Joanne Knight Breast Health Cohort at Siteman Cancer Center: A model last cohort

PurposeThe Joanne Knight Breast Health Cohort was established to link breast cancer risk factors, mammographic breast density, benign breast biopsies and associated tissue markers, and blood markers in a diverse population of women undergoing routine mammographic screening.MethodsWomen were recruited from November 2008 to April 2012. Baseline questionnaire risk factors, blood, and screening mammograms were collected from 12,153 women. Of these, 1,672 were excluded for prior history of any cancer (except non-melanoma skin) or diagnosis of breast cancer within 6 months of blood draw/registration for the study, for a total of 10,481 women. Follow-up is through linking to electronic health records, tumor registry and death register. Routine screening mammograms are collected every 1 to 2 years and incident benign breast biopsies and cancers are identified through record linkage to pathology and tumor registries. Formal fixed tissue samples are retrieved and stored for analysis. County-level measures of structural inequality were derived from publicly available resources.ResultsCohort Composition: median age at entry was 54.8 years and 26.7% are African American. Through 2020, 74 percent of participants have had a medical center visit within the past year and 80% within the past 2 years representing an average of 9.7 person years of follow-up from date of blood draw per participant. 9,997 women continuing in follow-up. Data collected at baseline include breast cancer risk factors, baseline plasma and white blood cells, mammograms prior to baseline, at baseline, and during follow-up. ConclusionThis cohort assembled and followed in a routine clinical screening and care setting that serves a diverse population of women in the St Louis region, now provides opportunities to integrate study of questionnaire measures, plasma and DNA markers, benign and malignant tissue markers, and breast image features into prospective evaluation for breast cancer etiology and outcomes.