Seasonal purchase of antihistamines and ovarian cancer risk in the Cancer Loyalty Card Study (CLOCS): results from an observational case-control study

Introduction & Background Antihistamine use has been associated with a reduction in ovarian cancer incidence. Herein, we investigate antihistamine exposure in relation to ovarian cancer risk using a novel data resource by examining purchase histories from retailer loyalty card data. Objectiv...

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Main Authors: Hannah Brewer, Qianhui Jiang, Sudha Sundar, Yasemin Hirst, James Flanagan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Swansea University 2023-09-01
Series:International Journal of Population Data Science
Online Access:https://ijpds.org/article/view/2292
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author Hannah Brewer
Qianhui Jiang
Sudha Sundar
Yasemin Hirst
James Flanagan
author_facet Hannah Brewer
Qianhui Jiang
Sudha Sundar
Yasemin Hirst
James Flanagan
author_sort Hannah Brewer
collection DOAJ
description Introduction & Background Antihistamine use has been associated with a reduction in ovarian cancer incidence. Herein, we investigate antihistamine exposure in relation to ovarian cancer risk using a novel data resource by examining purchase histories from retailer loyalty card data. Objectives & Approach Participants from the Cancer Loyalty Card Study (CLOCS) included ovarian cancer patients (cases, n=153) and women without a diagnosis of ovarian cancer (controls, n=120). Up to 6 years of purchase history was retrieved from two participating high street retailers from 2014-2022. Logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals for ovarian cancer associated with antihistamine purchases, adjusting for confounders. The association was stratified by season of purchase, age, histology, and family history. Relevance to Digital Footprints This study is one of the first to utilise transaction data from high street retailers to investigate associations with cancer risk, based on what participants are buying. Results Ever purchasing antihistamines was not significantly associated with ovarian cancer overall in this small study (OR=0.68 (0.39-1.19)). However, antihistamine purchases were significantly associated with reduced ovarian cancer risk when purchased only in spring and/or summer (OR=0.37 (0.17-0.82)) and in non-serous ovarian cancer (OR=0.41 (0.18-0.93)) in stratified analyses. Conclusions & Implications Antihistamine purchase is associated with reduced ovarian cancer risk when purchased seasonally. However, larger studies are required to understand the mechanisms of reduced ovarian cancer risk related to seasonal purchases of antihistamines and allergies.
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spelling doaj.art-62573246ddac4ac481c77d4cacead2952023-12-03T11:22:10ZengSwansea UniversityInternational Journal of Population Data Science2399-49082023-09-018310.23889/ijpds.v8i3.2292Seasonal purchase of antihistamines and ovarian cancer risk in the Cancer Loyalty Card Study (CLOCS): results from an observational case-control studyHannah Brewer0Qianhui Jiang1Sudha Sundar2Yasemin Hirst3James Flanagan4Division of Cancer, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College LondonDivision of Cancer, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College LondonInstitute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, University of BirminghamDepartment of Behavioural Science and Health, University College LondonDivision of Cancer, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London Introduction & Background Antihistamine use has been associated with a reduction in ovarian cancer incidence. Herein, we investigate antihistamine exposure in relation to ovarian cancer risk using a novel data resource by examining purchase histories from retailer loyalty card data. Objectives & Approach Participants from the Cancer Loyalty Card Study (CLOCS) included ovarian cancer patients (cases, n=153) and women without a diagnosis of ovarian cancer (controls, n=120). Up to 6 years of purchase history was retrieved from two participating high street retailers from 2014-2022. Logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals for ovarian cancer associated with antihistamine purchases, adjusting for confounders. The association was stratified by season of purchase, age, histology, and family history. Relevance to Digital Footprints This study is one of the first to utilise transaction data from high street retailers to investigate associations with cancer risk, based on what participants are buying. Results Ever purchasing antihistamines was not significantly associated with ovarian cancer overall in this small study (OR=0.68 (0.39-1.19)). However, antihistamine purchases were significantly associated with reduced ovarian cancer risk when purchased only in spring and/or summer (OR=0.37 (0.17-0.82)) and in non-serous ovarian cancer (OR=0.41 (0.18-0.93)) in stratified analyses. Conclusions & Implications Antihistamine purchase is associated with reduced ovarian cancer risk when purchased seasonally. However, larger studies are required to understand the mechanisms of reduced ovarian cancer risk related to seasonal purchases of antihistamines and allergies. https://ijpds.org/article/view/2292
spellingShingle Hannah Brewer
Qianhui Jiang
Sudha Sundar
Yasemin Hirst
James Flanagan
Seasonal purchase of antihistamines and ovarian cancer risk in the Cancer Loyalty Card Study (CLOCS): results from an observational case-control study
International Journal of Population Data Science
title Seasonal purchase of antihistamines and ovarian cancer risk in the Cancer Loyalty Card Study (CLOCS): results from an observational case-control study
title_full Seasonal purchase of antihistamines and ovarian cancer risk in the Cancer Loyalty Card Study (CLOCS): results from an observational case-control study
title_fullStr Seasonal purchase of antihistamines and ovarian cancer risk in the Cancer Loyalty Card Study (CLOCS): results from an observational case-control study
title_full_unstemmed Seasonal purchase of antihistamines and ovarian cancer risk in the Cancer Loyalty Card Study (CLOCS): results from an observational case-control study
title_short Seasonal purchase of antihistamines and ovarian cancer risk in the Cancer Loyalty Card Study (CLOCS): results from an observational case-control study
title_sort seasonal purchase of antihistamines and ovarian cancer risk in the cancer loyalty card study clocs results from an observational case control study
url https://ijpds.org/article/view/2292
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