A Multi‐Center Hospital‐Based Case–Control Study of Lymphoid and Myeloid Neoplasms ( AsiaLymph ): Study Design and Initial Findings for Body Mass Index, Education, and Family History

ABSTRACT Established risk factors account for a small proportion of lymphoid and myeloid neoplasms; many associations have not been conclusively established, etiologic differences across certain subtypes are poorly understood, and most studies have been conducted in Western populations. Investigations in populations with differing exposure patterns, subtype distributions, and genetic architecture are needed to fully understand hematopoietic tumor etiology. To this end, we conducted a large, multicenter, hospital‐based case–control study of lymphoid and myeloid neoplasms in East Asia (AsiaLymph), including 5671 lymphoid cases, 1879 myeloid cases, and 3858 controls. Participants completed an interview and provided biospecimens. Cases underwent central pathology review and were coded into the World Health Organization classification. Herein, we describe the study methods and report associations for body mass index (BMI), education, and family history. Higher BMI at age 20 but not 40 was associated with lymphoid (per 5 kg/m 2 : OR [95% CI]: 1.18 [1.09–1.27]) and myeloid (1.17 [1.05–1.29]) neoplasms. Greater educational attainment was associated with lymphoid (for college versus < primary education: 1.41 [1.21–1.65]) but not myeloid (1.17 [0.95–1.45]; p ‐heterogeneity < 0.01) neoplasms. There were also positive associations between first‐degree family history of hematologic cancer and lymphoid (1.53 [1.15–2.03]) and myeloid (1.65 [1.11–2.44]) neoplasms. In analyses of major subtypes, these risk factors were not associated with NK/T‐cell lymphoma, suggesting a distinct etiology for this subtype. AsiaLymph is one of the largest molecular epidemiology studies of both lymphoid and myeloid neoplasms with central pathology review and will serve as a valuable resource for etiologic investigations into these malignancies.

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Journal
International Journal of Cancer
Published
2026-11-08
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/ijc.70810
Primary Topic
Cancer Risks and Factors
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article

A Multi‐Center Hospital‐Based Case–Control Study of Lymphoid and Myeloid Neoplasms ( AsiaLymph ): Study Design and Initial Findings for Body Mass Index, Education, and Family History

Lindsay McOmber Morton, Huilai Zhang, Bryan A. Bassig, Hong Dai et al.
International Journal of Cancer
Cancer Risks and Factors
article

A Multi‐Center Hospital‐Based Case–Control Study of Lymphoid and Myeloid Neoplasms ( AsiaLymph ): Study Design and Initial Findings for Body Mass Index, Education, and Family History

Lindsay McOmber Morton, Huilai Zhang, Bryan A. Bassig, Hong Dai, Yok‐Lam Kwong, Mark P. Purdue, Lisa J. McReynolds, Roel C.H. Vermeulen, Howard Dean Hosgood, Yu chieh Su, Sarah J. Locke, Martha S. Linet, Bu‐Tian Ji, Jonathan N. Hofmann, Melissa C. Friesen, Brian C.‐H. Chiu, Sonja I. Berndt, Susan L. Slager, Shahinaz M. Gadalla, Qing Lan, James R. Cerhan, Xianhuo Wang, Rena R. Jones, 徐才刚, Stephen Jacob Chanock, Lauren M. Hurwitz, Nathaniel Rothman, Tai Hing Lam, Lugui Qiu, Raymond H. S. Liang, John K. C. Chan, Calvin Ge, Zhangyan Lyu, Jianxin Shi, Kai Yu, Kexin Chen, Dennis Ip, Wei Hu, Sophia S. Wang, Wei Liu, Jun Xu
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Established risk factors account for a small proportion of lymphoid and myeloid neoplasms; many associations have not been conclusively established, etiologic differences across certain subtypes are poorly understood, and most studies have been conducted in Western populations. Investigations in populations with differing exposure patterns, subtype distributions, and genetic architecture are needed to fully understand hematopoietic tumor etiology. To this end, we conducted a large, multicenter, hospital‐based case–control study of lymphoid and myeloid neoplasms in East Asia (AsiaLymph), including 5671 lymphoid cases, 1879 myeloid cases, and 3858 controls. Participants completed an interview and provided biospecimens. Cases underwent central pathology review and were coded into the World Health Organization classification. Herein, we describe the study methods and report associations for body mass index (BMI), education, and family history. Higher BMI at age 20 but not 40 was associated with lymphoid (per 5 kg/m 2 : OR [95% CI]: 1.18 [1.09–1.27]) and myeloid (1.17 [1.05–1.29]) neoplasms. Greater educational attainment was associated with lymphoid (for college versus < primary education: 1.41 [1.21–1.65]) but not myeloid (1.17 [0.95–1.45]; p ‐heterogeneity < 0.01) neoplasms. There were also positive associations between first‐degree family history of hematologic cancer and lymphoid (1.53 [1.15–2.03]) and myeloid (1.65 [1.11–2.44]) neoplasms. In analyses of major subtypes, these risk factors were not associated with NK/T‐cell lymphoma, suggesting a distinct etiology for this subtype. AsiaLymph is one of the largest molecular epidemiology studies of both lymphoid and myeloid neoplasms with central pathology review and will serve as a valuable resource for etiologic investigations into these malignancies.

International Journal of Cancer
Inova Health System (US), Albert Einstein College of Medicine (US), City Of Hope National Medical Center (US), Mayo Clinic (US), Utrecht University (NL), Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College (CN), Sichuan University (CN), Inova Fairfax Hospital (US), Queen Mary Hospital (CN), Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital (CN), University of Chicago (US), West China Hospital of Sichuan University (CN), E-Da Hospital (TW), Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital (HK), City of Hope (US), Institute of Hematology & Blood Diseases Hospital (CN), Queen Elizabeth Hospital (CN), Beckman Research Institute (US), Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (US), State Key Laboratory of Experimental Hematology (CN), Tianjin Medical University (CN), University of Hong Kong (HK)
Cancer Risks and Factors
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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