DataSet

University of Hawaii

MEC

Every cohort member completed a specially designed, self-administered 26-page baseline questionnaire at entry to the MEC Study (1993-1996). The questionnaire included an extensive quantitative diet history and background information as well as medical, medication, tobacco use, physical activity and female reproductive histories. Persons in the cohort who develop cancer are identified through cancer registries that have been established by state statute in Hawai`i and California to monitor the progress of the disease and public health efforts to control it. In addition to the baseline questionnaire, four other questionnaires were mailed to MEC participants to get additional information. A 4-page questionnaire was sent in 1999-2001, 2010-2012 and will be sent in 2014-2017. A repeat of the 26-page baseline questionnaire was sent in 2003-2008. Biological specimens (mainly blood and urine samples) were collected from selected members of the cohort, starting in 1996, but the main collection took place from 2001-2006. These specimens enable us to study dietary components measured in blood and urine in relation to cancer risk, and also the interaction between genetic susceptibility and diet. Biological specimens on more than 70,000 cohort participants are being stored in special low temperature freezers in Hawai`i and California.

African Americans; California; Cohort Studies; Diet; Emigration and Immigration; Ethnic Groups; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Hawaii; Hispanic Americans; Japan; Life Style; Neoplasms; Obesity; Parity; Polynesia; Prospective Studies; Smoking

Hawaii and California

The cohort is comprised of more than 215,000 men and women primarily of African American, Japanese, Latino, Native Hawaiian and Caucasian origin. The ethnic diversity of Hawai`i and California made it possible to develop this large study with its unique representation of minority populations.

Hispanic or Latino; Not Hispanic or Latino

The MEC Study was established to examine lifestyle risk factors, especially diet and nutrition, as well as genetic susceptibility (an inherited tendency to react more strongly to particular exposures) in relation to the causation of cancer.

InfoPac

University of Southern California

1993 forward

2631