Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study (ATBC Study) Population

The project is a passive follow-up of the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention (ATBC) Study cohort. Originally, this was a large, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 2x2 factorial primary prevention trial testing the effects of alpha-tocopherol and beta-carotene supplementation on cancer incidence and mortality. The study was conducted in Finland as a collaboration between the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Public Health Institute of Finland. NCI has maintained passive surveillance of the cohort through Finnish national registries, including the cancer registry.

The primary purpose of the ATBC cohort follow-up is to use the existing risk factor data and biological specimens (i.e., serum, whole blood, DNA, red blood cells, and toenails) to test hypotheses relevant to cancer etiology, survival, early detection, and prevention. These data and biospecimens continue to provide an invaluable resource for the study of biochemical, nutritional, genetic, and molecular hypotheses. These analyses are made all the more informative and powerful by the addition of cases identified annually during the follow-up period, and the research benefits from a longer pre-diagnosis period (now over 30 years).