The study was conducted under the auspices of the Transdisciplinary Research In Cancer of the Lung (TRICL) Research Team, which is a part of the Genetic Associations and MEchanisms in ONcology (GAME-ON) consortium, and associated with the International Lung Cancer Consortium (ILCCO). Ethics: All participants provided written informed consent. All studies were reviewed and approved by institutional ethics review committees at the involved institutions. Sequencing data are derived from four substudies. The substudies that contributed include Harvard, Liverpool, Toronto, and IARC. The Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention (ATBC) Study is a randomized primary prevention trial including 29,133 male smokers enrolled in Finland between 1985 and 1993. Participants ranged between ages of 50 to 69 at enrollment and were randomized in a factorial design to take either 50 milligrams of d-alpha tocopheryl acetate (Vitamin E), 20 mg of all-trans-beta-carotene, both or placebo. The study continued to monitor cancer incidence through 2012 and total mortality through December 2013. The CAncer de PUlmon en Asturias Study (CAPUA) is a hospital-based case-control study conducted in Asturias, Spain by the University of Oviedo. Lung cancer cases were recruited in three main hospitals of Asturias, following an identical protocol from 2002 to 2012. Eligible cases were incident cases of histologically confirmed lung cancer between 30 and 85 years of age and residents in the geographical area of each participating hospital. Controls were selected from patients admitted to those hospitals with diagnoses unrelated to the exposures of interest and individually matched by ethnicity, gender, age (± 5 years) and hospital. Epidemiologic data were collected personally through computer-assisted questionnaires by trained interviewers during the first hospital admission. Structured questionnaires collected information on sociodemographic characteristics, recent and prior tobacco use, environmental exposure (air pollution and passive smoking), diet, personal and family history of cancer, and occupational history from each participant. Peripheral blood samples (or mouthwash samples when they refused to donate blood) were collected from all participants. Coding of histology was based on 2001 WHO/IASLC. Genomic DNA was extracted based on standard protocol. The Canadian Screening Study includes the nested case-control samples from 3 screening programs: IELCAP-Toronto: Ever smokers of more than 10 pack-years age 50 and above were eligible for the I-ELCAP screening program since 2003, and a total of 4782 individuals have been enrolled in the Greater Toronto Area. Participants were administered a LDCT scan along with a standard study questionnaire at baseline. Blood samples were systematically collected at baseline since 2006. Participants who had an abnormality in a CT scan were followed up every 1 to 2 years. The screening program was organized by the Princess Margaret Hospital. PanCan: Ever smokers between the ages of 50-75 with no previous history of invasive cancer are eligible to participate in the study. The study was carried out across Canada in Vancouver, Calgary, Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec, Halifax, and St. John's. A total of 2537 smokers have been screened from 2008 to 2011. All study participants completed a detailed questionnaire, spirometry, collection of blood specimens for biomarker measurement and LDCT at baseline. All participants are followed for a minimum of 3 years. On yearly follow up, an updated shorter questionnaire is administered, blood is collected and CT scans are performed. Blood samples are available from all 2537 individuals. BCCA Screening Program: From 1990 to 2007, 4274 smokers above 40 years old who had smoked 20 pack-years or more were enrolled at BCCA. Upon enrollment, subjects completed a questionnaire for their lifestyle and medical history. Baseline spirometry was conducted using a flow-sensitive spirometer in accordance with the American Thoracic Society recommendations. Since 2000, a LDCT was obtained in 2440 individuals. The participants were followed prospectively to determine whether they developed lung cancer. A total of 9759 individuals participated in the CT screening program in Canada from these 3 programs. The samples included in this project is based on a subset of nested lung cancer case-control pairs based on 1:2 ratio. The Carotene and Retinol Efficacy Trial (CARET) was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of the cancer prevention efficacy and safety of a daily combination of 30 mg of beta-carotene and 25,000 IU of retinyl palmitate in 18,314 persons at high risk for lung cancer. CARET began in 1985, and the intervention was halted in January 1996, 21 months ahead of schedule, with the twin conclusions for definitive evidence of no benefit and substantial evidence of a harmful effect of the intervention on both lung cancer incidence and total mortality. CARET continued to follow and collect endpoints on their participants through 2005. Pathology reports and medical records were reviewed to confirm cancer endpoints, and death certificates obtained to capture cause of death. During the active intervention phase of CARET, serum, plasma, whole blood, and lung tissue specimens were collected on participants. These biospecimens make up the CARET Biorepository. For the OncoArray Project, CARET provided DNA extracted from whole blood of lung cancer cases and controls matched on age at baseline (± 4 years), sex, race, baseline smoking status, history of occupational asbestos exposure (asbestos vs heavy smoker), and year of enrollment (2-year intervals). The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study is a multi-center cohort study involving 521,000 study participants from 10 European countries. The current study involved EPIC participants from 7 countries (Greece, Netherlands, UK, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy), including 1223 incident lung cancer cases and 1249 smoking matched controls. The Kentucky Lung Cancer Research Initiative is a study conducted by the Markey Cancer Center Cancer Center and the University of Kentucky using a population-based, case-control framework to study the extraordinarily high rates of lung cancer in Southeastern, Appalachian Kentucky. Cancer cases were recruited from the Kentucky Cancer Registry at the time of diagnosis and controls were recruited from a random digit dialing process from the same region. Study accrual began in January 5, 2012 and completed on September 5, 2014 and 520 subjects were recruited in a 4:1 ratio of controls: cases from Appalachian Kentucky. Of the 520 subjects recruited, 231 are included in the OncoArray analysis, including all 93 cancer cases, and 123 controls. Newly diagnosed lung cancer cases and controls underwent blood, toenail (for trace element analysis), urine, buffy coat, water, soil, and radon collection, residence GPS mapping, as well as an extensive epidemiologic, occupational, and health history questionnaire (Clinical Trials.gov Identifier: NCT01648166). The Harvard Lung Cancer Study (HLCS) is a case-control study based at Mass General Hospital (MGH) in Boston, Massachusetts from 1992 to 2004. Details of the study were described previously. Briefly, eligible cases included any person over the age of 18 years with a diagnosis of primary lung cancer that was further confirmed by an MGH lung pathologist. Controls were recruited from the friends or spouses of cancer patients or the friends or spouses of other surgery patients in the same hospital. Potential controls were excluded from participation if they had a diagnosis of any cancer (other than non-melanoma skin cancer). Interviewer-administered questionnaires, a modified version of the standardized American Thoracic Society respiratory questionnaire, collected information on demographics, medical history, family history of cancer, smoking history, and a detailed work history, including job titles and tasks. Genome-wide genotype data were first generated using Illumina Human 610-Quad BeadChips and then imputed by MACH against the 1000 Genome Project dataset (http://browser.1000genomes.org/index.html). The Institutional Review Board of MGH and the Human Subjects Committee of the Harvard School of Public Health approved the study. The Israel study (NICCC-LCA) is an ongoing case-control study of newly diagnosed lung cancer cases of any histology and population age/sex/ethnicity-matched "healthy" controls. All participants undergo face-to-face interviews, provide a venous blood sample (separated into DNA, Sera, lymphocytes) after signing an IRB-approved form. Histology reports, FFPE blocks and clinical follow-up are available for most cancer cases. The MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) Study. Lung cancer cases and frequency-matched controls were ascertained from a large ongoing case-control study at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (UTMDACC) since 1991. Detailed study description was provided previously (Spitz et al 2007). In brief, cases were newly-diagnosed and histologically confirmed lung cancer patients recruited from UTMDACC. Controls were healthy individuals without a history of cancer (except for nonmelanoma skin cancer) and recruited from the Kelsey-Seybold Clinics, the largest private multispecialty physician group in the Houston metropolitan area. Controls were frequency-matched to cases on age (±5 years), sex, and race/ethnicity. After providing written informed consent, each study participants completed an in-person interview by staff interviewers to collect information on demographics, smoking status, etc. Blood samples were also drawn from all the study participants. This study was approved by institutional review boards of UTMDACC and Kelsey-Seybold Clinics. The Malmö Diet and Cancer Study (MDCS) is a population-based prospective cohort study that recruited men and women aged at 44 to 74 years old of living in Malmö, Sweden between 1991 and 1996. The main goal of the MDCS is to study the impact of diet on cancer incidence and mortality. It consists of a baseline examination including dietary assessment, a self-administered questionnaire, anthropometric measurements and collection of blood samples. A total of 165 incident lung cancer cases and 174 individually smoking-matched controls were available for this analysis. The Multiethnic Cohort (MEC) Study includes 215,251 men and women aged 45-74 years at recruitment, primarily from five ethnic/racial groups - African Americans and Latinos mostly recruited from CA (mainly from Los Angeles County) and Japanese Americans, Native Hawaiians and whites (mostly recruited from HI). The cohort was assembled in 1993-1996 by mailing a self-administered questionnaire to persons identified primarily through driver's license files. The baseline questionnaire obtained information on demographics, anthropometry, smoking history, medical and reproductive histories, family history of cancer, diet and physical activity. Incident cancer cases are identified by regular linkage with the State of California Cancer Registry and the Hawaii Tumor Registry, both members of the SEER Program of the NCI. In 2001-2006, a prospective biorepository was assembled by collecting a pre-diagnostic blood specimen from 67,594 surviving MEC members. At the time of blood collection a short questionnaire was administered that included information on smoking during the previous 15 days. For this study, cases were all lung cancer cases incident to blood draw and diagnosed before December 2012. For each case, a control was selected among unaffected MEC participants who were alive at time of the case's diagnosis and matched on study site, sex, race/ethnicity, age (age at diagnosis for cases; age at blood collection for controls), and date of blood collection. The Mount-Sinai Hospital-Princess Margaret Study (MSH-PMH) was conducted in the greater Toronto area from 2008 to 2013. Lung cancer cases were recruited at the hospitals in the network of the University of Toronto. Controls were selected randomly from individuals registered in the family medicine clinics databases and were frequency matched with cases on age and sex. All subjects were interviewed, and information on lifestyle risk factors, occupational history and medical and family history was collected using a standard questionnaire. Tumors were centrally reviewed by the reference pathologist, a member of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) committee, and a second pathologist in the University Health Network. If the reviews conflicted, a consensus was arrived at after discussion. Coding of histology was based on 2001 WHO/IASLC. Genomic DNA was extracted based on standard protocol. The New England Lung Cancer Study (NELCS) is a population-based case-control study of lung cancer among residents of Northern and Central New Hampshire counties and the bordering region of Vermont. Cases with histologically confirmed primary incident lung cancer were identified from 2005 to 2007 using the New Hampshire State Cancer Registry and the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) Tumor Registry. Control participants were identified using a commercial database and matched to lung cancer cases within 5-year age groups, sex and county. Genomic DNA was isolated from blood or buccal specimens provided by consenting participants. The study complied with requirements of the Dartmouth College's Committee for Protection of Human Subjects. The Nijmegen Lung Cancer Study. The Netherlands patients with lung cancer were identified through the population-based cancer registry of the Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organisation in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Patients who were diagnosed in one of three hospitals (Radboud University Medical Center, Canisius Wilhelmina Hospital in Nijmegen, and Rijnstate Hospital in Arnhem) since 1989 and who were still alive at April 15th, 2008 were recruited for a study on gene-environment interactions in lung cancer. 458 patients gave informed consent and donated a blood sample. This case series was expanded with 94 patients to a total of 552 by linking three other studies to the population-based cancer registry in order to identify new occurrences of lung cancer among the participants of these other studies. All three other studies (i.e., POLYGENE, the Nijmegen Biomedical Study, and the Radboudumc Urology Outpatient Clinic Epidemiology Study) were initiated to study genetic risk factors for disease and participants to these studies gave general informed consent for DNA-related research and linkage with disease registries. Information on histology, stage of disease, and age at diagnoses was obtained through the cancer registry. Lifestyle information was collected through a structured questionnaire and whole blood for DNA isolation was collected by the regional thrombosis services. The cancer-free controls (46% males) were selected from participants of the "Nijmegen Biomedical Study" (NBS), an age- and sex-stratified random sample of the general population of the municipality of Nijmegen, The Netherlands. All participants provided extensive lifestyle information by structured questionnaires and blood samples for DNA isolation, serum and plasma. All controls are of self-reported European descent. The study protocols of the NBS were approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Radboudumc and all study subjects signed a written informed consent form. The Northern Sweden Health and Disease Study (NSHDS) encompasses several prospective cohorts. The current study involves participants from the Västerbotten Intervention Project (VIP), a sub-cohort within NSHDS. VIP is an ongoing prospective cohort and intervention study intended for health promotion of the general population of the Västerbotten County in northern Sweden. VIP was initiated in 1985 and all residents in the Västerbotten County were invited to participate by attending a health check-up at 40, 50 and 60 years of age. Participants were asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire including various demographic factors such as education, smoking habits, physical activity and diet. In addition, height and weight were measured and participants were asked to donate a fasting blood sample for future research. A total of 243 incident lung cancer cases and 266 individually smoking-matched controls were available for this analysis. Norway National Institute of Occupational Health Study. Early-stage NSCLC cases and healthy controls at the time of enrollment were Caucasians of Norwegian origin and were recruited from the same geographical region (Western Norway). The patients were enrolled in the study, whenever practically feasible among patients admitted for lung cancer at the Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen, Norway. The informed written consents covering analysis of molecular and genetic markers was signed by the patients prior to surgery. Only patients with histologically confirmed early-stage NSCLC were included in our study. The subjects included in this project are a subgroup recruited into the project "lung cancer genetics" at NIOH. The controls were recruited from the same geographical region of Western Norway and frequency-matched with cases on cumulative smoking dose (pack-years). Pack-years smoked [( 20 cigarettes per day) x years smoked] were calculated to indicate the cumulative smoking dose. The Cases and controls were interviewed using similar questionnaires and were categorized as never smokers, ex-smokers or current smokers. Never smokers are subjects indicating having smoked less than 100 cigarettes in their life time. Ex-smokers were defined as those having quitted at least 1 year before sampling, and current smokers were those indicating that they were smokers at the time of sampling. The project has been approved by the Regional Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics in Southern Norway in accordance with the WMA Declaration of Helsinki. The ethical approval covered access to the NSCLC databank. The Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (PLCO) Study, a randomized trial aimed at evaluating the efficacy of screening in reducing cancer mortality, recruited approximately 155,000 men and women age 55 to 74 years from 1992 to 20014. Screening for lung cancer among participants in the intervention arm included a chest x-ray at baseline followed by either three annual x-rays (for current or former smokers at enrollment) or two annual x-rays (for never smokers); participants in the control arm received routine health care. Screening-arm participants provided data on sociodemographic factors, smoking behavior, anthropometric characteristics, medical history, and family history of cancer, as well as blood samples annually for the first 6 years of the study (baseline T0 and T1 through T5). Lung cancers were ascertained through annual questionnaires mailed to the participants, and positive reports were followed up by abstracting medical records or death certificates. Follow-up in the trial as of July 2009 was 96.7%. Patients were excluded because of missing baseline questionnaire, previous history of any cancer, diagnosis of multiple cancers during follow-up, missing smoking information at baseline, missing consent for utilization of biologic specimens for etiologic studies, or unavailability/insufficient quantity of serum or DNA specimens. The Resource for the Study of Lung Cancer Epidemiology in North Trent (ReSoLuCENT) is an ongoing study conducted in Sheffield from 2006 and due to complete recruitment in 2016. The study recruited pathologically confirmed lung cancer cases diagnosed at age 60 years or younger and family matched controls. Lung cancer cases diagnosed at ages older than 60 years were recruited if they reported a family history of lung cancer. The cases and matched controls were recruited through several major cancer treatment centers, however, the majority were recruited in North Trent. All participants completed a detailed lifestyle questionnaire which included questions about occupational exposures, education, medical history and family history of cancer and lung disease. Participants also donated blood samples for DNA extraction. The ReSoLuCENT study has been funded by the Sheffield Hospitals Charity, Sheffield ECMC and Weston Park Hospital Cancer Charity. First degree relatives were removed from the sample deposited to dbGaP. The Roy Castle Lung Study of Liverpool Lung Project (LLP) is a case-control and cohort study which has recruited over 11,500 individuals since 1996 from the Liverpool region in the UK. Detailed epidemiological and clinical data is collected with associated specimens (i.e. tumor tissue, blood, plasma, sputum, bronchial lavage and oral brushings). The participants have completed a detailed lifestyle questionnaire at recruitment, with repeat questionnaires at intervals; updated data on clinical outcome and hospital events are collected through the Health and Social Care Information Center (including Office of National Statistics mortality data, Cancer Registry and Health Episode Statistics). The project is registered on the UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) lung cancer portfolio and has all the required ethical approvals and sponsorship arrangements in place. The lung tumors were reviewed by the reference pathologist. The Seoul Bundang Lung Cancer Study was conducted between 2005 and 2010 to discover genetic and environmental factors related with lung cancer development. Lung cancer cases were recruited at the Seoul National University Hospital in Bundang. Controls were selected randomly from individuals participated in health check-up program and were frequency matched with cases on age and sex. All subjects were interviewed, and information on lifestyle risk factors, occupational history and medical and family history was collected using a standard questionnaire. Tumors were reviewed by the pathologists in the hospital. If the reviews conflicted, a consensus was arrived at after discussion. Coding of histology was based on 2001 WHO/IASLC. Genomic DNA was extracted based on standard protocol. The Shanghai Cohort Study (SCS) consisted of 18,244 men in Shanghai, China, who were 45-64 years old at the time of enrollment during 1986-1989. Approximately 80% of eligible men participated in the study. At the time of recruitment, each cohort subject was interviewed in-person by a trained nurse interviewer using a structured questionnaire that included background information, history of tobacco and alcohol use, current diet, and medical history. At the completion of the interview, the nurse collected a 10 ml blood and a single void urine specimen from the study participant. The buccal cell samples were collected from all surviving cohort members (~15,000) in the 2001-2002 follow-up interviews. The cohort has been followed for the occurrence of cancer and death through routine ascertainment of new cases from the population-based Shanghai Cancer Registry and Shanghai Vital Statistics Units. To maximize the cancer findings and minimize the loss of follow-up, we contacted each surviving cohort member annually. Retired nurses visit the last known address of each living cohort member and record details of the interim health history of the cohort member. As of December 31, 2014, cumulatively 612 (3.4%) original subjects were lost to follow-up, and 574 (3.1%) refused to our continued follow-up interview. A nested case-control study of incident lung cancer cases within the Shanghai Cohort Study was used to examine the association between serum levels of vitamin B6 and other compounds in the one-carbon metabolism pathway and risk of lung cancer. Briefly, 516 lung cancer cases were identified among cohort participants with available serum samples as of 12/31/2006. For each case, we randomly selected one control subject from all cohort members who were free of cancer and alive at the time of cancer diagnosis of the index case. Controls were matched to the index case by age at enrollment (±2 years), date of biospecimen collection (±1 month) and neighborhood of residence at recruitment, and smoking status (current, former and never smokers) as established previously for other studies. For former smokers, cases and controls were further matched by years since quitting smoking (<10 vs ≥10 years). One serum vial per subject was retrieved from biorepository and all serum samples were sent to the laboratory (B-vital) for measurements. DNA samples of 250 lung cancer cases and 250 matched controls were available for the present study. The Singapore Chinese Health Study (SCHS) cohort consisted of 63,257 Chinese men and women in Singapore when they were 45-74 years old at the time of enrollment between April 1993 and December 1998. At recruitment, each study subject was interviewed in person by a trained interviewer using a structured questionnaire that emphasized current diet assessed via a validated, 165-item food frequency questionnaire. The questionnaire also requested information on demographics, lifetime use of tobacco, incense use, current physical activity, usual sleep duration, reproductive history (women only), occupational exposure, medical history, and family history of cancer. Blood or buccal cell, and spot urine samples were collected first from a random 3% sample of cohort participants in April 1994, and extended to all surviving cohort participants starting in January 2000. Overall approximately 60% of eligible cohort participants donated biospecimens. The cohort has been passively followed for death and cancer occurrence through regular record linkage with the population-based Singapore Cancer Registry and the Singapore Registry of Births and Deaths. Migration out of Singapore, especially among housing estate residents, was negligible. As of latest update, only 55 individuals from this cohort were known to be lost to follow-up due to migration and other reason. A nested case-control study of incident lung cancer cases within the Singapore Chinese Health Study was used to examine the association between serum levels of vitamin B6 and other compounds in the one-carbon metabolism pathway and risk of lung cancer. As of 12/31/2011, 422 lung cancer cases were identified among cohort participants with available prediagnostic plasma samples. For each case, one control subject was randomly selected from all eligible cohort members who were alive and free of cancer on the date of cancer diagnosis of the index case. The control subject was individually matched to the index case by gender, dialect group (Hokkien, Cantonese), age at enrollment (±3 years), date of baseline interview (±2 year), date of biospecimen collection (±6 months), and smoking status (current, former, and never smokers). For current smokers, cases and controls were further matched by number of cigarettes per day (<15, ≥15 cigarettes/day). For former smokers, cases and controls were further matched by years since quitting smoking (<10, ≥10 years). One plasma aliquot per subject was retrieved from the biorepository and all plasma samples were sent to the laboratory (B-vital) for measurements, and one aliquot of DNA per subject for the present study. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) L2 Study. Lung cancer cases and controls were recruited through a multicentric case-control study coordinated by the IARC in Russia, Poland, Serbia, Czech Republic, and Romania from 2005 to 2013. Cases were incident cancer patients collected from general hospitals. Controls were recruited from individuals visiting general hospitals and out-patient clinics for disorders unrelated to lung cancer and/or its associated risk factors, or from the general population. Information on lifestyle risk factors, medical and family history was collected from subjects by interview using a standard questionnaire. All study participants provided written informed consent. The current study included 1,133 lung cancer cases and 1,117 controls genotyped on the Oncoarray. The Washington State University Lung Cancer Study is a hospital case-control study of 511 subjects with newly-diagnosed (within 1 year of diagnosis) lung cancer and 820 race-, sex- and age-matched controls. Lung cancer cases were recruited from lung cancer clinics within the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center while controls were recruited from the Lifetime Cancer Screening Center, a H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center affiliate. None of the controls were diagnosed with any form of cancer at the time of screening. Detailed questionnaire data and oral buccal cells were collected for all subjects. The Total Lung Cancer (TLC) Study is a hospital-based study that included 458 lung cancer patients recruited for Moffitt Cancer Center's Total Cancer Care™ protocol between April 2006 and August 2010. Total Cancer Care™ is a multi-institutional observational study of cancer patients that prospectively collects self-reported demographic and clinical data, medical record information and blood samples for research purposes. All patients used in this cohort were recruited from the Thoracic Oncology Clinic at the Moffitt Cancer Center. The Vanderbilt Lung Cancer Study (BioVU) is a case-control study nested within the Vanderbilt University Medical Center biobank, BioVU. BioVU is a biorepository of DNA extracted from blood drawn from patients seeking routine clinical care at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and linked to de-identified electronic health records for research purposes. Lung cancer cases and controls were identified from BioVU participants in February 2014. Lung cancer cases were identified from the Vanderbilt tumor registry. All specimens undergo pathologic review for determination of morphology. Coding of histology was based on SEER Program Coding Guidelines. Controls were randomly selected from BioVU participants, excluding cancer patients, and were matched to cases on age (± 5 years), sex, and race. Relevant covariates were identified from electronic health records using natural language processing. Genomic DNA was extracted based on a standard protocol.
The HTAN-MCL Pre-Cancer Atlas Pilot Project (PCAPP) is the result of a collaboration between the seven members of the MCL consortium. Across four organ types, PCAPP's goal is to collect and profile pre-malignant lesions for gene expression, DNA mutations, single-cell gene expression and immune-environment. Most PML are small in size and only available come from formalin fixed paraffin embedded archived tissue. The primary goal of PCAPP is to 1) understand the logistical challenges of PML specimen collection, 2) document technical limitations of the assays that are specific to the PML and 3) overcome them to support the generation of a more comprehensive Pre-Cancer Atlas in the future. The current upload provides RNA and DNA sequencing from participants with DCIS who were studied at the University of San Diego and the University of Vermont. Description of the overall study: A. Background/Significance One of the critical barriers to developing new approaches for cancer detection and prevention is the lack of understanding of the key molecular and cellular changes that cause cancer initiation and progression. Unlike the extensive work that has been done profiling advanced stage tumors, few studies have comprehensively profiled the molecular alterations found in precancerous tissues. Premalignant lesions are currently characterized by histologic changes that precede the development of invasive carcinoma1,2.These lesions can often be identified in regions surrounding an invasive tumor or in biopsies taken from patients undergoing diagnostic evaluation for suspicion of cancer. Currently, limited metrics exist to identify lesions that will likely progress to carcinoma and require intervention from those that will naturally regress or remain stable3,4. Characterization of the molecular alterations in premalignant lesions and the corresponding changes in the microenvironment would hasten the development of biomarkers for early detection and risk stratification as well as suggest preventive interventions to reverse or delay the development of cancer. Our pilot study will establish the feasibility of transcriptomic, genomic and immune profiling of FFPE premalignant lesions from multiple organ sites, collected and profiled with uniform SOPs across multiple institutions within the MCL consortium. We will characterize the molecular alterations in precancerous lesions and the corresponding microenvironment in four major organ sites, in order to uncover the molecular and cellular determinants of premalignancy, and establish standardized sequencing and immunohistochemistry protocols on FFPE precancerous tissue. We will also evaluate the technical feasibility of single nuclei sequencing of small FFPE pre-cancer lesions. Successful completion of the proposed pilot study will set the stage for expansion and development of a comprehensive Pre-Cancer Atlas (PCA) as part of the NCI's moonshot.B. Specific Aims Aim 1: Collect premalignant lesions (PML) and their associated microenvironment via LCM from FFPE tissue across four organ sites (breast, lung, pancreas & prostate). Aim 2: Perform bulk RNA and DNA seq on premalignant FFPE samples (and flash frozen tissue where available) and compare the genomic/transcriptomic alterations within and across organ sites. C. ApproachAim 1: Collect premalignant lesions (PML) and their associated microenvironment via LCM from FFPE tissue across four organ sites (breast, lung, pancreas & prostate). MethodsI. Patient Population/Sample Collection: Overview of the sites collecting PML tissue from the respective organs is provided in Table 1 and a full description of the biospecimens to be obtained is described in detail for each organ type below. Table 1. Breakdown of cohort by tissue type and collection site.Organ siteBreastLungPancreasProstateType of PMLDCISAAH, Squamous Dysplasia/CISIPMNsPINCollection of PatientsUCSF/UCSDUVMBU*/UCLAVanderbilt/MoffittMDACC*JHUStanford*# of Patients201920 (10 of each type)20 (10 of each type)242020Total patients per Organ39402440Note: single nuclei/cell RNA-Seq will be performed on 4-5 FFPE samples from each of the organ types 1. DCIS lesions from breast tissue: DCIS lesions will be collected from 39 patients (20 from UCSF/UCSD & 19 from UVM) with primary low or high-grade DCIS diagnosed from a breast core biopsy. Subsequent resected lumpectomy or mastectomy tissues will be prospectively sampled in the vicinity of the prior biopsy site using multiple approaches: 1) Live cells (heterogeneous mix) will be obtained as a cell scrape slurry from the lesion surface or by fine needle aspirate (FNA); 2) For a subset of specimens where size is sufficient, a block of breast tissue with DCIS will be fresh-frozen; 3) The remainder of the specimen will be taken for routine formalin-fixation and paraffin-embedding (FFPE). The FFPE sample will be annotated to identify the matched FFPE tissue block adjacent to the fresh-frozen sample and will be sectioned for use in bulk and single nuclei sequencing . We will dissect DCIS, adjacent normal and when available, associated carcinoma. In addition, when possible, normal tissue will be collected from a tissue block lacking lesions as well as collection of blood. A subset of patients (n = 5 | FFPE, flash frozen and fresh) will be sent to the Broad Institute for single nuclei/cell sequencing.2. AAH and squamous dysplastic/CIS lesions from airway and lung tissue: For squamous cell lung cancer, we will collect endobronchial biopsies from abnormal airway regions identified on autofluroscence bronchoscopy or identify PMLs in the margins of resected lung tissue. We will study 20 patients (5 each from BU/UCLA/Vanderbilt/Moffitt) with pre-invasive squamous lesions (moderate-severe dysplasia or carcinoma in situ (CIS)) identified on pathologic examination. LCM of the premalignant region and adjacent normal epithelium will be performed as well as the invasive tumor for those collected from the resection margin (n=5 from UCLA). On a subset of lesions collected at bronchoscopy (n=5), we will collect additional biopsies that will be flash frozen and fresh for single nuclei and cell sequencing, respectively, performed at the Broad Institute. In parallel to the work at the Broad, BU will perform single cell RNA-seq on these freshly cell sorted tissues (n = 5). Blood will be collected on all patients for genomic studies. For lung adenocarcinoma, we will collect resected FFPE lung tissues from 20 patients (10 from UCLA and 10 from Vanderbilt/Moffitt) with early stage lung adenocarcinoma that harbor atypical adenomatous (AAH) premalignant lesions in the resection margin. We will LCM multiple AAH regions (3-5 per patient) as well as adjacent regions of normal epithelium and invasive adenocarcinoma. In addition, blood will be collected on all patients for genomic studies. 3. IPMNs from pancreatic tissue: For pancreatic cancer PML, we will collect low and high grade lesions from 24 patients representing macroscopic Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasms (IPMN) (n=24) from surgically resected specimens along with blood samples. Archival FFPE specimens of microscopic PanIN lesions, occurring multi-focally adjacent to invasive PDAC, and archival IPMN lesions (with or without associated invasive cancer), along with the adjacent normal tissue, will undergo LCM and utilized for bulk DNA and RNA sequencing. If matched frozen tissues are available for a subset of these FFPE samples, we will bank for comparison of profiles. Because IPMNs are macroscopic lesions, they provide an opportunity for obtaining the samples fresh and therefore can be used for single cell sequencing (in contrast to PanINs). Therefore, 5 freshly obtained IPMNs will be used for the single cell RNA sequencing studies performed at both the Broad Institute and MDACC, and the matched FFPE and/or frozen sections from these lesions (obtained from the adjacent PML) will be sent to Broad Institute as a pilot to assess "single nuclei" RNA sequencing.4. PINs from prostate tissue: For prostate cancer PML, there will be 40 samples of Prostatic Intraepithelial Neoplasia (PIN) collected between the Stanford and JHU sites (20 cases per site). At the Stanford site, 20 prostate specimens detected by PSA screening who have/will undergo surgery (radical prostatectomy) for clinically localized disease will make up the final cohort. The age range of the participants would be 40-75, and we anticipate that 18 will be Caucasian, 1 Asian and 1 Latino or African American based on the practice demographics practice at Stanford. Clinical and MRI data will also be collected for these samples. We will collect low grade (e.g. Gleason score of 6/Grade group 1; n=10) and high grade (Gleason score 4+3=7 or higher/Grade group 3 or higher; n=10) PINs from FFPE samples that have prostate carcinoma. In addition to obtaining LCM archival samples of low and high grade PIN, we will also obtain normal prostatic epithelial from the peripheral, central and transition zones as well as multiple samples of prostate carcinoma in order to obtain the spectrum of Gleason grades in the carcinoma as needed. LCM samples will be used for bulk DNA and RNA sequencing. In addition, single cells will be dissected from FFPE samples to prepare single cell RNA seq libraries using techniques developed at Stanford, and FFPE tissue will be sent to the Broad for single nuclei sequencing. When available, flash frozen and fresh samples from these prostates will be archived and prepared for single nuclei and cell sequencing, respectively, at the Broad Institute and at Stanford (single cell only). JHU will also capture 10 cases (5 grade group 1 and 5 grade group 2) of high grade PIN, normal and invasive adenocarcinoma using frozen sections from fresh frozen tissues. When possible these will be from the same patients as the FFPE samples. Since frozen sections can be quite challenging to morphologically determine high grade PIN from normal epithelium, for these samples we will perform a number of additional tissue-based characterizations. These will include a multicolor combined basal cells (p63 and CK903) and PIN/carcinoma markers (AMACR) referred to in the cocktail as "PIN4", c-MYC (referred to as MYC) protein5, by IHC and mRNA by in situ hybridization (AM De Marzo, Q Zheng unpublished observations), telomere length by in situ hybridization6 and the 5'ETS/45S rRNA7. For these slides, the whole slides will be scanned with a Hammamatsu Nanozoomer with a 40x objective and regions of interest will be annotated as a guide for LCM.II. Laser-capture microdissection (LCM): FFPE tissue blocks will be sectioned at 7μm thickness and serial sections will be stained with H&E. LCM will be performed utilizing standard LCM systems, such as Leica LMD7000 and ArcturusXT at each site. Regions of premalignancy will be dissected and RNA/DNA will be extracted from microdissected cells using the Qiagen All Prep DNA/RNA FFPE Kit. Aim 2: Perform bulk RNA and DNA seq on premalignant FFPE samples and compare the genomic/transcriptomic alterations within and across organ sites. Rationale: There have been limited studies characterizing the genomic and transcriptomic landscape of premalignant lesions associated with breast, pancreatic, lung or prostate cancers. Characterizing the molecular determinants of premalignant disease that are unique and shared across multiple organs will enable new candidate biomarkers for early detection and novel therapeutic strategies for early intervention. MethodsBulk RNA-seq of LCM FFPE tissue: All participating sites will perform bulk RNA-seq in accordance with SOPs developed at BU. In brief, total RNA will be isolated from LCM'd lesion and associated microenvironment tissue using the Qiagen All Prep DNA/RNA FFPE Kit and quality will be assessed with the Agilent Bioanalyzer. Libraries will be generated with the Illumina TruSeq Access kit (for FFPE samples). They will be sequenced on the Illumina HiSeq2500 with 75base-pair paired-end reads. Quality of FASTQ files will be assessed with FastQC. Reads will be aligned to the human genome with STAR and gene-level and isoform-level expression will be quantified with RSEM. Splice junction saturation, transcript integrity, and biotype distributions will be calculated for each sample with RSeQC. DESeq2 and EdgeR will be used to identify associations between gene expression profiles and clinical variables while controlling for confounding covariates. BU will serve as an RNA-seq Core to assess reproducibility of FFPE RNA-seq methods across sites. We will perform RNA-seq according to the SOP listed above on a subset of samples for each organ type (total n ~ 20). Bulk seq of DNA from FFPE tissue: All participating sites will perform targeted or whole exome-seq (WES) in accordance with SOPs. In brief, DNA from laser captured material will be isolated using the Qiagen All Prep DNA/RNA FFPE Kit and undergo stringent quality control to ensure high quality input material for genomic profiling. Purified DNA (ideally 100-200 ng) will be used for library preparation and amplification, followed by next generation sequencing using standard protocols distributed by CDMG. Exome-seq methods are considered standardized, thus we will not need a DNA-seq Core to assess reproducibility across sites. We anticipate local centers will use Illumina paired end reads, following the following general approach. 1) DNA library preparation: Paired-end libraries will be prepared following the manufacturer's protocols (Illumina and Agilent), fragmented to 150-200 bp 2) Capture of targeted exome: Whole exome capture will be carried out using the protocol for Agilent's SureSelect Human All Exon kit. Purified capture products will be amplified using the SureSelect GA PCR primers (Agilent) for 12 cycles. 3) Sequencing will be carried out for the captured libraries using at least 100 bp paired-end reads. To achieve high level sensitivity and accuracy for detecting all the mutations in the whole exome, each sample will be sequenced at 200X mean depth. 4) Read mapping and alignment and variant analysis: Sequence short reads will be aligned to a reference genome (NCBI human genome assembly build 38) using BWA-MEM. Local realignment of aligned reads will be performed using Genome Analysis Toolkit (GATK).Data QC: To ensure scientific rigor and consistency among sites in RNA and DNA processing we will include a preliminary analysis of steps in processing and analysis. Protocols for extraction of high quality RNA and DNA from formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissues, which will be used extensively in these studies continue to improve and may have variable implementation among the sites participating in this study. To evaluate consistency of preliminary steps in processing and downstream analyses, we will initially distribute slides from one large FFPE fixed cancer of origin from prostate, breast, lung and pancreatic cancer. Analysis of these samples will allow us to review the DNA and RNA characteristics (yield, purity and strand length) among sites. Downstream analysis of these same samples will also allow us to compare among sites the consistency of variant calls among centers. We will be able to identify if there are some times of calls (such as small insertion deletions) that are more variable among centers versus other types of calls (such as relative gene expression or single base pair substitutions) that we expect to be less variable and to characterize the reliability of findings across sites. We are also including a 5% blind duplicate analysis of RNA sequencing. Samples will be analysed by the participating genomics cores without knowledge of the phenotype. RNA seq and CNA analyses are normalized for batch effects. We will also compare the observed sex to the self-reported sex as based on RNA profiles and exome sequencing of X chromosome genes as another check for processing accuracy and sample management. D. References 1. Wacholder, S. Precursors in Cancer Epidemiology: Aligning Definition and Function. Cancer Epidemiol. Prev. Biomark. 22, 521-527 (2013). PMID: 23549395.2. Berman, J. J. Precancer: The Beginning and the End of Cancer. (Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2011).3. Nasiell, K., Nasiell, M. & Vaćlavinková, V. Behavior of moderate cervical dysplasia during long-term follow-up. Obstet. Gynecol. 61, 609-614 (1983). PMID: 6835614.4. Merrick, D. T. et al. Persistence of Bronchial Dysplasia Is Associated with Development of Invasive Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Cancer Prev. Res. (Phila. Pa.) 9, 96-104 (2016). PMID: 26542061.5. Gurel, B. et al. Nuclear MYC protein overexpression is an early alteration in human prostate carcinogenesis. Mod. Pathol. Off. J. U. S. Can. Acad. Pathol. Inc 21, 1156-1167 (2008). PMID: 18567993.6. Meeker, A. K. et al. Telomere shortening is an early somatic DNA alteration in human prostate tumorigenesis. Cancer Res. 62, 6405-6409 (2002). PMID: 12438224.7. Guner, G. et al. Novel Assay to Detect RNA Polymerase I Activity In Vivo. Mol. Cancer Res. MCR 15, 577-584 (2017). PMID: 28119429.
Original description of the study: From ELLIPSE (linked to the PRACTICAL consortium), we contributed ~78,000 SNPs to the OncoArray. A large fraction of the content was derived from the GWAS meta-analyses in European ancestry populations (overall and aggressive disease; ~27K SNPs). We also selected just over 10,000 SNPs from the meta-analyses in the non-European populations, with a majority of these SNPs coming from the analysis of overall prostate cancer in African ancestry populations as well as from the multiethnic meta-analysis. A substantial fraction of SNPs (~28,000) were also selected for fine-mapping of 53 loci not included in the common fine-mapping regions (tagging at r2>0.9 across ±500kb regions). We also selected a few thousand SNPs related with PSA levels and/or disease survival as well as SNPs from candidate lists provided by study collaborators, as well as from meta-analyses of exome SNP chip data from the Multiethnic Cohort and UK studies. The Contributing Studies: Aarhus: Hospital-based, Retrospective, Observational. Source of cases: Patients treated for prostate adenocarcinoma at Department of Urology, Aarhus University Hospital, Skejby (Aarhus, Denmark). Source of controls: Age-matched males treated for myocardial infarction or undergoing coronary angioplasty, but with no prostate cancer diagnosis based on information retrieved from the Danish Cancer Register and the Danish Cause of Death Register. AHS: Nested case-control study within prospective cohort. Source of cases: linkage to cancer registries in study states. Source of controls: matched controls from cohort ATBC: Prospective, nested case-control. Source of cases: Finnish male smokers aged 50-69 years at baseline. Source of controls: Finnish male smokers aged 50-69 years at baseline BioVu: Cases identified in a biobank linked to electronic health records. Source of cases: A total of 214 cases were identified in the VUMC de-identified electronic health records database (the Synthetic Derivative) and shipped to USC for genotyping in April 2014. The following criteria were used to identify cases: Age 18 or greater; male; African Americans (Black) only. Note that African ancestry is not self-identified, it is administratively or third-party assigned (which has been shown to be highly correlated with genetic ancestry for African Americans in BioVU; see references). Source of controls: Controls were identified in the de-identified electronic health record. Unfortunately, they were not age matched to the cases, and therefore cannot be used for this study. Canary PASS: Prospective, Multi-site, Observational Active Surveillance Study. Source of cases: clinic based from Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center, Eastern Virginia Medical School, University of California at San Francisco, University of Texas Health Sciences Center San Antonio, University of Washington, VA Puget Sound. Source of controls: N/A CCI: Case series, Hospital-based. Source of cases: Cases identified through clinics at the Cross Cancer Institute. Source of controls: N/A CerePP French Prostate Cancer Case-Control Study (ProGene): Case-Control, Prospective, Observational, Hospital-based. Source of cases: Patients, treated in French departments of Urology, who had histologically confirmed prostate cancer. Source of controls: Controls were recruited as participating in a systematic health screening program and found unaffected (normal digital rectal examination and total PSA < 4 ng/ml, or negative biopsy if PSA > 4 ng/ml). COH: hospital-based cases and controls from outside. Source of cases: Consented prostate cancer cases at City of Hope. Source of controls: Consented unaffected males that were part of other studies where they consented to have their DNA used for other research studies. COSM: Population-based cohort. Source of cases: General population. Source of controls: General population CPCS1: Case-control - Denmark. Source of cases: Hospital referrals. Source of controls: Copenhagen General Population Study CPCS2: Source of cases: Hospital referrals. Source of controls: Copenhagen General Population Study CPDR: Retrospective cohort. Source of cases: Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Source of controls: Walter Reed National Military Medical Center ACS_CPS-II: Nested case-control derived from a prospective cohort study. Source of cases: Identified through self-report on follow-up questionnaires and verified through medical records or cancer registries, identified through cancer registries or the National Death Index (with prostate cancer as the primary cause of death). Source of controls: Cohort participants who were cancer-free at the time of diagnosis of the matched case, also matched on age (±6 mo) and date of biospecimen donation (±6 mo). EPIC: Case-control - Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, UK. Source of cases: Identified through record linkage with population-based cancer registries in Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and UK. In Germany and Greece, follow-up is active and achieved through checks of insurance records and cancer and pathology registries as well as via self-reported questionnaires; self-reported incident cancers are verified through medical records. Source of controls: Cohort participants without a diagnosis of cancer EPICAP: Case-control, Population-based, ages less than 75 years at diagnosis, Hérault, France. Source of cases: Prostate cancer cases in all public hospitals and private urology clinics of département of Hérault in France. Cases validation by the Hérault Cancer Registry. Source of controls: Population-based controls, frequency age matched (5-year groups). Quotas by socio-economic status (SES) in order to obtain a distribution by SES among controls identical to the SES distribution among general population men, conditionally to age. ERSPC: Population-based randomized trial. Source of cases: Men with PrCa from screening arm ERSPC Rotterdam. Source of controls: Men without PrCa from screening arm ERSPC Rotterdam ESTHER: Case-control, Prospective, Observational, Population-based. Source of cases: Prostate cancer cases in all hospitals in the state of Saarland, from 2001-2003. Source of controls: Random sample of participants from routine health check-up in Saarland, in 2000-2002 FHCRC: Population-based, case-control, ages 35-74 years at diagnosis, King County, WA, USA. Source of cases: Identified through the Seattle-Puget Sound SEER cancer registry. Source of controls: Randomly selected, age-frequency matched residents from the same county as cases Gene-PARE: Hospital-based. Source of cases: Patients that received radiotherapy for treatment of prostate cancer. Source of controls: n/a Hamburg-Zagreb: Hospital-based, Prospective. Source of cases: Prostate cancer cases seen at the Department of Oncology, University Hospital Center Zagreb, Croatia. Source of controls: Population-based (Croatia), healthy men, older than 50, with no medical record of cancer, and no family history of cancer (1st & 2nd degree relatives) HPFS: Nested case-control. Source of cases: Participants of the HPFS cohort. Source of controls: Participants of the HPFS cohort IMPACT: Observational. Source of cases: Carriers and non-carriers (with a known mutation in the family) of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, aged between 40 and 69, who are undergoing prostate screening with annual PSA testing. This cohort has been diagnosed with prostate cancer during the study. Source of controls: Carriers and non-carriers (with a known mutation in the family) of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, aged between 40 and 69, who are undergoing prostate screening with annual PSA testing. This cohort has not been diagnosed with prostate cancer during the study. IPO-Porto: Hospital-based. Source of cases: Early onset and/or familial prostate cancer. Source of controls: Blood donors Karuprostate: Case-control, Retrospective, Population-based. Source of cases: From FWI (Guadeloupe): 237 consecutive incident patients with histologically confirmed prostate cancer attending public and private urology clinics; From Democratic Republic of Congo: 148 consecutive incident patients with histologically confirmed prostate cancer attending the University Clinic of Kinshasa. Source of controls: From FWI (Guadeloupe): 277 controls recruited from men participating in a free systematic health screening program open to the general population; From Democratic Republic of Congo: 134 controls recruited from subjects attending the University Clinic of Kinshasa KULEUVEN: Hospital-based, Prospective, Observational. Source of cases: Prostate cancer cases recruited at the University Hospital Leuven. Source of controls: Healthy males with no history of prostate cancer recruited at the University Hospitals, Leuven. LAAPC: Subjects were participants in a population-based case-control study of aggressive prostate cancer conducted in Los Angeles County. Cases were identified through the Los Angeles County Cancer Surveillance Program rapid case ascertainment system. Eligible cases included African American, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic White men diagnosed with a first primary prostate cancer between January 1, 1999 and December 31, 2003. Eligible cases also had (a) prostatectomy with documented tumor extension outside the prostate, (b) metastatic prostate cancer in sites other than prostate, (c) needle biopsy of the prostate with Gleason grade ≥8, or (d) needle biopsy with Gleason grade 7 and tumor in more than two thirds of the biopsy cores. Eligible controls were men never diagnosed with prostate cancer, living in the same neighborhood as a case, and were frequency matched to cases on age (± 5 y) and race/ethnicity. Controls were identified by a neighborhood walk algorithm, which proceeds through an obligatory sequence of adjacent houses or residential units beginning at a specific residence that has a specific geographic relationship to the residence where the case lived at diagnosis. Malaysia: Case-control. Source of cases: Patients attended the outpatient urology or uro-onco clinic at University Malaya Medical Center. Source of controls: Population-based, age matched (5-year groups), ascertained through electoral register, Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia MCC-Spain: Case-control. Source of cases: Identified through the urology departments of the participating hospitals. Source of controls: Population-based, frequency age and region matched, ascertained through the rosters of the primary health care centers MCCS: Nested case-control, Melbourne, Victoria. Source of cases: Identified by linkage to the Victorian Cancer Registry. Source of controls: Cohort participants without a diagnosis of cancer MD Anderson: Participants in this study were identified from epidemiological prostate cancer studies conducted at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in the Houston Metropolitan area. Cases were accrued in the Houston Medical Center and were not restricted with respect to Gleason score, stage or PSA. Controls were identified via random-digit-dialing or among hospital visitors and they were frequency matched to cases on age and race. Lifestyle, demographic, and family history data were collected using a standardized questionnaire. MDACC_AS: A prospective cohort study. Source of cases: Men with clinically organ-confined prostate cancer meeting eligibility criteria for a prospective cohort study of active surveillance at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Source of controls: N/A MEC: The Multiethnic Cohort (MEC) is comprised of over 215,000 men and women recruited from Hawaii and the Los Angeles area between 1993 and 1996. Between 1995 and 2006, over 65,000 blood samples were collected from participants for genetic analyses. To identify incident cancer cases, the MEC was cross-linked with the population-based Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) registries in California and Hawaii, and unaffected cohort participants with blood samples were selected as controls MIAMI (WFPCS): Prostate cancer cases and controls were recruited from the Departments of Urology and Internal Medicine of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine using sequential patient populations as described previously (PMID:15342424). All study subjects received a detailed description of the study protocol and signed their informed consent, as approved by the medical center's Institutional Review Board. The general eligibility criteria were (i) able to comprehend informed consent and (ii) without previously diagnosed cancer. The exclusion criteria were (i) clinical diagnosis of autoimmune diseases; (ii) chronic inflammatory conditions; and (iii) infections within the past 6 weeks. Blood samples were collected from all subjects. MOFFITT: Hospital-based. Source of cases: clinic based from Moffitt Cancer Center. Source of controls: Moffitt Cancer Center affiliated Lifetime cancer screening center NMHS: Case-control, clinic based, Nashville TN. Source of cases: All urology clinics in Nashville, TN. Source of controls: Men without prostate cancer at prostate biopsy. PCaP: The North Carolina-Louisiana Prostate Cancer Project (PCaP) is a multidisciplinary population-based case-only study designed to address racial differences in prostate cancer through a comprehensive evaluation of social, individual and tumor level influences on prostate cancer aggressiveness. PCaP enrolled approximately equal numbers of African Americans and Caucasian Americans with newly-diagnosed prostate cancer from North Carolina (42 counties) and Louisiana (30 parishes) identified through state tumor registries. African American PCaP subjects with DNA, who agreed to future use of specimens for research, participated in OncoArray analysis. PCMUS: Case-control - Sofia, Bulgaria. Source of cases: Patients of Clinic of Urology, Alexandrovska University Hospital, Sofia, Bulgaria, PrCa histopathologically confirmed. Source of controls: 72 patients with verified BPH and PSA<3,5; 78 healthy controls from the MMC Biobank, no history of PrCa PHS: Nested case-control. Source of cases: Participants of the PHS1 trial/cohort. Source of controls: Participants of the PHS1 trial/cohort PLCO: Nested case-control. Source of cases: Men with a confirmed diagnosis of prostate cancer from the PLCO Cancer Screening Trial. Source of controls: Controls were men enrolled in the PLCO Cancer Screening Trial without a diagnosis of cancer at the time of case ascertainment. Poland: Case-control. Source of cases: men with unselected prostate cancer, diagnosed in north-western Poland at the University Hospital in Szczecin. Source of controls: cancer-free men from the same population, taken from the healthy adult patients of family doctors in the Szczecin region PROCAP: Population-based, Retrospective, Observational. Source of cases: Cases were ascertained from the National Prostate Cancer Register of Sweden Follow-Up Study, a retrospective nationwide cohort study of patients with localized prostate cancer. Source of controls: Controls were selected among men referred for PSA testing in laboratories in Stockholm County, Sweden, between 2010 and 2012. PROGReSS: Hospital-based, Prospective, Observational. Source of cases: Prostate cancer cases from the Hospital Clínico Universitario de Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain. Source of controls: Cancer-free men from the same population ProMPT: A study to collect samples and data from subjects with and without prostate cancer. Retrospective, Experimental. Source of cases: Subjects attending outpatient clinics in hospitals. Source of controls: Subjects attending outpatient clinics in hospitals ProtecT: Trial of treatment. Samples taken from subjects invited for PSA testing from the community at nine centers across United Kingdom. Source of cases: Subjects who have a proven diagnosis of prostate cancer following testing. Source of controls: Identified through invitation of subjects in the community. PROtEuS: Case-control, population-based. Source of cases: All new histologically-confirmed cases, aged less or equal to 75 years, diagnosed between 2005 and 2009, actively ascertained across Montreal French hospitals. Source of controls: Randomly selected from the Provincial electoral list of French-speaking men between 2005 and 2009, from the same area of residence as cases and frequency-matched on age. QLD: Case-control. Source of cases: A longitudinal cohort study (Prostate Cancer Supportive Care and Patient Outcomes Project: ProsCan) conducted in Queensland, through which men newly diagnosed with prostate cancer from 26 private practices and 10 public hospitals were directly referred to ProsCan at the time of diagnosis by their treating clinician (age range 43-88 years). All cases had histopathologically confirmed prostate cancer, following presentation with an abnormal serum PSA and/or lower urinary tract symptoms. Source of controls: Controls comprised healthy male blood donors with no personal history of prostate cancer, recruited through (i) the Australian Red Cross Blood Services in Brisbane (age range 19-76 years) and (ii) the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) (age and post-code/ area matched to ProsCan, age range 54-90 years). RAPPER: Multi-centre, hospital based blood sample collection study in patients enrolled in clinical trials with prospective collection of radiotherapy toxicity data. Source of cases: Prostate cancer patients enrolled in radiotherapy trials: CHHiP, RT01, Dose Escalation, RADICALS, Pelvic IMRT, PIVOTAL. Source of controls: N/A SABOR: Prostate Cancer Screening Cohort. Source of cases: Men >45 yrs of age participating in annual PSA screening. Source of controls: Males participating in annual PSA prostate cancer risk evaluations (funded by NCI biomarkers discovery and validation grant), recruited through University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and affiliated sites or through study advertisements, enrolment open to the community SCCS: Case-control in cohort, Southeastern USA. Prospective, Observational, Population-based. Source of cases: SCCS entry population. Source of controls: SCCS entry population SCPCS: Population-based, Retrospective, Observational. Source of cases: South Carolina Central Cancer Registry. Source of controls: Health Care Financing Administration beneficiary file SEARCH: Case-control - East Anglia, UK. Source of cases: Men < 70 years of age registered with prostate cancer at the population-based cancer registry, Eastern Cancer Registration and Information Centre, East Anglia, UK. Source of controls: Men attending general practice in East Anglia with no known prostate cancer diagnosis, frequency matched to cases by age and geographic region SNP_Prostate_Ghent: Hospital-based, Retrospective, Observational. Source of cases: Men treated with IMRT as primary or postoperative treatment for prostate cancer at the Ghent University Hospital between 2000 and 2010. Source of controls: Employees of the University hospital and members of social activity clubs, without a history of any cancer. SPAG: Hospital-based, Retrospective, Observational. Source of cases: Guernsey. Source of controls: Guernsey STHM2: Population-based, Retrospective, Observational. Source of cases: Cases were selected among men referred for PSA testing in laboratories in Stockholm County, Sweden, between 2010 and 2012. Source of controls: Controls were selected among men referred for PSA testing in laboratories in Stockholm County, Sweden, between 2010 and 2012. PCPT: Case-control from a randomized clinical trial. Source of cases: Randomized clinical trial. Source of controls: Randomized clinical trial SELECT: Case-cohort from a randomized clinical trial. Source of cases: Randomized clinical trial. Source of controls: Randomized clinical trial TAMPERE: Case-control - Finland, Retrospective, Observational, Population-based. Source of cases: Identified through linkage to the Finnish Cancer Registry and patient records; and the Finnish arm of the ERSPC study. Source of controls: Cohort participants without a diagnosis of cancer UGANDA: Uganda Prostate Cancer Study: Uganda is a case-control study of prostate cancer in Kampala Uganda that was initiated in 2011. Men with prostate cancer were enrolled from the Urology unit at Mulago Hospital and men without prostate cancer (i.e. controls) were enrolled from other clinics (i.e. surgery) at the hospital. UKGPCS: ICR, UK. Source of cases: Cases identified through clinics at the Royal Marsden hospital and nationwide NCRN hospitals. Source of controls: Ken Muir's control- 2000 ULM: Case-control - Germany. Source of cases: familial cases (n=162): identified through questionnaires for family history by collaborating urologists all over Germany; sporadic cases (n=308): prostatectomy series performed in the Clinic of Urology Ulm between 2012 and 2014. Source of controls: age-matched controls (n=188): age-matched men without prostate cancer and negative family history collected in hospitals of Ulm WUGS/WUPCS: Cases Series, USA. Source of cases: Identified through clinics at Washington University in St. Louis. Source of controls: Men diagnosed and managed with prostate cancer in University based clinic. Acknowledgement Statements: Aarhus: This study was supported by the Danish Strategic Research Council (now Innovation Fund Denmark) and the Danish Cancer Society. The Danish Cancer Biobank (DCB) is acknowledged for biological material. AHS: This work was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, National Cancer Institute, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (Z01CP010119). ATBC: This research was supported in part by the Intramural Research Program of the NIH and the National Cancer Institute. Additionally, this research was supported by U.S. Public Health Service contracts N01-CN-45165, N01-RC-45035, N01-RC-37004, HHSN261201000006C, and HHSN261201500005C from the National Cancer Institute, Department of Health and Human Services. BioVu: The dataset(s) used for the analyses described were obtained from Vanderbilt University Medical Center's BioVU which is supported by institutional funding and by the National Center for Research Resources, Grant UL1 RR024975-01 (which is now at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, Grant 2 UL1 TR000445-06). Canary PASS: PASS was supported by Canary Foundation and the National Cancer Institute's Early Detection Research Network (U01 CA086402) CCI: This work was awarded by Prostate Cancer Canada and is proudly funded by the Movember Foundation - Grant # D2013-36.The CCI group would like to thank David Murray, Razmik Mirzayans, and April Scott for their contribution to this work. CerePP French Prostate Cancer Case-Control Study (ProGene): None reported COH: SLN is partially supported by the Morris and Horowitz Families Endowed Professorship COSM: The Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Cancer Foundation CPCS1 & CPCS2: Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Herlev and Gentofte Hospital, Copenhagen University Hospital, Herlev Ringvej 75, DK-2730 Herlev, DenmarkCPCS1 would like to thank the participants and staff of the Copenhagen General Population Study for their important contributions. CPDR: Uniformed Services University for the Health Sciences HU0001-10-2-0002 (PI: David G. McLeod, MD) CPS-II: The American Cancer Society funds the creation, maintenance, and updating of the Cancer Prevention Study II cohort. CPS-II thanks the participants and Study Management Group for their invaluable contributions to this research. We would also like to acknowledge the contribution to this study from central cancer registries supported through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Program of Cancer Registries, and cancer registries supported by the National Cancer Institute Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results program. EPIC: The coordination of EPIC is financially supported by the European Commission (DG-SANCO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The national cohorts are supported by the Danish Cancer Society (Denmark); the Deutsche Krebshilfe, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum and Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany); the Hellenic Health Foundation, Greek Ministry of Health; Greek Ministry of Education (Greece); the Italian Association for Research on Cancer (AIRC) and National Research Council (Italy); the Dutch Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sports (VWS), Netherlands Cancer Registry (NKR), LK Research Funds, Dutch Prevention Funds, Dutch ZON (Zorg Onderzoek Nederland), World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF); the Statistics Netherlands (The Netherlands); the Health Research Fund (FIS), Regional Governments of Andalucía, Asturias, Basque Country, Murcia and Navarra, Spanish Ministry of Health ISCIII RETIC (RD06/0020), Red de Centros RCESP, C03/09 (Spain); the Swedish Cancer Society, Swedish Scientific Council and Regional Government of Skåne and Västerbotten, Fundacion Federico SA (Sweden); the Cancer Research UK, Medical Research Council (United Kingdom). EPICAP: The EPICAP study was supported by grants from Ligue Nationale Contre le Cancer, Ligue départementale du Val de Marne; Fondation de France; Agence Nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l'alimentation, de l'environnement et du travail (ANSES). The EPICAP study group would like to thank all urologists, Antoinette Anger and Hasina Randrianasolo (study monitors), Anne-Laure Astolfi, Coline Bernard, Oriane Noyer, Marie-Hélène De Campo, Sandrine Margaroline, Louise N'Diaye, and Sabine Perrier-Bonnet (Clinical Research nurses). ERSPC: This study was supported by the DutchCancerSociety (KWF94-869,98-1657,2002-277,2006-3518, 2010-4800), The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMW-002822820, 22000106, 50-50110-98-311, 62300035), The Dutch Cancer Research Foundation (SWOP), and an unconditional grant from Beckman-Coulter-HybritechInc. ESTHER: The ESTHER study was supported by a grant from the Baden Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research and Arts. The ESTHER group would like to thank Hartwig Ziegler, Sonja Wolf, Volker Hermann, Heiko Müller, Karina Dieffenbach, Katja Butterbach for valuable contributions to the study. FHCRC: The FHCRC studies were supported by grants R01-CA056678, R01-CA082664, and R01-CA092579 from the US National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, with additional support from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. FHCRC would like to thank all the men who participated in these studies. Gene-PARE: The Gene-PARE study was supported by grants 1R01CA134444 from the U.S. National Institutes of Health, PC074201 and W81XWH-15-1-0680 from the Prostate Cancer Research Program of the Department of Defense and RSGT-05-200-01-CCE from the American Cancer Society. Hamburg-Zagreb: None reported HPFS: The Health Professionals Follow-up Study was supported by grants UM1CA167552, CA133891, CA141298, and P01CA055075. HPFS are grateful to the participants and staff of the Physicians' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study for their valuable contributions, as well as the following state cancer registries for their help: AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, NE, NH, NJ, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, WA, and WY. IMPACT: The IMPACT study was funded by The Ronald and Rita McAulay Foundation, CR-UK Project grant (C5047/A1232), Cancer Australia, AICR Netherlands A10-0227, Cancer Australia and Cancer Council Tasmania, NIHR, EU Framework 6, Cancer Councils of Victoria and South Australia, and Philanthropic donation to Northshore University Health System. We acknowledge support from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to the Biomedical Research Centre at The Institute of Cancer Research and Royal Marsden Foundation NHS Trust. IMPACT acknowledges the IMPACT study steering committee, collaborating centres, and participants. IPO-Porto: The IPO-Porto study was funded by Fundaçäo para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT; UID/DTP/00776/2013 and PTDC/DTP-PIC/1308/2014) and by IPO-Porto Research Center (CI-IPOP-16-2012 and CI-IPOP-24-2015). MC and MPS are research fellows from Liga Portuguesa Contra o Cancro, Núcleo Regional do Norte. SM is a research fellow from FCT (SFRH/BD/71397/2010). IPO-Porto would like to express our gratitude to all patients and families who have participated in this study. Karuprostate: The Karuprostate study was supported by the the Frech National Health Directorate and by the Association pour la Recherche sur les Tumeurs de la ProstateKarusprostate thanks Séverine Ferdinand. KULEUVEN: F.C. and S.J. are holders of grants from FWO Vlaanderen (G.0684.12N and G.0830.13N), the Belgian federal government (National Cancer Plan KPC_29_023), and a Concerted Research Action of the KU Leuven (GOA/15/017). TVDB is holder of a doctoral fellowship of the FWO. LAAPC: This study was funded by grant R01CA84979 (to S.A. Ingles) from the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health. Malaysia: The study was funded by the University Malaya High Impact Research Grant (HIR/MOHE/MED/35). Malaysia thanks all associates in the Urology Unit, University of Malaya, Cancer Research Initiatives Foundation (CARIF) and the Malaysian Men's Health Initiative (MMHI). MCCS: MCCS cohort recruitment was funded by VicHealth and Cancer Council Victoria. The MCCS was further supported by Australian NHMRC grants 209057, 251553, and 504711, and by infrastructure provided by Cancer Council Victoria. Cases and their vital status were ascertained through the Victorian Cancer Registry (VCR) and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), including the National Death Index and the Australian Cancer Database. MCC-Spain: The study was partially funded by the Accion Transversal del Cancer, approved on the Spanish Ministry Council on the 11th October 2007, by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III-FEDER (PI08/1770, PI09/00773-Cantabria, PI11/01889-FEDER, PI12/00265, PI12/01270, and PI12/00715), by the Fundación Marqués de Valdecilla (API 10/09), by the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC) Scientific Foundation and by the Catalan Government DURSI grant 2009SGR1489. Samples: Biological samples were stored at the Parc de Salut MAR Biobank (MARBiobanc; Barcelona) which is supported by Instituto de Salud Carlos III FEDER (RD09/0076/00036). Also sample collection was supported by the Xarxa de Bancs de Tumors de Catalunya sponsored by Pla Director d'Oncologia de Catalunya (XBTC). MCC-Spain acknowledges the contribution from Esther Gracia-Lavedan in preparing the data. We thank all the subjects who participated in the study and all MCC-Spain collaborators. MD Anderson: Prostate Cancer Case-Control Studies at MD Anderson (MDA) supported by grants CA68578, ES007784, DAMD W81XWH-07-1-0645, and CA140388. MDACC_AS: None reported MEC: Funding provided by NIH grant U19CA148537 and grant U01CA164973. MIAMI (WFPCS): ACS MOFFITT: The Moffitt group was supported by the US National Cancer Institute (R01CA128813, PI: J.Y. Park). NMHS: Funding for the Nashville Men's Health Study (NMHS) was provided by the National Institutes of Health Grant numbers: RO1CA121060. PCaP only data: The North Carolina - Louisiana Prostate Cancer Project (PCaP) is carried out as a collaborative study supported by the Department of Defense contract DAMD 17-03-2-0052. For HCaP-NC follow-up data: The Health Care Access and Prostate Cancer Treatment in North Carolina (HCaP-NC) study is carried out as a collaborative study supported by the American Cancer Society award RSGT-08-008-01-CPHPS. For studies using both PCaP and HCaP-NC follow-up data please use: The North Carolina - Louisiana Prostate Cancer Project (PCaP) and the Health Care Access and Prostate Cancer Treatment in North Carolina (HCaP-NC) study are carried out as collaborative studies supported by the Department of Defense contract DAMD 17-03-2-0052 and the American Cancer Society award RSGT-08-008-01-CPHPS, respectively. For any PCaP data, please include: The authors thank the staff, advisory committees and research subjects participating in the PCaP study for their important contributions. For studies using PCaP DNA/genotyping data, please include: We would like to acknowledge the UNC BioSpecimen Facility and LSUHSC Pathology Lab for our DNA extractions, blood processing, storage and sample disbursement (https://genome.unc.edu/bsp). For studies using PCaP tissue, please include: We would like to acknowledge the RPCI Department of Urology Tissue Microarray and Immunoanalysis Core for our tissue processing, storage and sample disbursement. For studies using HCaP-NC follow-up data, please use: The Health Care Access and Prostate Cancer Treatment in North Carolina (HCaP-NC) study is carried out as a collaborative study supported by the American Cancer Society award RSGT-08-008-01-CPHPS. The authors thank the staff, advisory committees and research subjects participating in the HCaP-NC study for their important contributions. For studies that use both PCaP and HCaP-NC, please use: The authors thank the staff, advisory committees and research subjects participating in the PCaP and HCaP-NC studies for their important contributions. PCMUS: The PCMUS study was supported by the Bulgarian National Science Fund, Ministry of Education and Science (contract DOO-119/2009; DUNK01/2-2009; DFNI-B01/28/2012) with additional support from the Science Fund of Medical University - Sofia (contract 51/2009; 8I/2009; 28/2010). PHS: The Physicians' Health Study was supported by grants CA34944, CA40360, CA097193, HL26490, and HL34595. PHS members are grateful to the participants and staff of the Physicians' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study for their valuable contributions, as well as the following state cancer registries for their help: AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, NE, NH, NJ, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, WA, and WY. PLCO: This PLCO study was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIHPLCO thanks Drs. Christine Berg and Philip Prorok, Division of Cancer Prevention at the National Cancer Institute, the screening center investigators and staff of the PLCO Cancer Screening Trial for their contributions to the PLCO Cancer Screening Trial. We thank Mr. Thomas Riley, Mr. Craig Williams, Mr. Matthew Moore, and Ms. Shannon Merkle at Information Management Services, Inc., for their management of the data and Ms. Barbara O'Brien and staff at Westat, Inc. for their contributions to the PLCO Cancer Screening Trial. We also thank the PLCO study participants for their contributions to making this study possible. Poland: None reported PROCAP: PROCAP was supported by the Swedish Cancer Foundation (08-708, 09-0677). PROCAP thanks and acknowledges all of the participants in the PROCAP study. We thank Carin Cavalli-Björkman and Ami Rönnberg Karlsson for their dedicated work in the collection of data. Michael Broms is acknowledged for his skilful work with the databases. KI Biobank is acknowledged for handling the samples and for DNA extraction. We acknowledge The NPCR steering group: Pär Stattin (chair), Anders Widmark, Stefan Karlsson, Magnus Törnblom, Jan Adolfsson, Anna Bill-Axelson, Ove Andrén, David Robinson, Bill Pettersson, Jonas Hugosson, Jan-Erik Damber, Ola Bratt, Göran Ahlgren, Lars Egevad, and Roy Ehrnström. PROGReSS: The PROGReSS study is founded by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Health (INT15/00070; INT16/00154; FIS PI10/00164, FIS PI13/02030; FIS PI16/00046); the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (PTA2014-10228-I), and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER 2007-2013). ProMPT: Founded by CRUK, NIHR, MRC, Cambride Biomedical Research Centre ProtecT: Founded by NIHR. ProtecT and ProMPT would like to acknowledge the support of The University of Cambridge, Cancer Research UK. Cancer Research UK grants (C8197/A10123) and (C8197/A10865) supported the genotyping team. We would also like to acknowledge the support of the National Institute for Health Research which funds the Cambridge Bio-medical Research Centre, Cambridge, UK. We would also like to acknowledge the support of the National Cancer Research Prostate Cancer: Mechanisms of Progression and Treatment (PROMPT) collaborative (grant code G0500966/75466) which has funded tissue and urine collections in Cambridge. We are grateful to staff at the Welcome Trust Clinical Research Facility, Addenbrooke's Clinical Research Centre, Cambridge, UK for their help in conducting the ProtecT study. We also acknowledge the support of the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, the DOH HTA (ProtecT grant), and the NCRI/MRC (ProMPT grant) for help with the bio-repository. The UK Department of Health funded the ProtecT study through the NIHR Health Technology Assessment Programme (projects 96/20/06, 96/20/99). The ProtecT trial and its linked ProMPT and CAP (Comparison Arm for ProtecT) studies are supported by Department of Health, England; Cancer Research UK grant number C522/A8649, Medical Research Council of England grant number G0500966, ID 75466, and The NCRI, UK. The epidemiological data for ProtecT were generated though funding from the Southwest National Health Service Research and Development. DNA extraction in ProtecT was supported by USA Dept of Defense award W81XWH-04-1-0280, Yorkshire Cancer Research and Cancer Research UK. The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution of all members of the ProtecT study research group. The views and opinions expressed therein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Health of England. The bio-repository from ProtecT is supported by the NCRI (ProMPT) Prostate Cancer Collaborative and the Cambridge BMRC grant from NIHR. We thank the National Institute for Health Research, Hutchison Whampoa Limited, the Human Research Tissue Bank (Addenbrooke's Hospital), and Cancer Research UK. PROtEuS: PROtEuS was supported financially through grants from the Canadian Cancer Society (13149, 19500, 19864, 19865) and the Cancer Research Society, in partnership with the Ministère de l'enseignement supérieur, de la recherche, de la science et de la technologie du Québec, and the Fonds de la recherche du Québec - Santé.PROtEuS would like to thank its collaborators and research personnel, and the urologists involved in subjects recruitment. We also wish to acknowledge the special contribution made by Ann Hsing and Anand Chokkalingam to the conception of the genetic component of PROtEuS. QLD: The QLD research is supported by The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Australia Project Grants (390130, 1009458) and NHMRC Career Development Fellowship and Cancer Australia PdCCRS funding to J Batra. The QLD team would like to acknowledge and sincerely thank the urologists, pathologists, data managers and patient participants who have generously and altruistically supported the QLD cohort. RAPPER: RAPPER is funded by Cancer Research UK (C1094/A11728; C1094/A18504) and Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre funding (C1467/A7286). The RAPPER group thank Rebecca Elliott for project management. SABOR: The SABOR research is supported by NIH/NCI Early Detection Research Network, grant U01 CA0866402-12. Also supported by the Cancer Center Support Grant to the Cancer Therapy and Research Center from the National Cancer Institute (US) P30 CA054174. SCCS: SCCS is funded by NIH grant R01 CA092447, and SCCS sample preparation was conducted at the Epidemiology Biospecimen Core Lab that is supported in part by the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (P30 CA68485). Data on SCCS cancer cases used in this publication were provided by the Alabama Statewide Cancer Registry; Kentucky Cancer Registry, Lexington, KY; Tennessee Department of Health, Office of Cancer Surveillance; Florida Cancer Data System; North Carolina Central Cancer Registry, North Carolina Division of Public Health; Georgia Comprehensive Cancer Registry; Louisiana Tumor Registry; Mississippi Cancer Registry; South Carolina Central Cancer Registry; Virginia Department of Health, Virginia Cancer Registry; Arkansas Department of Health, Cancer Registry, 4815 W. Markham, Little Rock, AR 72205. The Arkansas Central Cancer Registry is fully funded by a grant from National Program of Cancer Registries, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Data on SCCS cancer cases from Mississippi were collected by the Mississippi Cancer Registry which participates in the National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The contents of this publication are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the CDC or the Mississippi Cancer Registry. SCPCS: SCPCS is funded by CDC grant S1135-19/19, and SCPCS sample preparation was conducted at the Epidemiology Biospecimen Core Lab that is supported in part by the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (P30 CA68485). SEARCH: SEARCH is funded by a program grant from Cancer Research UK (C490/A10124) and supported by the UK National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre at the University of Cambridge. SNP_Prostate_Ghent: The study was supported by the National Cancer Plan, financed by the Federal Office of Health and Social Affairs, Belgium. SPAG: Wessex Medical ResearchHope for Guernsey, MUG, HSSD, MSG, Roger Allsopp STHM2: STHM2 was supported by grants from The Strategic Research Programme on Cancer (StratCan), Karolinska Institutet; the Linné Centre for Breast and Prostate Cancer (CRISP, number 70867901), Karolinska Institutet; The Swedish Research Council (number K2010-70X-20430-04-3) and The Swedish Cancer Society (numbers 11-0287 and 11-0624); Stiftelsen Johanna Hagstrand och Sigfrid Linnérs minne; Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research (FAS), number 2012-0073STHM2 acknowledges the Karolinska University Laboratory, Aleris Medilab, Unilabs and the Regional Prostate Cancer Registry for performing analyses and help to retrieve data. Carin Cavalli-Björkman and Britt-Marie Hune for their enthusiastic work as research nurses. Astrid Björklund for skilful data management. We wish to thank the BBMRI.se biobank facility at Karolinska Institutet for biobank services. PCPT & SELECT are funded by Public Health Service grants U10CA37429 and 5UM1CA182883 from the National Cancer Institute. SWOG and SELECT thank the site investigators and staff and, most importantly, the participants who donated their time to this trial. TAMPERE: The Tampere (Finland) study was supported by the Academy of Finland (251074), The Finnish Cancer Organisations, Sigrid Juselius Foundation, and the Competitive Research Funding of the Tampere University Hospital (X51003). The PSA screening samples were collected by the Finnish part of ERSPC (European Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer). TAMPERE would like to thank Riina Liikanen, Liisa Maeaettaenen and Kirsi Talala for their work on samples and databases. UGANDA: None reported UKGPCS: UKGPCS would also like to thank the following for funding support: The Institute of Cancer Research and The Everyman Campaign, The Prostate Cancer Research Foundation, Prostate Research Campaign UK (now Prostate Action), The Orchid Cancer Appeal, The National Cancer Research Network UK, The National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) UK. We are grateful for support of NIHR funding to the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at The Institute of Cancer Research and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. UKGPCS should also like to acknowledge the NCRN nurses, data managers, and consultants for their work in the UKGPCS study. UKGPCS would like to thank all urologists and other persons involved in the planning, coordination, and data collection of the study. ULM: The Ulm group received funds from the German Cancer Aid (Deutsche Krebshilfe). WUGS/WUPCS: WUGS would like to thank the following for funding support: The Anthony DeNovi Fund, the Donald C. McGraw Foundation, and the St. Louis Men's Group Against Cancer.