DF/HCC Program Affiliation

Member, Breast Cancer Program
Member, Prostate Cancer Program
Member, Cancer Epidemiology Program
Member, Cancer Genetics Program
Member, Gastrointestinal Malignancies Program

DF/HCC Associations

Director, High-Throughput Polymorphism Detection Core
Member, Center Scientific Council

Research Abstract

Dr. Hunter's principal research interests are the etiology of cancer in women, particularly breast, ovarian, and skin cancer. He is an investigator on the Nurses' Health Study, a long-running cohort of 121,000 US women, and is project director for the Nurses' Health Study II, a newer cohort of 116,000 women. He also analyzes inherited susceptibility to cancer and other chronic diseases using molecular techniques and studying molecular markers in environmental exposures. Dr. Hunter is also the Director for Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention.

Publications

• Feigelson HS, Rodriguez C, Welch R, Hutchinson A, Shao W, Jacobs K, Diver WR, Calle EE, Thun MJ, Hunter DJ, Thomas G, Chanock SJ. Successful genome-wide scan in paired blood and buccal samples. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007 May; 16(5):1023-5
  PMID: 17507632
• Hunter DJ, Thomas G, Hoover RN, Chanock SJ. Scanning the horizon: What is the future of genome-wide association studies in accelerating discoveries in cancer etiology and prevention? Cancer Causes Control 2007 Jun; 18(5):479-84
  PMID: 17440825
• McGrath M, Wong JY, Michaud D, Hunter DJ, De Vivo I. Telomere length, cigarette smoking, and bladder cancer risk in men and women. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007 Apr; 16(4):815-9
  PMID: 17416776
• Cox DG, Deer D, Guo Q, Tworoger SS, Hankinson SE, Hunter DJ, De Vivo I. The p53 Arg72Pro and MDM2 -309 polymorphisms and risk of breast cancer in the nurses' health studies. Cancer Causes Control 2007 Mar 27;
  PMID: 17387621
• Haiman CA, Dossus L, Setiawan VW, Stram DO, Dunning AM, Thomas G, Thun MJ, Albanes D, Altshuler D, Ardanaz E, Boeing H, Buring J, Burtt N, Calle EE, Chanock S, Clavel-Chapelon F, Colditz GA, Cox DG, Feigelson HS, Hankinson SE, Hayes RB, Henderson BE, Hirs. Genetic variation at the CYP19A1 locus predicts circulating estrogen levels but not breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women. Cancer Res 2007 Mar 1; 67(5):1893-7
  PMID: 17325027
• Tamimi RM, Cox DG, Kraft P, Pollak MN, Haiman CA, Cheng I, Freedman ML, Hankinson SE, Hunter DJ, Colditz GA. Common genetic variation in IGF1, IGFBP-1, and IGFBP-3 in relation to mammographic density: a cross-sectional study. Breast Cancer Res 2007; 9(1):R18
  PMID: 17300730
• Han J, Colditz GA, Hunter DJ. Manganese superoxide dismutase polymorphism and risk of skin cancer (United States). Cancer Causes Control 2007 Feb; 18(1):79-89
  PMID: 17186424
• Hunter DJ. The influence of genetic polymorphism. J Nutr 2006 Oct; 136(10):2711S-3S
  PMID: 16988160
• Cox DG, Blanché H, Pearce CL, Calle EE, Colditz GA, Pike MC, Albanes D, Allen NE, Amiano P, Berglund G, Boeing H, Buring J, Burtt N, Canzian F, Chanock S, Clavel-Chapelon F, Feigelson HS, Freedman M, Haiman CA, Hankinson SE, Henderson BE, Hoover R, Hunter. A comprehensive analysis of the androgen receptor gene and risk of breast cancer: results from the National Cancer Institute Breast and Prostate Cancer Cohort Consortium (BPC3). Breast Cancer Res 2006; 8(5):R54
  PMID: 16987421
• Han J, Colditz GA, Hunter DJ. Polymorphisms in the MTHFR and VDR genes and skin cancer risk. Carcinogenesis 2007 Feb; 28(2):390-7
  PMID: 16950800
• Cox DG, Tamimi RM, Hunter DJ. Gene x Gene interaction between MnSOD and GPX-1 and breast cancer risk: a nested case-control study. BMC Cancer 2006; 6:217
  PMID: 16945136
• Han J, Colditz GA, Hunter DJ. Risk factors for skin cancers: a nested case-control study within the Nurses' Health Study. Int J Epidemiol 2006 Dec; 35(6):1514-21
  PMID: 16943234
• Baer HJ, Rich-Edwards JW, Colditz GA, Hunter DJ, Willett WC, Michels KB. Adult height, age at attained height, and incidence of breast cancer in premenopausal women. Int J Cancer 2006 Jul 5;
  PMID: 16823843
• Han J, Tranah GJ, Hankinson SE, Samson LD, Hunter DJ. Polymorphisms in O6-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase and breast cancer risk. Pharmacogenet Genomics 2006 Jul; 16(7):469-474
  PMID: 16788379
• Han J, Cox DG, Colditz GA, Hunter DJ. The p53 codon 72 polymorphism, sunburns, and risk of skin cancer in US caucasian women. Mol Carcinog 2006 May 31;
  PMID: 16739124
• Schernhammer ES, Holly JM, Hunter DJ, Pollak MN, Hankinson SE. Insulin-like growth factor-I, its binding proteins (IGFBP-1 and IGFBP-3), and growth hormone and breast cancer risk in The Nurses Health Study II. Endocr Relat Cancer 2006 Jun; 13(2):583-92
  PMID: 16728584
• Koushik A, Tranah GJ, Ma J, Stampfer MJ, Sesso HD, Fuchs CS, Giovannucci EL, Hunter DJ. p53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and risk of colorectal adenoma and cancer. Int J Cancer 2006 May 23;
  PMID: 16721787
• Han J, Kraft P, Colditz GA, Wong J, Hunter DJ. Melanocortin 1 receptor variants and skin cancer risk. Int J Cancer 2006 May 23;
  PMID: 16721784
• Feigelson HS, Cox DG, Cann HM, Wacholder S, Kaaks R, Henderson BE, Albanes D, Altshuler D, Berglund G, Berrino F, Bingham S, Buring JE, Burtt NP, Calle EE, Chanock SJ, Clavel-Chapelon F, Colditz G, Diver WR, Freedman ML, Haiman CA, Hankinson SE, Hayes RB,. Haplotype analysis of the HSD17B1 gene and risk of breast cancer: a comprehensive approach to multicenter analyses of prospective cohort studies. Cancer Res 2006 Feb 15; 66(4):2468-75
  PMID: 16489054
• Haiman CA, Hankinson SE, Spiegelman D, Colditz GA, Willett WC, Speizer FE, Kelsey KT, Hunter DJ. The relationship between a polymorphism in CYP17 with plasma hormone levels and breast cancer. Cancer Res 1999 Mar 1; 59(5):1015-20
  PMID: 10070957
• Chen J, Stampfer MJ, Hough HL, Garcia-Closas M, Willett WC, Hennekens CH, Kelsey KT, Hunter DJ. A prospective study of N-acetyltransferase genotype, red meat intake, and risk of colorectal cancer. Cancer Res 1998 Aug 1; 58(15):3307-11
  PMID: 9699660
• Hunter DJ, Hankinson SE, Laden F, Colditz GA, Manson JE, Willett WC, Speizer FE, Wolff MS. Plasma organochlorine levels and the risk of breast cancer. N Engl J Med 1997 Oct 30; 337(18):1253-8
  PMID: 9345073