Got Your Toe(nails)! Guinness World Record Revisited

The Guinness World Records team is once again reflecting on the record held by the Atlantic PATH cohort. In a new article, “Got your toe(nails)! Scientific study holds largest collection of toenail clippings,” Katherine Gross revisits the collection of toenail samples from Atlantic PATH participants. In 2013, Atlantic PATH received a Guinness Book of World Records for 24,999 toenail samples. Recruitment continued until 2015 and the total number of participants who donated toenails was 30,418!! Atlantic PATH represents participants across Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador, a region with the highest rates of cancer and chronic disease in the country. “Toenails are an important part of our research….What we’re particularly interested in, in this context, is the extent to which environmental exposure affects our risk of disease.” Atlantic PATH has used data and biological samples to develop an established environmental and occupational health research stream. Stay tuned for more toenail research that is currently in progress, and you can find recent publications here: Hood, K., Sweeney, E., Ilie, G., Keltie, E., Kim, J.S. (2023), Toenail Arsenic Species and Metallome Profiles Associated with Breast, Cervical, Prostate, and Skin Cancer Prevalence in the Atlantic Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health Cohort. Frontiers in Public Health: Environmental health and Exposome, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1148283 Smith, N.K., Keltie, E., Sweeney, E., Weerasinghe, S., MacPherson, K., Kim, J.S. (2022). “Investigating the Association between Arsenic Exposure and Chronic Disease Using Toenail Speciation Biomarkers: A Feasibility Study.” Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety.   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2022.113269 Keltie, E.; Cui, Y.; Hood, K.; Sweeney, E.; Ilie, G.; Adisesh, A.; Dummer, T.; Kim, J.S. (2022). “The Association of Prostate Cancer with the Profiles of Arsenic Species and Metallome: An Analysis from the Atlantic PATH Cohort Study.” Frontiers in Public Health, Environmental Health and Exposome.   https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.818069 Majouni, S., Kim, J.S., Sweeney, E., Keltie, E., Abidi, S. (2022). Applying Machine Learning to Arsenic Species and Metallomics Profiles of Toenails to Evaluate Associations of Environmental Arsenic with Incident Cancer Cases. Medical Informatics Europe Conference (MIE) Conference Proceedings. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics. Fleming, D., Crook, S., Evans, C., Nader, M., Atia, M., Hicks, J., Sweeney, E., McFarlane, C., Kim, J.S., Keltie, E., Adisesh, A. (2020). “Assessing arsenic in human toenail clippings using portable X-ray fluorescence.” Applied Radiation and Isotopes. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2020.109491 Fleming, D., Crook, S., Evans, C., Nader, M., Atia, M., Hicks, J., Sweeney, E., McFarlane, C., Kim, J.S., Keltie, E., Adisesh, A. (2020). “Portable X-ray Fluorescence of Zinc Applied to Human Toenail Clippings.” Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtemb.2020.126603 Dummer, T., Yu, Z.M., Nauta, L., Murimboh, J., Parker, L. (2015). “Geostatistical modelling of arsenic in drinking water wells and related toenail arsenic concentrations across Nova Scotia, Canada.” Science of the Total Environment, 505. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.02.055 Yu, Z.M., Dummer, T., Adams, A., Murimboh, J., Parker, L. (2014). “Relationship between drinking water and toenail arsenic concentration among a cohort of Nova Scotians.” Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, 24. https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2013.88 Yu, Z.M, Fung, B., Murimboh, J., Parker, L., Dummer, T. (2014). “What is the role of obesity in the aetiology of arsenic-related disease?” Environment International, 66.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2014.01.028  

#PlaidForDad2023

#PlaidForDad2023 — Prostate Cancer Awareness and Research Atlantic PATH welcomes our youngest team member(!) and continues the Plaid for Dad tradition raising awareness about prostate cancer in Canada. We have ongoing research on prostate cancer exploring environmental exposure to arsenic and cancer risk using toxicological and machine learning methods. This research stream has received and benefitted from funding from Nova Scotia Health, the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute, Prostate Cancer Canada, the Canadian Cancer Society, and the New Frontiers in Research Fund.  Related publications to date include: Keltie, E., Hood, K., Cui, Y., Sweeney, E., Ilie, G., Adishesh, A., Dummer, T.J.B., Bharti, V., Kim, J.S. (2022). Arsenic speciation and metallomics profiling of human toenails as a biomarker to assess prostate cancer cases: Atlantic PATH cohort study. Frontiers in Public Health, 10.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9301242/ Hood, K., Sweeney, E., Ilie, G., Keltie, E., Kim, J.S. (2023). Toenail arsenic species and metallome profiles associated with breast, cervical, prostate, and skin cancer prevalence in the Atlantic Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health cohort. Frontiers in Public Health, Environmental Health and Exposome.  https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1148283/full Smith, N., Keltie, E., Sweeney, E., Weerasinghe, S., MacPherson, K., Kim, J.S. (2022). Toenail speciation biomarkers in arsenic-releated disease: a feasibility study for investigating the association between arsenic expsosure and chronic disease. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 232. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651322001099 We have also conducted research on the mental health of prostate cancer survivors compared to those with no history of cancer and those with types of cancer. This work was supported by funding from the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute. Publications to date include: Ilie, G., Rutledge, R., Sweeney, E. (2020). Anxiety and depression symptoms in adult males in Atlantic Canada with or without a lifetime history of prostate cancer. Psycho-Oncology. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pon.5244 Ilie, G., Rutledge, R., Sweeney, E. (2021). An examination of the role of socioeconomic status in the relationship between depression and prostate cancer survivorship in a population-based sample of men from Atlantic Canada. Oncology, 99(4). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33486485/ Ilie, G., Rutledge, R., Sweeney, E. (2021). Post-Treatment Adverse Health Correlates among Prostate Cancer Survivors in a Sample of Men Residing in Atlantic Canada. Current Oncology, 28(4). https://www.mdpi.com/1718-7729/28/4/246  

Toenail arsenic species and metallome profiles associated with breast, cervical, prostate, and skin cancer prevalence in the Atlantic Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health cohort

Authors: Kalli Hood, Ellen Sweeney, Gabriela Ilie, Erin Keltie, Jong Sung Kim Journal: Frontiers in Public Health, Sec. Environmental Health and Exposome Abstract: Introduction: Chronic exposure to arsenic through drinking water has been linked to several cancers. The metabolism of arsenic is thought to play a key role in arsenic-related carcinogenesis as metabolites of varying toxicity are produced and either stored in or excreted from the body. Atlantic Canada has the highest age-standardized incidence rates of all cancers in the country. This may be due to its high levels of environmental arsenic and the prevalence of unregulated private wells for water consumption. Here, we aimed to characterize the profiles of arsenic species and metallome in the toenails of four cancer groups, compare them to healthy participants (N = 338), and assess potential associations between the profiles with cancer prevalence. Methods: This study employed a case–control design. Toenail samples and questionnaire data from cases (breast, cervical, prostate, and skin cancers) and controls were sourced from the Atlantic Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health (PATH) cohort study. The levels of arsenic species were measured using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) paired with High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and total concentrations of metallome (23 metals) were determined by ICP-MS separately. Multivariate analyses were conducted to compare cases with controls within each cancer group. Results: Arsenic speciation profiles varied by cancer type and were significantly different between cases and controls in the breast (p = 0.0330), cervical (p = 0.0228), and skin (p = 0.0228) cancer groups. In addition, the profiles of metallome (nine metals) were significantly differentiated in the prostate (p = 0.0244) and skin (p = 0.0321) cancer groups, with higher zinc concentrations among cases compared to controls. Conclusion: History of cancer diagnosis was associated with specific profiles of arsenic species and metallome. Our results indicate that arsenic methylation and zinc levels, as measured in toenails, may be an important biomarker for cancer prevalence. Further research is needed to use toenails as a prognostic measure of arsenic-and other metal-induced cancer. doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1148283

New Toxicology Publication

Congratulations to Kalli Hood and team on their new publication in Frontiers in Public Health! Kalli’s Master’s research found an association between a history of cancer and arsenic speciation/metallome exposure in the Atlantic PATH cohort. This work is part of our larger focus on environment and cancer, and establishing toenails as an important biomarker representing ~18 months of exposure. Kalli is now working on her PhD focused on drinking water quality in the Department of Civil and Resource Engineering at Dalhousie University.  

Prostate Cancer Awareness Month Logo

CanPath Research Round-Up: Prostate Cancer Awareness

For September 2022’s #ProstateCancerAwarenessMonth, we shared insights across our social media channels from prostate cancer studies by CanPath researchers. Thanks to rich data from over 330,000 volunteer participants and researchers’ efforts, we can help change the future of prostate cancer! CanPath’s Research Round-Up highlights work on prostate cancer from Atlantic PATH and collaborators using our questionnaire data and toenail samples! https://canpath.ca/2022/11/prostate-cancer-awareness-month/  

Prostate Cancer Awareness Month

This #ProstateCancerAwarenessMonth, we’re sharing insights from recent studies from researchers across Canada. Today, we’re sharing findings from Sheida Majouni, PhD candidate from Dalhousie University! In 2022, Majouni and colleagues applied machine learning to arsenic species and metal profiles of toenails from Atlantic PATH. They aimed to understand environmental metal’s potential to produce disease, specifically prostate cancer: https://bit.ly/3eVjUMK “Artificial intelligence has a unique potential to revolutionize population health,” says Dr. Syed Sibte Raza Abidi, Professor in the Faculty of Computer Science at Dalhousie University. “By discovering environmental risk factors’ influence on chronic disease risk with risk prediction models, it is a pivotal tool for mitigating the risk of chronic disease onset.” This work is being expanded with the support of a New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) Exploration grant. Team members include Dr. Syed Sibte Raza Abidi (Nominated Principal Investigator), Dr. Jong Sung Kim (Co-Principal Investigator), Dr. Ellen Sweeney (Co-Investigator), Dr. Gabriela Ilie (Co-Investigator), Dr. Trevor Dummer (Co-Investigator), Dr. Taehyun Roh (Collaborator), Dr. Nathalie Saint-Jacques (Collaborator), and Jason Hicks (Collaborator). Watch this space for future findings!

New Publication

Congratulations to Majouni et al. on the new publication, “Applying Machine Learning to Arsenic Species and Metallomics Profiles of Toenails to Evaluate Associations of Environmental Arsenic with Incident Cancer Cases.” This research involves analyzing toenail samples from Atlantic PATH, as well as machine learning algorithms to arsenic species and metallomics profiles to investigate the complex association between environmental arsenic as a carcinogen and prostate cancer. https://ebooks.iospress.nl/doi/10.3233/SHTI220385  

Congratulations to Drs. Syed Sibte Raza Abidi, Jong Sung Kim, Ellen Sweeney, Gabriela Ilie, and Trevor Dummer on a successful New Frontiers in Research Fund’s Exploration grant.

The highly competitive funding is meant to support high-risk, high-reward and interdisciplinary research. The NFRF funding is “especially meaningful because it encourages our scholars to push the boundaries of knowledge. This is how great discoveries are made,” says Alice Aiken, Vice-President, Research and Innovation. “It’s exciting to see our researchers harnessing machine learning, natural language processing and other cutting-edge techniques to reveal new truths that can improve our health and society.” (Source: DalNews, https://bit.ly/3O8Agi7). Using Atlantic PATH data and toenail samples, this funding will allow the research team to expand on their work on arsenic-related cancer and machine learning. Based on Canada’s geology, arsenic represents one of the most prevalent environmental carcinogens linked to skin, bladder, kidney, prostate, lung, breast, and cervical cancer. Half of Canadians are susceptible to develop cancer in their lifetime, with risk modified heavily by genetic susceptibility, behavioural factors and environmental exposure. While cancer risk prevention strategies have extensively focused on physiological and behavioural factors, environmental exposure as a cancer risk has not been well studied which has led to missed opportunities to reduce the risk of cancer through environmental population health programs, such as reducing chronic arsenic exposure by treating contaminated groundwater currently consumed by Canadians. Increased arsenic levels in human toenails have been detected in the Atlantic PATH cohort. Innovative population health interventions, focusing on predicting the susceptibility and type of arsenic induced cancer across Canada are urgently needed to mitigate the increasing prevalence of cancers in Canada. This work will investigate environmental cancer biomarkers and develop innovative data-driven environmental cancer risk assessment tools to help reduce the incidence of cancers caused by arsenic exposure. Please stay tuned for updates from this project!

New Publication! Toenail speciation biomarkers in arsenic‐related disease: a feasibility study for investigating the association between arsenic exposure and chronic disease

Congratulations to Nathan Smith & colleagues!! Based on his MSc research, this is important foundational work examining toenails as biomarkers for arsenic speciation that Atlantic PATH and the HERC Lab continue to build on. https://bit.ly/332UU0r