spain) KI(Sweden) ULUND(Sweden) UNIMAS(The Netherlands) IRAS-UU(The Netherlands) ULEIC(UK) ICR(UK) UNIVDUN(UK) IARC (France) NETIX (Poland) Leocordia AB (Sweden) FIOH KI ULUND UC UNIVDUN RU BIU ULEIC IRAS-UU NIOM ICR UNIMAS UM UCL VUB DKFZ FJOKK IRCCS IARC ISO ICO NHRF

3. Number of researchers and doctoral students to be integrated

4. The overall objectives of ECNIS • To overcome the fragmented nature of research in areas related to carcinogenesis caused by the environment, diet, occupation, or lifestyle,within Europe • To integrate joint training and mobility programs in area of environmental cancer molecular epidemiology • To develop and validate novel biomarkers of exposure, effect and susceptibility for environmental and occupational cancer risk assessment • To identify factors that modulate the environmental and occupational cancer risk resulting from nutrition and lifestyle factors • To develop hazard and risk assessment strategies based on mechanism of action of carcinogens • To disseminate of acquired knowledge to the scientific community and to external stakeholders

5. Science Advisory Committee Network Governing Council Network Management Board Coordinator Prof. Konrad Rydzyński Integration Prof. B. Åkesson Prof. D. Segerbäck Joint Research Prof. S. Kyrtopoulos Prof. P. Farmer Spreading of Excellence Prof. P. Boffetta Prof. P. Vineis WP1 WP2 WP3 WP4 WP5 WP6 WP7 WP10 WP11 WP12 WP8 WP9 WP13 WP14 Resources & quality P. Farmer Science Review S. Kyrtopoulos Modulation by diet B. Åkesson Ethics L. Casteleyn Cancer prevention P. Vineis Dissemination to science P. Boffetta Biomarkers of exposure P. Farmer Mechanismof action F. Oesch Knowledge & information D.Kluszczyński Biomarkers of individual susceptibility A. Hirvonen Risk Assessment H. Kromhout Training & mobility P. Boffetta Dissemination to stakeholders S. Kyrtopoulos MEC Data base P. Vineis

6. Science Advisory Committee Network Governing Council Network Management Board Coordinator Prof. Konrad Rydzyński Integration Prof. B. Åkesson Prof. D. Segerbäck Joint Research Prof. S. Kyrtopoulos Prof. P. Farmer Spreading of Excellence Prof. P. Boffetta Prof. P. Vineis

7. Panels of Experts • Panel of Experts for Methodology Standardizationwith elected by NGC representatives from various fields to advice on quality assurance and management. Publication review will constitute an important task for the Panel • Ethical Review Panel elected from ECNIS participants under WP; composed of 3-5 senior scientists with expertise and experience in work in ethical commissions; the role is to ensure that all research within the ECNIS follows the appropriate national and EU legislations and ethical guidelines • Panel for Gender Issues ensuring that proper gender considerations and gender standards are followed; responsible for designing and implementation of mentorship gender program

8. ECNIS ultimate goal The ultimate goal of the ECNIS is to establish an internationally competitive network of European research centers to overcome existing fragmentation of activities and to enhance the quality and relevance of research on environment and cancer risk, as modulated by diet and genetic disposition.

9. Cancer epidemiology Cancer is thesecond leading cause of death in developed countries 2.9 million new cases of cancer and more than 1.7 million cancer deaths in Europe (25-EU) last year Ageing of the European population will likely cause these numbers to increase Tumours of the lung (13.2%), colon and rectum (13%), breast (12.8%), prostate(8.2%) andstomach (5.9%) occur most frequently, and are variably associated with environmental factors.

10. Environmental Mechanism of human carcinogenesis environmental carcinogens genotoxic stress responses lifestyle genetic or epigenetic events nutrition genetic damage cancer mutation endogenous processes genetic makeup Environmental (non-endogenous) factors: 70-90% of cancer risk

11. Proportion of fatal cancers attributable to different avoidable factors 29-31% Smoking (including ETS) 20 - 50% Diet 4 - 6%Alcohol 5 - 7% Electromagnetic radiation (ionising, UV light, lowerfrequency) 2 - 4% Occupation 1 - 5% Air, water and food pollution 10 - 20% Infection (parasites, bacteria, viruses) 10 - 20% Reproductive hormones 1 - 2% Physical inactivity Based on: Doll R. Cancer Res 1998; Vol. 154, pp. 3-21.

12. Gaps of knowledge on the environmental cancer risks • We are still ignorant of the precise importance of different exposure to environmental hazards, dietary components and the role of individual susceptibility • Any attempts to allocate precisely proportions of all cancers that might be avoidable by the control of different environmental factors is still largely guesswork • We are even more ignorant when we try to evaluate the effects of combined exposures (nutritional and environmental factors) in different genetically susceptible populations. • Many of these gaps in knowledge may be filled in by joint efforts of epidemiologists, toxicologists, food specialists and molecular biologists working together(molecular epidemiology!)

13. PUBMED publications on biomarkers / molecular epidemiology & cancer

14. Reasons for the great increase of molecular epidemiological studies • The identification of new carcinogens, characterized by weak effects and complex exposure circumstances, has become increasingly difficult with traditional epidemiological approaches. • In parallel, increasing knowledge of mechanisms of early steps in the carcinogenic process has led to the identification of relevant metabolites and their interaction with other biologically active compounds. • Technical developments in molecular biology, including the use of robots, high throughput methods etc., have allowed the application to large-scale assays that would otherwise be very resource intensive.