UPMC Hillman Cancer Center

Contact Information

Research Keywords

Gene-environment interaction in cancer etiology; cancer biomarkers; cancer risk prediction; dietary chemopreventive agents; cancer epidemiology; cancer prevention; clinical trials

Research Summary

Dr. Yuan is a cancer epidemiologist with extensive experience in research on cancer etiology and prevention. Dr. Yuan is Principal Investigator of the Shanghai Cohort Study and the Singapore Chinese Health Study, two population-based prospective cohorts of more than 80,000 Chinese men and women with available baseline blood and urine samples with more than 25 years of active follow-up for cancer and other major health outcomes.

Utilizing these two large cohort resources coupled with a biomarker approach, Dr. Yuan and his research team have made several noteworthy contributions to the field of cancer epidemiology including (1) dietary aflatoxins as human hepatocarcinogens, (2) dietary isothiocyanates, a group of phytochemicals found in cruciferous vegetables, as potential chemopreventive agents against lung cancer development, and (3) urinary biomarkers of nicotine, tobacco-specific nitrosamines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as risk predictors for lung cancer in smokers.

Dr. Yuan also has extensive experience in designing and conducting randomized, double-blind intervention studies on cancer prevention. Dr. Yuan is leading the effort to conduct a randomized, double-blind phase II clinical trial to evaluate the effectiveness of dietary 2-phenethyl isothiocyanates (PEITC) supplementation on reduction of risk markers for lung cancer in smokers. In addition, Dr. Yuan, collaborating with Dr. Mindy Kurzer, his former colleague at the University of Minnesota, is conducting a randomized, double-blind phase II clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy of oral supplementation of green tea extracts (Polyphenon E) on reduction of risk markers for breast cancer in women.

Selected Publications

• Hecht SS, Murphy SE, Stepanov I, Nelson HH, Yuan J-M. Tobacco smoke biomarkers and cancer risk among male smokers in the Shanghai Cohort Study. Cancer Lett. Jul 20 2012. PubMed Link
• Montague JA, Butler LM, Wu AH, Genkinger JM, Koh W-P, Wong AS, Wang R, Yuan J-M, Yu MC. Green and black tea intake in relation to prostate cancer risk among Singapore Chinese. Cancer Causes Control. Oct; 23(10):1635-41, 2012. PubMed Link
• Thean LF, Li HH, Teo YY, Koh W-P, Yuan J-M, Teoh ML, Koh WP, Tang CL, Cheah PY. Association of Caucasian-identified variants with colorectal cancer risk in Singapore Chinese. PLoS ONE 7(8): e42407, 2012. PubMed Link
• Li J, Koh WP, Jin AZ, Yuan J-M, Yu MC, Butler LM. Calcium intake is not related to breast cancer risk among Singapore Chinese women. Int J Cancer. Aug 1;133(3):680-6, 2013. PubMed Link
• Wu A, Stanczyk FZ, Wang R, Koh W-P, Yuan J-M, Yu M. Sleep duration, spot urinary 6-sulfatoxymelatonin levels and risk of breast cancer among Chinese women in Singapore. Int J Cancer 132(4):891-6, 2013. PubMed Link
• Yuan J-M, Fan Y, Ognjanovic S, Wang R, Van Den Berg D, Govindarajan S, Yu MC. Genetic polymorphisms of epidermal growth factor in relation to risk of hepatocellular carcinoma: Two case-control studies. BMC Gastroenterol. Feb 18;13:32, 2013. PubMed Link
• Koh WP, Wang R, Jin A, Yu MC, Yuan J-M. Diabetes mellitus and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma: Findings from the Singapore Chinese Health Study. Br J Cancer. Mar 19;108(5):1182-8, 2013. PubMed Link
• Odegaard AO, Koh WP, Yuan J-M. Combined lifestyle factors and risk of incident colorectal cancer in a Chinese population. Cancer Prev Res (Phila). Apr;6(4):360-7, 2013. PubMed Link
• Butler LM, Montague JA, Koh W-P, Wang R, Yu MC, Yuan J-M. Fried meat intake is a risk factor for lung adenocarcinoma in a prospective cohort of Chinese men and women in Singapore. Carcinogenesis. Aug;34(8):1794-9, 2013. PubMed Link
• Thyagarajan B, Wang R, Nelson H, Barcelo H, Koh W-P, Yuan J-M. Mitochondrial DNA copy number is associated with breast cancer risk. PLoS ONE. Jun 12;8(6):e65968, 2013. PubMed Link

See all pubs (Pubmed)

Collaborations

Current UPCI/Pitt Collaborators

Dana Bovbjerg, PhD
Professor of Psychiatry
Leader - Biobehavioral Oncology Program (BOP)

Randall Brand, MD
Professor of Medicine
Member - Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Program (CEPP)

Thomas Kensler, PhD
Professor of Pharmacology & Chemical Biology
Co-Leader - Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Program (CEPP)

Anna Lokshin, PhD
Professor of Medicine
Member - Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Program (CEPP)

Current External Collaborators

Paul Brennan, PhD
Section and Group Head, Genetic Epidemiology Group
International Agency for Research on Cancer

Yu-Tang Gao, MD
Professor and Chief, Department of Epidemiology
Shanghai Cancer Institute, Shanghai, China

Dorothy Hatsukami, PhD
Professor of Psychiatry
University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center

Stephen Hecht, PhD
Wallin Land Grant Professor of Cancer Prevention, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology
University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center

Woon-Puay Koh, PhD
Associate Professor of Epidemiology
Duke-National University of Singapore

Mindy Kurzer, PhD
Professor of Nutrition and Medicine
University of Minnesota

Hin-Peng Lee, PhD
Professor of Epidemiology
National University of Singapore, Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health

Sharon Murphy, PhD
Professor of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics
University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center

Heather Nelson, PhD
Associate Professor of Epidemiology & Community Health
University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center

Choon-Nam Ong, PhD
Professor of Epidemiology
National University of Singapore, Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health

Mark Pereira, PhD
Associate Professor of Epidemiology & Community Health
University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center

Bharat Thyagarajan, PhD
Assistant Professor of Pathology
University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center

UPCI Shared Resource Usage

• Biostatistics Facility
• Cancer Proteomics Facility