
Xiao Ou Shu, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H.
- Associate Director for Global Health
- Co-Leader, Cancer Epidemiology Research Program
- Ingram Professor of Cancer Research
- Professor of Medicine (Epidemiology)
Phone
2525 West End Avenue, Suite 600
Nashville, TN 37203
Xiao Ou Shu, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H.
- Associate Director for Global Health
- Co-Leader, Cancer Epidemiology Research Program
- Ingram Professor of Cancer Research
- Professor of Medicine (Epidemiology)
615-936-0713
xiao-ou.shu@vumc.org
2525 West End Avenue, Suite 600
Nashville, TN 37203
Research Program
Departments/Affiliations
Profile
Dr. Xiao Ou Shu is an internationally respected researcher in epidemiology, with over 30 years’ experience. Over Dr. Shu’s research career, she has established several invaluable epidemiology research resources, including two population-based cohort studies: the Shanghai Men’s Health Study, a cohort of over 60,000 men; and the Shanghai Breast Cancer Survival Study (SBCSS), a cohort of more than 5000 breast cancer survivors. She also played an instrumental role in launching and managing a population-based cohort study of 75,000 women, the Shanghai Women’s Health Study, for which she has led the biological sample collection and has been in charge of data management and statistical analysis. She is a founding member and leader of several major consortia, including the After Breast Cancer Pooling Project, the Asian Genetic Epidemiology Network for Obesity-Related Traits (AGEN-Obesity, N=13,500,000), and the Calcium and Lung Cancer Pooling Project (N=2,000,000). Together, these resources have supported approximately 80 studies, and generated more than 300 publications.
Using the unique resources of her China-based cohort studies, Dr. Shu and her colleagues have conducted a series of studies evaluating the influence of soyfood consumption on a wide range of human diseases, including the risk and prognosis for breast and lung cancer, and the risk of colorectal cancer, cardiovascular diseases, bone fracture, and diabetes. Her seminal research on soyfood intake after cancer diagnosis led to a modification of the American Cancer Society and American Institute for Cancer Research’s soyfood consumption recommendations for breast cancer survivors. With data from the SBCSS and the ABCPP, Dr. Shu and her research team comprehensively evaluated the impact of lifestyle, nutrition, dietary intake, tumor markers, genetic susceptibility, and social support on breast cancer outcomes, discovering that tea consumption and exercise participation lower the risk of depression among breast cancer survivors, that social support during cancer treatment improves breast cancer outcomes, and that smoking increases the risk of breast cancer recurrence and mortality. Her findings also identified genetic susceptibility and tumor markers for breast cancer outcomes, results that point to promising areas of potential intervention.
Applying a genome-wide association study approach, she and her colleagues have identified multiple novel genetic markers for breast, colorectal and other cancers, as well as for diabetes and body mass index. They discovered inflammation-related and oxidative stress-related biomarkers that can potentially be used to identify individuals at high risk for developing colorectal cancer, and also built the first breast cancer risk prediction model for Chinese women that incorporated both genetic susceptibility markers and traditional risk factors. Dr. Shu has authored or co-authored approximately 700 research papers in peer-reviewed life science journals.
Education
- Ph.D., Columbia University, New York, New York (1993)
- M.Phil., Columbia University, New York, New York (1992)
- M.P.H., Shanghai Medical University, Shanghai, China (1987)
- M.D., Shanghai Medical University, Shanghai, China (1984)
Research Emphasis
Dr. Shu investigates the epidemiology of cancer and chronic disease in large population-based, cohort studies.
Research Description
Publications
- Zhao Z, Wen W, Michailidou K, Bolla MK, Wang Q, Zhang B, Long J, Shu XO, Schmidt MK, Milne RL, García-Closas M, Chang-Claude J, Lindstrom S, Bojesen SE, Ahsan H, Aittomäki K, Andrulis IL, Anton-Culver H, Arndt V, Beckmann MW, Beeghly-Fadiel A, Benitez J, Blomqvist C, Bogdanova NV, Børresen-Dale AL, Brand J, Brauch H, Brenner H, Burwinkel B, Cai Q, Casey G, Chenevix-Trench G, Couch FJ, Cox A, Cross SS, Czene K, Dörk T, Dumont M, Fasching PA, Figueroa J, Flesch-Janys D, Fletcher O, Flyger H, Fostira F, Gammon M, Giles GG, Guénel P, Haiman CA, Hamann U, Harrington P, Hartman M, Hooning MJ, Hopper JL, Jakubowska A, Jasmine F, John EM, Johnson N, Kabisch M, Khan S, Kibriya M, Knight JA, Kosma VM, Kriege M, Kristensen V, Le Marchand L, Lee E, Li J, Lindblom A, Lophatananon A, Luben R, Lubinski J, Malone KE, Mannermaa A, Manoukian S, Margolin S, Marme F, McLean C, Meijers-Heijboer H, Meindl A, Miao H, Muir K, Neuhausen SL, Nevanlinna H, Neven P, Olson JE, Perkins B, Peterlongo P, Phillips KA, Pylkäs K, Rudolph A, Santella R, Sawyer EJ, Schmutzler RK, Schoemaker M, Shah M, Shrubsole M, Southey MC, Swerdlow AJ, Toland AE, Tomlinson I, Torres D, Truong T, Ursin G, Van Der Luijt RB, Verhoef S, Wang-Gohrke S, Whittemore AS, Winqvist R, Pilar Zamora M, Zhao H, Dunning AM, Simard J, Hall P, Kraft P, Pharoah P, Hunter D, Easton DF, Zheng W. Association of genetic susceptibility variants for type 2 diabetes with breast cancer risk in women of European ancestry. Cancer Causes Control [print-electronic]. 2016 Apr 4/6/2016; PMID: 27053251, PII: 10.1007/s10552-016-0741-6, DOI: 10.1007/s10552-016-0741-6, ISSN: 1573-7225.
- Dunning AM, Michailidou K, Kuchenbaecker KB, Thompson D, French JD, Beesley J, Healey CS, Kar S, Pooley KA, Lopez-Knowles E, Dicks E, Barrowdale D, Sinnott-Armstrong NA, Sallari RC, Hillman KM, Kaufmann S, Sivakumaran H, Moradi Marjaneh M, Lee JS, Hills M, Jarosz M, Drury S, Canisius S, Bolla MK, Dennis J, Wang Q, Hopper JL, Southey MC, Broeks A, Schmidt MK, Lophatananon A, Muir K, Beckmann MW, Fasching PA, Dos-Santos-Silva I, Peto J, Sawyer EJ, Tomlinson I, Burwinkel B, Marme F, Guénel P, Truong T, Bojesen SE, Flyger H, González-Neira A, Perez JI, Anton-Culver H, Eunjung L, Arndt V, Brenner H, Meindl A, Schmutzler RK, Brauch H, Hamann U, Aittomäki K, Blomqvist C, Ito H, Matsuo K, Bogdanova N, Dörk T, Lindblom A, Margolin S, Kosma VM, Mannermaa A, Tseng CC, Wu AH, Lambrechts D, Wildiers H, Chang-Claude J, Rudolph A, Peterlongo P, Radice P, Olson JE, Giles GG, Milne RL, Haiman CA, Henderson BE, Goldberg MS, Teo SH, Yip CH, Nord S, Borresen-Dale AL, Kristensen V, Long J, Zheng W, Pylkäs K, Winqvist R, Andrulis IL, Knight JA, Devilee P, Seynaeve C, Figueroa J, Sherman ME, Czene K, Darabi H, Hollestelle A, van den Ouweland AM, Humphreys K, Gao YT, Shu XO, Cox A, Cross SS, Blot W, Cai Q, Ghoussaini M, Perkins BJ, Shah M, Choi JY, Kang D, Lee SC, Hartman M, Kabisch M, Torres D, Jakubowska A, Lubinski J, Brennan P, Sangrajrang S, Ambrosone CB, Toland AE, Shen CY, Wu PE, Orr N, Swerdlow A, McGuffog L, Healey S, Lee A, Kapuscinski M, John EM, Terry MB, Daly MB, Goldgar DE, Buys SS, Janavicius R, Tihomirova L, Tung N, Dorfling CM, van Rensburg EJ, Neuhausen SL, Ejlertsen B, Hansen TV, Osorio A, Benitez J, Rando R, Weitzel JN, Bonanni B, Peissel B, Manoukian S, Papi L, Ottini L, Konstantopoulou I, Apostolou P, Garber J, Rashid MU, Frost D, , Izatt L, Ellis S, Godwin AK, Arnold N, Niederacher D, Rhiem K, Bogdanova-Markov N, Sagne C, Stoppa-Lyonnet D, Damiola F, , Sinilnikova OM, Mazoyer S, Isaacs C, Claes KB, De Leeneer K, de la Hoya M, Caldes T, Nevanlinna H, Khan S, Mensenkamp AR, , Hooning MJ, Rookus MA, Kwong A, Olah E, Diez O, Brunet J, Pujana MA, Gronwald J, Huzarski T, Barkardottir RB, Laframboise R, Soucy P, Montagna M, Agata S, Teixeira MR, , Park SK, Lindor N, Couch FJ, Tischkowitz M, Foretova L, Vijai J, Offit K, Singer CF, Rappaport C, Phelan CM, Greene MH, Mai PL, Rennert G, Imyanitov EN, Hulick PJ, Phillips KA, Piedmonte M, Mulligan AM, Glendon G, Bojesen A, Thomassen M, Caligo MA, Yoon SY, Friedman E, Laitman Y, Borg A, von Wachenfeldt A, Ehrencrona H, Rantala J, Olopade OI, Ganz PA, Nussbaum RL, Gayther SA, Nathanson KL, Domchek SM, Arun BK, Mitchell G, Karlan BY, Lester J, Maskarinec G, Woolcott C, Scott C, Stone J, Apicella C, Tamimi R, Luben R, Khaw KT, Helland Å, Haakensen V, Dowsett M, Pharoah PD, Simard J, Hall P, García-Closas M, Vachon C, Chenevix-Trench G, Antoniou AC, Easton DF, Edwards SL. Breast cancer risk variants at 6q25 display different phenotype associations and regulate ESR1, RMND1 and CCDC170. Nat. Genet [print-electronic]. 2016 Apr; 48(4): 374-86. PMID: 26928228, PII: ng.3521, DOI: 10.1038/ng.3521, ISSN: 1546-1718.
- Baglia ML, Zheng W, Li H, Yang G, Gao J, Gao YT, Shu XO. The association of soy food consumption with the risk of subtype of breast cancers defined by hormone receptor and HER2 status. Int. J. Cancer [print-electronic]. 2016 Mar 3/31/2016; PMID: 27038352, DOI: 10.1002/ijc.30117, ISSN: 1097-0215.
- Chen MM, O'Mara TA, Thompson DJ, Painter JN, , Attia J, Black A, Brinton L, Chanock S, Chen C, Cheng TH, Cook LS, Crous-Bou M, Doherty J, Friedenreich CM, Garcia-Closas M, Gaudet MM, Gorman M, Haiman C, Hankinson SE, Hartge P, Henderson BE, Hodgson S, Holliday EG, Horn-Ross PL, Hunter DJ, Le Marchand L, Liang X, Lissowska J, Long J, Lu L, Magliocco AM, Martin L, McEvoy M, , Olson SH, Orlow I, Pooler L, Prescott J, Rastogi R, Rebbeck TR, Risch H, Sacerdote C, Schumacher F, Setiawan VW, Scott RJ, Sheng X, Shu XO, Turman C, Van Den Berg D, Wang Z, Weiss NS, Wentzensen N, Xia L, Xiang YB, Yang HP, Yu H, Zhang W, Pharoah PD, Dunning AM, Tomlinson I, Easton DF, Kraft P, Spurdle AB, De Vivo I. GWAS meta-analysis of 16,852 women identifies new susceptibility locus for endometrial cancer. Hum. Mol. Genet [print-electronic]. 2016 Mar 3/23/2016; PMID: 27008869, PII: ddw092, DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddw092, ISSN: 1460-2083.
- Yang Y, Gao J, Li HL, Zheng W, Yang G, Zhang W, Ma X, Tan YT, Rothman N, Gao YT, Chow WH, Shu XO, Xiang YB. Dose-response association between hepatitis B surface antigen levels and liver cancer risk in Chinese men and women. Int. J. Cancer [print-electronic]. 2016 Mar 3/14/2016; PMID: 26990915, DOI: 10.1002/ijc.30086, ISSN: 1097-0215.
- Warren Andersen S, Blot WJ, Shu XO, Sonderman JS, Steinwandel MD, Hargreaves MK, Zheng W. Adherence to cancer prevention guidelines and cancer risk in low-income and African American populations. Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev [print-electronic]. 2016 Mar 3/10/2016; PMID: 26965499, PII: 1055-9965.EPI-15-1186, DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-15-1186, ISSN: 1538-7755.
- Zeng C, Matsuda K, Jia WH, Chang J, Kweon SS, Xiang YB, Shin A, Jee SH, Kim DH, Zhang B, Cai Q, Guo X, Long J, Wang N, Courtney R, Pan ZZ, Wu C, Takahashi A, Shin MH, Matsuo K, Matsuda F, Gao YT, Oh JH, Kim S, Jung KJ, Ahn YO, Ren Z, Li HL, Wu J, Shi J, Wen W, Yang G, Li B, Ji BT, , Brenner H, Schoen RE, Küry S, , Gruber SB, Schumacher FR, Stenzel SL, , Casey G, Hopper JL, Jenkins MA, Kim HR, Jeong JY, Park JW, Tajima K, Cho SH, Kubo M, Shu XO, Lin D, Zeng YX, Zheng W. Identification of Susceptibility Loci and Genes for Colorectal Cancer Risk. Gastroenterology [print-electronic]. 2016 Mar 3/7/2016; PMID: 26965516, PII: S0016-5085(16)00299-7, DOI: 10.1053/j.gastro.2016.02.076, ISSN: 1528-0012.
- Easton DF, Lesueur F, Decker B, Michailidou K, Li J, Allen J, Luccarini C, Pooley KA, Shah M, Bolla MK, Wang Q, Dennis J, Ahmad J, Thompson ER, Damiola F, Pertesi M, Voegele C, Mebirouk N, Robinot N, Durand G, Forey N, Luben RN, Ahmed S, Aittomäki K, Anton-Culver H, Arndt V, , Baynes C, Beckman MW, Benitez J, Van Den Berg D, Blot WJ, Bogdanova NV, Bojesen SE, Brenner H, Chang-Claude J, Chia KS, Choi JY, Conroy DM, Cox A, Cross SS, Czene K, Darabi H, Devilee P, Eriksson M, Fasching PA, Figueroa J, Flyger H, Fostira F, García-Closas M, Giles GG, Glendon G, González-Neira A, Guénel P, Haiman CA, Hall P, Hart SN, Hartman M, Hooning MJ, Hsiung CN, Ito H, Jakubowska A, James PA, John EM, Johnson N, Jones M, Kabisch M, Kang D, , Kosma VM, Kristensen V, Lambrechts D, Li N, , Lindblom A, Long J, Lophatananon A, Lubinski J, Mannermaa A, Manoukian S, Margolin S, Matsuo K, Meindl A, Mitchell G, Muir K, , Nevelsteen I, van den Ouweland A, Peterlongo P, Phuah SY, Pylkäs K, Rowley SM, Sangrajrang S, Schmutzler RK, Shen CY, Shu XO, Southey MC, Surowy H, Swerdlow A, Teo SH, Tollenaar RA, Tomlinson I, Torres D, Truong T, Vachon C, Verhoef S, Wong-Brown M, Zheng W, Zheng Y, Nevanlinna H, Scott RJ, Andrulis IL, Wu AH, Hopper JL, Couch FJ, Winqvist R, Burwinkel B, Sawyer EJ, Schmidt MK, Rudolph A, Dörk T, Brauch H, Hamann U, Neuhausen SL, Milne RL, Fletcher O, Pharoah PD, Campbell IG, Dunning AM, Le Calvez-Kelm F, Goldgar DE, Tavtigian SV, Chenevix-Trench G. No evidence that protein truncating variants in BRIP1 are associated with breast cancer risk: implications for gene panel testing. J. Med. Genet [print-electronic]. 2016 Feb 2/26/2016; PMID: 26921362, PII: jmedgenet-2015-103529, DOI: 10.1136/jmedgenet-2015-103529, ISSN: 1468-6244.
- Huang Z, Wen W, Zheng Y, Gao YT, Wu C, Bao P, Wang C, Gu K, Peng P, Gong Y, Zhang M, Xiang Y, Zhong W, Jin F, Xiang YB, Shu XO, Beeghly-Fadiel A. Breast cancer incidence and mortality: trends over 40 years among women in Shanghai, China. Ann. Oncol [print-electronic]. 2016 Feb 2/18/2016; PMID: 27013394, PII: mdw069, DOI: 10.1093/annonc/mdw069, ISSN: 1569-8041.
- Kitahara CM, McCullough ML, Franceschi S, Rinaldi S, Wolk A, Neta G, Olov Adami H, Anderson K, Andreotti G, Beane Freeman LE, Bernstein L, Buring JE, Clavel-Chapelon F, De Roo LA, Gao YT, Gaziano JM, Giles GG, Håkansson N, Horn-Ross PL, Kirsh VA, Linet MS, MacInnis RJ, Orsini N, Park Y, Patel AV, Purdue MP, Riboli E, Robien K, Rohan T, Sandler DP, Schairer C, Schneider AB, Sesso HD, Shu XO, Singh PN, van den Brandt PA, Ward E, Weiderpass E, White E, Xiang YB, Zeleniuch-Jacquotte A, Zheng W, Hartge P, de González AB. Anthropometric Factors and Thyroid Cancer Risk by Histological Subtype: Pooled Analysis of 22 Prospective Studies. Thyroid. 2016 Feb; 26(2): 306-18. PMID: 26756356, PMCID: PMC4754509, DOI: 10.1089/thy.2015.0319, ISSN: 1557-9077.
- Nelson SH, Marinac CR, Patterson RE, Nechuta SJ, Flatt SW, Caan BJ, Kwan ML, Poole EM, Chen WY, Shu XO, Pierce JP. Impact of very low physical activity, BMI, and comorbidities on mortality among breast cancer survivors. Breast Cancer Res. Treat [print-electronic]. 2016 Feb; 155(3): 551-7. PMID: 26861056, PII: 10.1007/s10549-016-3694-2, DOI: 10.1007/s10549-016-3694-2, ISSN: 1573-7217.