The ABC Study is a long-term study working with over 50,000 Australians to investigate the causes of cancer and other diseases. Using the latest technologies, the ABC Study will measure each participants’ genetic profile and, together with questionnaire data, investigate the role that our genes, lifestyle and environment play in the development of cancer and other diseases.
The study will periodically collect lifestyle- and health-related information from participants. Researchers can then compare the data from those who go on to develop cancer or other diseases to those who do not, to look for patterns. Any patterns that are identified can then be investigated further.
In regard to cancer, the ABC Study is seeking breakthroughs that will enable more individualised prevention and screening to occur. Currently, most public health interventions are based on a one-size-fits-all approach, rather than on personalised risk estimation. By more accurately predicting cancer risk based on an individual's genetic profile and lifestyle, more customised health advice and better targeted public health messages may be delivered. In the future, secondary prevention strategies such as screening could be aimed at those who will most benefit from them, sparing a proportion of the population from unnecessary investigations.
Recruitment to the ABC Study began in October 2014 and closed in late 2018, with more than 80,000 Australian adults registering their interest online. Data collection ran from October 2014 until the end of 2018, with 56,336 participants completing the questionnaires.
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ABC Study is run by the Cancer Epidemiology Division at Cancer Council Victoria, comprises a team of epidemiologists and support staff, committed to understanding how to improve our efforts at cancer control.
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The ABC Study acknowledges the following contributions from our generous funders. We thank participants from across Australia who have generously contributed their time.
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