Marit B. Veierød

University of Oslo · Oslo Centre for Biostatistics and Epidemiology/Department of Biostatistics

Background Cutaneous melanoma is the most aggressive form of skin cancer, responsible for most skin cancer-related deaths. Recent advances in artificial intelligence, jointly with the availability of public dermoscopy image datasets, have allowed to assist dermatologists in melanoma identification. While image feature extraction holds potential for...

The contribution of dietary saturated fatty acids (SFA) to cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality remains debated after decades of research. Few previous studies had repeated dietary assessments and power to assess mortality. Evidence for individual SFA is limited. In this large population-based cohort study, we investigated associations betwee...

Background Mental health disorders still rank as leading causes of morbidity worldwide despite increasing awareness and improvements in treatment. Notably, low- and middle-income countries like Uganda, are disproportionately affected by such disorders. The burden of depressive symptoms in these countries is particularly high among students, aggrava...

Monitoring melanoma incidence time trends by tumour thickness is essential to understanding the evolution of melanoma occurrence and guiding prevention strategies. To assess long-term incidence trends, tumour thickness was extracted from pathology reports in the Cancer Registry of Norway (1983–2007) and the Norwegian Melanoma Registry (2008–2019),...

Objective: Describe trends in health care utilization, demographic characteristics and patient pathways among patients with musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) in Norway. Design: Register-based cohort study. Settings: Data were obtained from two Norwegian National registries; the Norwegian Control and Payment of Health Reimbursements Database (KUH...

Objectives Pleural mesothelioma is a rare respiratory cancer, mainly caused by inhalation of asbestos fibres. Other inorganic fibres are also suggested risk factors. We aimed to investigate the association between exposure to asbestos or refractory ceramic fibres (RCFs) and pleural mesothelioma among male Norwegian offshore petroleum workers. Meth...

Background: Cutaneous melanoma, the most serious skin cancer, constitutes a considerable health burden in fair-skinned populations. Its increasing incidence highlights the need to develop automated computer-aided approaches that support dermatologists in melanoma detection. Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI), jointly with the availabil...

Objectives The etiology of fibromyalgia (FM) is disputed, and there is no established cure. Quantitative data on how this may affect patients’ healthcare experiences are scarce. The present study aims to investigate FM patients’ pain-related healthcare experiences and explore factors associated with high satisfaction and pain relief. Methods An an...

Importance Patients diagnosed with a primary melanoma are at high risk of subsequent melanomas. Understanding the risk of second primary invasive melanoma and associated factors is crucial to optimize patient follow-up. Objective To assess the incidence rate of second primary invasive melanoma and time between the first and second primary invasive...

Purpose To examine the association between potato consumption and death of all-causes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) over a substantial follow-up period within a cohort predominantly consuming boiled potatoes. Methods Adults from three Norwegian counties were invited to three health screenings in 1974–1988 (> 80% attendance). Dietary data were c...

Purpose. To examine the association between potato consumption and death of all-causes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) over a substantial follow-up period within a cohort predominantly consuming boiled potatoes. Methods. Adults from three Norwegian counties were invited to three health screenings in 1974–1988 (>80% attendance). Dietary data were c...

Objectives To examine the association between low-dose aspirin use and risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods In this nationwide cohort study, we identified individuals aged ≥50 years residing for 6 months or more in Norway in 2004-2018, and obtained data from national registers on drug prescriptions, cancer occurrence, and sociodemographic fact...

Objective The objective of our study was to examine whether occupational exposure to benzene is associated with lung cancer among males in the Norwegian Offshore Petroleum Workers cohort. Methods Among 25 347 male offshore workers employed during 1965–1998, we conducted a case-cohort study with 399 lung cancer cases diagnosed between 1999 and 2021...

Background: The global incidence of skin cancers, particularly melanoma, the deadliest among them, has risen in recent decades. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has yielded remarkable results across diverse domains including healthcare. However, most AI models for skin cancer prediction primarily focus on a single data type or modality, such as images....

Objectives Increased risks of bladder cancer and mesothelioma were the strongest evidence for the recent reclassification of firefighting as carcinogenic (Group 1) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Our study aim was to develop indicators for specific firefighting exposures and examine associations with urinary tract cancer (UTC),...

Background An inadequate maternal diet during pregnancy can impair offspring health and may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease later in life. The purpose of the proposed study is to assess the risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease in both mothers and their offspring 20 years following their participation in a Mediterranean di...

Additive frailty models are used to model correlated survival data. However, the complexity of the models increases with cluster size to the extent that practical usage becomes increasingly challenging. We present a modification of the additive genetic gamma frailty (AGGF) model, the lean AGGF (L-AGGF) model, which alleviates some of these challeng...

Importance: Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) may occur with multiple primary tumors, metastasize, and cause death both in immunocompetent and immunosuppressed patients. Objective: To study the rates of second cSCC, metastasis, and death from cSCC in patients with and without organ transplant-associated immunosuppressive treatment. Desig...

Background Occupational exposures constitute the second leading cause of urinary bladder cancer after tobacco smoking. Increased risks have been found in the petroleum industry, but high-quality exposure data are needed to explain these observations. Methods Using a prospective case-cohort design, we analysed 189 bladder cancer cases (1999–2017) a...

Little is known about if and how nevi and pigmentation are associated with melanoma-specific mortality. However, increased melanoma awareness in people with lighter pigmentation and many nevi may result in earlier diagnosis of thinner less-lethal tumors. The aim of this study was to investigate associations between nevus count (asymmetrical > 5 mm...

Introduction Although no exposures are yet established as causally related to prostate cancer (PCa), the International Agency for Research on Cancer has found limited evidence for increased risk in firefighters. We present PCa incidence data from a Norwegian cohort of firefighters, examining the role of exposure to fire smoke and/or diesel exhaust....

Introduction We observed elevated incidence of urinary tract cancer (UTC; ICD10 C65–68) among Norwegian male firefighters in previous studies. Increased risk of bladder cancer (C67), alongside mesothelioma, was the main evidence for the recent re-classification of firefighting as carcinogenic (Group 1) by the International Agency for Research on Ca...

Background The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified benzene as carcinogenic to humans. However, the evidence for an association between benzene exposure and lung cancer risk is unclear. The Norwegian Offshore Petroleum Workers (NOPW) cohort contains individual data on smoking history, benzene and other occupational exposures,...

This nationwide nested case-control study examined the association between statin use and risk of cutaneous melanoma. We included 12 048 adult melanoma patients and 117 895 randomly selected cancer-free controls, matched on age and sex. Cancer data were obtained from the Cancer Registry of Norway and data on drug use was retrieved from the Norwegia...

Background: Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is the only curative option for many patients diagnosed with hematological malignancies. A major obstacle is graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) causing significant morbidity and mortality. Extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) is an increasingly applied GvHD treatment, partly du...

Background & aims: The nutritional quality of a gluten-free diet is debated because of the elimination of grains that are important sources of nutrients. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to perform a nutritional assessment in treated women with celiac disease and ongoing symptoms, and compare dietary intake with a healthy reference group...

Background: The possible protective effect of aspirin on risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) is still highly debated. Methods: We used data from Bowel Cancer Screening in Norway, a trial randomizing individuals from general population, aged 50-74 years, to flexible sigmoidoscopy or faecal immunochemical test (FIT), to study the association between a...

Background Night shift work may acutely disrupt the circadian rhythm, with possible carcinogenic effects. Prostate cancer has few established risk factors though night shift work, a probable human carcinogen, may increase the risk. We aimed to study the association between night shift work and chlorinated degreasing agents (CDAs) as possible endocr...

Purpose Physical activity (PA) is a cornerstone in disease prevention and varies throughout life. A pooled analysis of cohort studies and a meta-analysis of cohort studies found positive associations between PA and melanoma risk. However, previous studies focused on PA at specific ages and often lacked information on ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exp...

‘In a cohort of Norwegian woman aged 30–75 years at recruitment, we investigated the association between physical activity and melanoma thickness at diagnosis, the most important prognostic factor for localized primary melanoma survival. We concluded that physical activity is unlikely to be associated with melanoma thickness.’

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a common, inherited disease characterized by high levels of low-density lipoprotein Cholesterol (LDL-C) from birth. Any diseases associated with increased LDL-C levels including atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (ASCVDs) would be expected to be overrepresented among FH patients. There are several clinical...

Background and aims Statins are becoming more widely used among women of reproductive age; however, nationwide data on statin use across pregnancy is scarce. We therefore aimed to describe the drug utilization patterns for statins and other lipid-modifying agents (LMAs) before, during, and after pregnancy, for all pregnancies in Norway from 2005 to...

Background: Most antihypertensives can induce dermal photosensitivity, which may increase melanoma risk. However, corroborating evidence is limited. We examined the associations between use of antihypertensives and melanoma risk. Methods: A nationwide nested case-control study was conducted using data from the Cancer Registry of Norway, the Nati...

Background: Histopathological assessment of melanoma and other melanocytic skin lesions can be difficult and can vary between pathologists. Material and method: Histopathological slides of 196 melanocytic skin lesions from 2009 and 2018-2019 were obtained from the archive of the Department of Pathology at Oslo University Hospital and classified...

Leon A.M. Berge, Tom K. Grimsrud, Ronnie Babigumira, Nathalie C. Støer, Nita K. Shala, Marit B. Veierød and Jo S. Stenehjem: Cancer epidemiology in practice: Working notes on cancer history-based selection and censoring

Importance To our knowledge, no study has prospectively investigated sunburn patterns over age periods from childhood to adulthood and their associations with skin cancer risk. Objective To identify lifetime trajectories of sunburns and compare the association between these trajectories and subsequent risk of cutaneous melanoma and squamous cell c...

Aim: Describe the trends in melanoma tumour thickness in Norway by T category, overall and in important subgroups such as sex, age, anatomic site, and histopathological subtype, over 35-year.

Experimental evidence suggests that alcohol induces cutaneous carcinogenesis, yet epidemiological studies on the link between alcohol intake and skin cancer have been inconsistent. The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) is a prospective cohort initiated in 1992 in 10 European countries. Alcohol intake at baseline an...

The prognosis of cutaneous melanoma depends on early detection, and good biomarkers for melanoma risk may provide a valuable tool to detect melanoma development at a pre-clinical stage. By studying the epigenetic profile in pre-diagnostic blood samples of melanoma cases and cancer free controls, we aimed to identify DNA methylation sites conferring...

Background Statins are becoming more widely used among women of reproductive age; however, nationwide data on statin use across pregnancy is scarce. We therefore aimed to describe the drug utilization patterns for statins and other lipid-modifying agents (LMAs) before, during, and after pregnancy, for all pregnancies in Norway from 2005 to 2018. M...

Objective: To describe and compare patients with neck and back pain treated by physiotherapists in primary healthcare (PHC) and in departments for physical medicine and rehabilitation in specialist healthcare (SHC) in Norway. Design: Cross-sectional study using data from the FYSIOPRIM database in PHC and the Norwegian Neck and Back Registry in S...

Gluten immunogenic peptides (GIP) in feces and/or urine have recently been proposed as a sensitive and specific marker to detect ongoing gluten intake. Here, we compared GIP with the Celiac Disease Adherence Test (CDAT), a simple validated self-administered questionnaire that measures adherence to gluten-free diet (GFD). Of 70 subjects (59 women),...

Objectives: Elevated risk of cancer at several sites has been reported among firefighters, although with mixed findings. The purpose of this study was to calculate standardised incidence ratios (SIRs) and standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) for cancer and compare them to assess whether use of the different measures could be a source of inconsiste...

Background: Breast cancer risk remains higher in high-income compared with low-income countries. However, it is unclear to what degree metabolic factors influence breast cancer development in women 30 years after immigration from low- to a high-incidence country. Methods: Using Cox regression models, we studied the association between pre-diagno...

Background: Migrant studies have shown an increase in breast cancer incidence rates among immigrants moving from a breast cancer low-incidence to a high-incidence country. However, 30 years after immigration, it remains equivocal to what degree metabolic factors and ethnic disparities affect breast cancer development and treatment. Methods: Using C...

Objectives This study examined the association between night shift work and risk of breast cancer, overall and by hormone receptor subtype, among females in the Norwegian Offshore Petroleum Workers (NOPW) cohort. We also examined the association of coexposure (chlorinated degreasers and benzene) and breast cancer risk, and possible interaction with...

Background and aims Gluten-free diet usually leads to mucosal remission in celiac disease, but persistent symptoms are common. Low FODMAP diet is an established treatment for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). We have assessed the efficacy of a moderately low FODMAP diet on persistent symptoms in treated celiac patients. Methods A randomized controll...

Objectives: Firefighters are exposed to a variety of known and suspected carcinogens through their work. However, the association with cancer risk has limited evidence. We examined cancer incidence among firefighters in the newly established Norwegian Fire Departments Cohort restricted to sites with established associations with carcinogens encoun...

Objective To investigate conceptual knowledge about mammographic screening among Norwegian women. Design We administered a cross-sectional, web-based survey. We used multiple-choice questions and a grading rubric published by a research group from Australia. Setting Our Norwegian-language survey was open from April to June 2020 and targeted women...

Introduction In many patients diagnosed with a hematological malignancy, the disease cannot be totally eradicated by conventional therapeutic approaches, and for them allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is the only curative option. A major complication of allo-HSCT is graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), affecting about 50%...

Introduction Meta-analyses have shown firefighters to have increased prostate cancer (PCa) incidence compared to the general population. Firefighters are exposed to many occupational carcinogens, but no chemical agent is considered an established risk factor for PCa. Increased diagnostic intensity through regular health check-ups has been suggested...

Introduction Firefighters are exposed to a variety of known and suspected carcinogens through their work, and previous studies have found elevated risk for a number of cancer sites among firefighters. Objectives The aim was to examine cancer incidence among Norwegian firefighters in sites with established associations to known carcinogenic occupat...

Objectives To examine age at diagnosis, prognostic factors and survival of prostate cancer (PCa) in Norwegian firefighters and three other occupations undergoing occupational health check-ups, and comparing with PCa cases in the general population. Methods All PCa cases diagnosed in 1960–2017 were extracted from the Cancer Registry of Norway. Fire...

Evidence on sunscreen use and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) risk is limited. Most studies did not take sun protection factor (SPF) into consideration, and used nonusers of sunscreen as the reference group. Nonusers are likely a priori at lower cSCC risk than users. No study has investigated the effect of high versus low SPF sunscreens on...

Funding sources: none. Conflicts of interest: the authors declare they have no conflicts of interest. Data availability: The data that support the findings of this study are available upon reasonable request from the Norwegian Women and Cancer study (https://uit.no/research/nowac). The data are not publicly available owing to privacy or ethical res...

Background Strict adherence to a gluten-free diet usually leads to clinical and histological remission in celiac disease. Few studies have investigated the prevalence of persistent symptoms in a celiac population. We aimed to study the impact of gastrointestinal symptoms on general health in a large number of treated celiac patients, and describe t...

Patients' phenotypic characteristics might be associated with melanoma aggressiveness, but the evidence is scarce. This study examined the associations between pigmentary characteristics, naevi and melanoma thickness. Data from the Norwegian Women and Cancer (NOWAC) study were analysed. By 2014, 1,243 women were diagnosed with a primary melanoma, a...

Norway has the second-highest mortality rate of cutaneous melanoma worldwide and ranks fifth in incidence. Tumour (Breslow) thickness at diagnosis is the primary determinant of the T category in the tumour, nodes, metastasis staging system, and the most important prognostic factor for survival after localized melanoma. This ongoing study investigat...

Background More than one third of Norwegian women and men between 20 and 40 years of age have elevated cholesterol concentration. Parental metabolic health around conception or during pregnancy may affect the offspring’s cardiovascular disease risk. Lipids are important for fetal development, but the determinants of cord blood lipids have scarcely...

Physical activity (PA) is an important factor in cancer prevention, but positive association between PA and risk of cutaneous melanoma found in recent studies may complicate this strategy. Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure during outdoor PA is a plausible explanation for a positive association. We investigated the associations between PA, UVR an...

In Norway, nodular melanoma is the most fatal melanoma subtype and superficial spreading melanoma the most common, which results in diagnostic challenges. The aim of this study was to assess the clinical suspicion sensitivity of nodular melanoma and superficial spreading melanoma, by diagnosing physician, using randomly selected 100 nodular melanom...

Background Increased risk of cutaneous melanoma and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) has been reported among petroleum workers, but few studies include females, exposure data on ultraviolet radiation (UVR), and potential confounding factors. We aimed to examine UVR exposure in relation to risk of melanoma and SCC among male and female offshore petrole...

Purpose Cutaneous melanoma is among the fastest growing malignancies in Norway and ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure is the primary environmental risk factor. Immunomodulating drugs can increase skin photosensitivity and suppress immune responses, and by such mechanisms influence melanoma risk. We, therefore, aimed to examine the associations be...

Previous studies of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) in relation to melanoma have shown conflicting results. We conducted a nested case–control study of 708 cases and 708 controls, using prediagnostically collected serum, to study 25(OH)D and melanoma risk in the population-based Janus Serum Bank Cohort. Stratified Cox regression was used to est...

Objectives: "True" breast cancers, defined as not being visible on prior screening mammograms, are expected to be more aggressive than "missed" cancers, which are visible in retrospect. However, the evidence to support this hypothesis is limited. We compared the risk of death from any cause for women with true, minimal signs, and missed invasive s...

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is associated with a cluster of traditional risk factors for atherosclerosis such as smoking, diabetes, and elevated cholesterol.¹,² The isolated role of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in the development of PAD is less clear. However, the recent 2019 European Guidelines for the Management of Dyslipidemias...

Citrus intake has been suggested to increase the risk of skin cancer. Although this relation is highly plausible biologically, epidemiologic evidence is lacking. We aimed to examine the potential association between citrus intake and skin cancer risk. EPIC is an ongoing multi-center prospective cohort initiated in 1992 and involving ~ 520,000 parti...