Scientist Profiles

2201 Walnut Avenue, Suite 300
Fremont, California 94538-2334
E-mail: tina@nccc.org
Phone: 510-608-5000
Fax: 510-608-5085

Research Interests:

• Breast cancer occurrence and risk factors
• Epidemiology of lymphoid malignancies
• Immunologic and viral influences on cancer development
• Improving the relevance and utility of cancer surveillance data

Dr. Clarke was trained as an epidemiologist and has research ongoing in four general areas: 1) breast cancer occurrence and causes, 2) occurrence and causes of lymphomas and other lymphoid cancers, 3) immunologic and viral causes of cancer, and 4) cancer surveillance.

In breast cancer research, Dr. Clarke's work has described how incidence has varied over time and place, especially in the Bay Area. She and colleagues at Kaiser Permanente were the first to describe the plummet of breast cancer rates in 2002 after many women stopped taking hormone therapy. She is also leading several research efforts interviewing women to uncover possible immunologic causes of breast cancer, including environmental factors associated with immune system development and immune genes.

Dr. Clarke's work in the lymphoid cancers emphasizes the causes and outcomes of Hodgkin lymphoma and the many subtypes of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Her dissertation research described patient survival after HL in the general population and with respect to the presence of the Epstein-Barr virus. With Dr. Sally Glaser, she has examined infectious, reproductive, social class and other risk factors for HL in women. In addition to describing NHL occurrence in the U.S., she has conducted several methodologic studies to improve the surveillance and study of specific NHL subtypes.

As an Associate Director of the Surveillance Research group at NCCC, Dr. Clarke and her colleagues monitor changes in cancer incidence and survival patterns among various populations, particularly those defined by geography, race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. She and her team use increasingly sophisiticated resources and develop new methodologies to more effectively and meaningfully describe cancer occurrence and outcomes.  New projects also address improving the relevance of cancer surveillance data to clinicians and development of new, interactive online tools to help non-scientists better visualize cancer surveillance data.

Selected Research Projects:

Linos E, Swetter SM, Cockburn MG, Colditz GA, Clarke CA. Increasing burden of melanoma in the United States. J Invest Dermatol. 2009 Jul; 129(7):1666-74.

Clarke CA, Glaser SL. Declines in breast cancer after the WHI: apparent impact of hormone therapy. Cancer Causes Control. 2007 Oct ;18(8):847-52. Epub 2007 Jul 6.   

Keegan, THM, Chang ET, John EM, Horn-Ross PL, Wrensch MR, Glaser SL, Clarke CA.  Recent changes in breast cancer incidence and risk factor prevalence in San Francisco Bay Area women: 1988-2004.  Breast Cancer Res 2007; 9(5):R62.

Robbins AS, Clarke CA. Regional Changes in Hormone Therapy Use and Breast Cancer Incidence in California From 2001 to 2004. J Clin Oncol, in press, 2007.

Clarke, CA, Uratsu CS, Selby JV, Kushi LH, Glaser SL, Herrinton LJ. Recent declines in hormone therapy utilization and breast cancer incidence: clinical and population-based evidence (correspondence). J Clin Oncol 2006; 24(33):e49-50.
 
All publications (80)

Education:

Web site Links:
Stanford website for Dr. Clarke:
http://med.stanford.edu/profiles/cancer/researcher/Christina_Clarke/

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