Christine B. Ambrosone, PhD

Professor of Oncology
Chair, Department of Cancer Prevention and Control
Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences

Roswell Park Cancer Institute

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Dr. Ambrosone joined the RPCI faculty in 2002. Formerly, she was Director of the Epidemiology Program at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York city. She is currently the Chair of the Department of Cancer Prevention and Control, and co-leader of the CCSG Prevention, Disparities and Cancer Control Program.

Dr. Ambrosone graduated from the University at Buffalo summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and earned her PhD degree at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in 1995. She was a member of the Division of Molecular Epidemiology at the National Center for Toxicological Research in Jefferson, AR until 2000 when she joined the faculty at Mt. Sinai. She is a molecular epidemiologist with background and expertise in the role of gene environment interactions in the etiology of cancer, as well as factors that affect toxicities experienced with cancer treatment, and predictors of cancer survival.

Dr. Ambrosone was formerly a member of NCI's EPIC Study Section and the ACS’s study section on Carcinogenesis, Nutrition and the Environment, and has served on several special emphasis panels and SPORE reviews. She is former Senior Editor for Cancer Research, current Editor-in-Chief for the International Journal of Molecular Epidemiology and Genetics, and serves on Advisory Boards for a number of Cancer Center Programs. She is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Board to the Director of the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Ambrosone is co-founder and former chair of the Molecular Epidemiology Group of the American Association for Cancer Research, and is also Co-Chair of the Southwest Oncology Group’s Committee on Molecular Epidemiology. Dr. Ambrosone has more than 170 peer-reviewed publications, most related to molecular epidemiology of cancer risk and prognosis.

Phone Number:

(716) 845-3082

Fax:

(716) 845-8125

E-mail Address:

christine.ambrosone@roswellpark.org

Research Information

Research Interests:

Molecular epidemiology

Cancer treatment outcomes

Risk factors associated with the development of breast cancer

Current Program:

Women’s Circle of Health Study

Although breast cancer is more common among Caucasian women than among African American women, African-Americans are more likely to be diagnosed before age 40, and have more aggressive disease. The reasons for these differences in breast cancer are largely unknown.

Dr. Christine Ambrosone is conducting a large, multi-center case-control study on breast cancer in metropolitan New York and eastern New Jersey, in collaboration with colleagues at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, and the Cancer Institute of New Jersey.

To date Dr. Ambrosone’s team has enrolled over 3500 African American and Caucasian women with breast cancer as well as healthy controls, with plans for a total enrollment of 4800 women. As part of this study the team conducts in-person interviews regarding potential breast cancer risk factors, collects biospecimens for genotyping and DNA analysis, surgical tissue and pathology report date. By evaluating risk factors (both exposures and genetics) in relation to early onset, aggressive breast cancer, this will likely reveal some of the reasons for this aggressive form of breast cancer among African-American women.

Antioxidant Supplements

Cancer patients report widespread use of antioxidant supplements during chemotherapy despite recommedations from national cancer organizations that supplements not be used during treatment. It has been thought that they may block the therapeutic effects of chemotherapy. However some laboratory-based studies see to show that antioxidants may actually enhance the effects of chemotherapy drugs.

Dr. Christine Ambrosone’s team is investigating whether diet and antioxidant supplements use during chemotherapy has any impact on the side effects experienced of the disease-free survival of cancer patients. The research is being conducted simultaneously with an ongoing Phase III clinical trial sponsored by the Southwest Oncology Group that is examining a new combination of chemotherapy agents for patients being treated for breast cancer.

Enrollment into this study is conducted at clinics all across the United States and Puerto Rico and Dr. Ambrosone expects to enroll 3000 women on this ancillary study which consists of the collection of questionnaire data across multiple time points during cancer treatment, regarding the use of antioxidant supplements and other lifestyle factors. Chemo therapy treatment toxicities such as peripheral neuropathy is being studied in relation to diet and supplement usage. DNA from blood collected will be analyzed and genetic variability will be evaluated.

Research Overview:

Dr. Ambrosone’s current research portfolio focuses primarily on two distinct areas:

Breast cancer in African-American women: Although overall, women of European descent are more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer than those with African ancestry, African-American women are more likely to be diagnosed before age forty and to have tumors with more aggressive characteristics. We are conducting a case-control study to examine risk factors for early, aggressive breast cancer in African-American women, and to determine differences in molecular tumor characteristics.

Factors that influence cancer treatment outcomes: Working primarily in the context of cooperative group clinical trials, we are examining the role of genetic variability in side effects from cancer treatment, and in disease-free survival. We are also investigating the role of lifestyle factors, such as diet and supplement use, in treatment outcomes.

Selected Publications:

Yao S, Barlow WE, Albain K, Choi J-Y, Zhao H, Livingston RB, Davis W, Rae JM, Yeh I-T, Hutchins LR, Ravdin PM, Martino S, Lyss AP, Osborne CK, Abeloff M, Hortobagyi GN, Hayes DF, Ambrosone CB. Manganese superoxide dismutase polymorphism, treatment-related toxicity and disease-free survival in SWOG 8897 clinical trial for breast cancer. Br Ca Res Trt 2010 Nov;124(2):433-439. PMCID: PMC2968705.

Freedman AN, Sansbury LB, Figg WD, Potosky AL, Weiss Smith SR, Khoury MJ, Nelson S, Weinshilboum RM, Ratain MJ, McLeod HL, Epstein RS, Ginsburg GS, Schilsky RL, Liu G, Flockhart DA, Ulrich CM, Davis RL, Lesko LJ, Zineh I, Randhawa G, Ambrosone CB, Relling MV, Rothman N, Xie H, Spitz M, Ballard-Barbash R, Doroshow JH, Minasian L. Cancer pharmacogenomics and pharmacoepidemiology: Setting a research agenda to accelerate translation. JNCI 2010 Nov 17;102(22):1698-1705. PMCID: PMC2982809

Yao S, Barlow WE, Albain KS, Choi JY, Zhao H, Livingston RB, Davis W, Rae JM, Yeh IT, Hutchins LF, Ravdin PM, Martino S, Lyss AP, Osborne CK, Abeloff M, Hortobagyi GN, Hayes DF, Ambrosone CB. Gene polymorphisms in cyclophosphamide metabolism pathway and treatment-related toxicity and disease-free survival in SWOG 8897 clinical trial for breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res 2010:16:6169-6276. PMID 21169260

Chang-Claude J, Ambrosone CB, Lilla C, Kropp S, Helmbold I, von Fournier D, Haase W, Sautter-Bihl M-L, Wenz F, Schmezer P, Popanda O. Genetic polymorphisms in DNA repair and damage response genes and late normal tissue complications of radiotherapy for breast cancer. Br J Cancer 2009;100:1680-6. PMCID: PMC2696768 [Available on 2010/5/19]

Ambrosone CB, Barlow WE, Reynolds W, Livingston RB, Yeh I-T, Choi J-Y, Davis W, Rae JM, Tang L, Hutchins LR, Ravdin PM, Martino S, Osborne CK, Abeloff M, Lyss AP, Hayes DF, Albain KS. Myeloperoxidase genotypes and enhanced efficacy of chemotherapy for early stage breast cancer in SWOG 8897. J Clin Oncol 2009;27:4973-9. PMCID: PMC2799053, available on 2010/10/20.

Choi J-Y, Barlow WE, Albain K, Hong C-C, Blanco JG, Livingston RB, Davis W, Rae JM, Yeh I-T, Hutchins LR, Ravdin PM, Martino S, Lyss AP, Osborne CK, Abeloff M, Hayes DF, Ambrosone CB. Nitric oxide synthase (NOS3) variants and disease-free survival among treated and untreated breast cancer patients in a Southwest Oncology Group trial (S8897) Clin Ca Res 2009;15:5258-66. PMCID: PMC2745926

Cheng C-Y, Kao WHL, Patterson N, Tandon A, Haiman CA, Ziv E, Harris TB, Xing C, Ambrosone CB, John EM, Brancati FL, Coresh J, Bandera E, Jandorf L, Ciupak G, Parekh RS, Klag MJ, Meoni LA, Hsueh W-C, Fejerman L, Pawlikowska L, Freedman ML, Nalls MA, Akylbekova EL, Orwoll ES, Tennille S. Leak TS, Li R, Miljkovic-Gacic I, Ursin G, Bernstein L, Ardlie K, Cummings SR, Taylor SA, Boerwinckle E, Zmuda JM, Henderson BE, Wilson JG, Reich D. Admixture mapping of 15,280 African Americans finds obesity loci on chromosome 5 and X. PLoS Genetics 2009 5(5): e1000490. PMCID: PMC2679192

Kuptsova N, Chang-Claude J, Kropp S, Helmbold I, Schmezer P, von Fournier D, Haase W, Suatter-Bihl ML, Wenz F, Ambrosone CB. Genetic predictors of long-term toxicities after radiation therapy for breast cancer. Int J Cancer 2008;22:1333-9.

Ambrosone CB, Kropp S, Yang J, Yao S, Shields PG, Chang-Claude J. Cigarette Smoking, N-Acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2) Genotypes, and Breast Cancer Risk: a Meta- and Pooled-Analysis. . Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention 2008;17(1):15-26.

Leyland-Jones B, Ambrosone CB, Ellis M, Enos R, Raji A, Pins M, Zujewski JA, Bartlett J, Hewitt S, Forbes J, Jewell S. Recommendations for collection and handling of specimens from group breast cancer clinical trials, from onsite collection through shipping to the central bank. J Clin Oncology 2008;26:5638-44. PMCID: PMC2651095

Background Information

Education and Training:

PhD - RPCI Graduate Division, State University of New York at Buffalo

Professional Memberships:

American Academy for Cancer Research

Southwest Oncology Group

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Christine B. Ambrosone, PhD

Christine B. Ambrosone, PhD

Roswell Park

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Roswell Park

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Christine B. Ambrosone, PhD

Christine B. Ambrosone, PhD

Roswell Park

Research Departments

Education

Roswell Park