Unhee Lim, PhD, RD
	Assistant Professor (Researcher), Cancer Research Center of Hawai‘i PhD (Human Nutrition and Nutritional Epidemiology), Cornell University; Registered Dietitian, Yale University Hospital; MS (Human Nutrition), Cornell University ulim@crch.hawaii.edu

Publication list via PubMed

My research involves the epidemiologic investigation of nutrition and related lifestyle risk factors in cancer etiology. In particular, I am interested in identifying the nutritional determinants of key epigenetic and genetic alterations involved in carcinogenesis. Also, I am interested in understanding the mechanisms for obesity, using biomarkers, with a focus on ethnic variation.

Aberrant DNA methylation is an established hallmark of malignancies from the early stage of carcinogenesis to malignant transformation. Methyl donor nutrients and some other lifestyle factors may be important determinants of DNA methylation. We have observed a positive association between dietary consumption of methyl donor vitamins (folate, vitamins B6 and B12) and the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma [Lim et al. Am J Epidemiol 2005; Lim et al., Cancer Epidemiol Biomarker Prev 2006], as well as potential interactions between these nutrients and genetic polymorphisms of enzymes involved in the one-carbon metabolism pathway [Lim et al., Blood 2007]. Similarly, higher levels of global methylation in leukocyte DNA, which have been correlated positively with sufficient methyl donor nutrition and negatively with cigarette smoking, were associated with substantially low prevalence of colorectal adenoma among asymptomatic middle-aged women at their regular colonoscopy exams [Lim et al., Gastroenterology 2008]. These findings suggest that adequate nutritional status of methyl donor vitamins may have a protective role against several cancers and that such effects may in part be mediated by adequate DNA methylation.

Obesity has been associated with the risk of an increasing number of cancers, including hematopoietic malignancies. In a recent investigation using large prospective data [Lim et al., Am J Epidemiol 2007], we observed that severe obesity, indicated by body mass index over 35, was associated with significantly elevated risk of developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma among older adults. One of the proposed mechanisms for such an association is through chronic inflammation that is exacerbated in obese individuals. Our observation of inverse associations of incident lymphoma with moderate alcohol intake [Lim et al., Am J Epidemiol 2007] and with higher circulating levels of high-density lipoprotein [Lim et al., Cancer Res 2007], both of which have anti-inflammatory properties, support the inflammation hypothesis.

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Selected Publications

Lim U, DM Freedman, BW Hollis, RR Horst, MP Purdue, N Chatterjee, S Weinstein, LM Morton, A Schatzkin, J Virtamo, MS Linet, P Hartge, D Albanes. A prospective investigation of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and risk of lymphoid cancers. Int J Cancer 2008 Epub

Lan Q, U Lim, SH Liu, S Weinstein, S Chanock, MR Bonner, J Virtamo, D Albanes, N Rothman. A prospective study of mitochondrial DNA copy number and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Blood 2008;112:4247-9.

Lim U, A Flood, SW Choi, D Albanes, AJ Cross, A Schatzkin, R Sinha, HA Katki, B Cash, P Schoenfeld, R Stolzenberg-Solomon. Genomic methylation of leukocyte DNA in relation to colorectal adenoma among asymptomatic women. Gastroenterology 2008;134:47-55.

Lim U, LM Morton, AF Subar, R Stolzenberg-Solomon, D Baris, M Leitzmann, V Kipnis, T Mouw, L Carroll, A Schatzkin, P Hartge. Alcohol, smoking, and body size in relation to incident Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. American Journal of Epidemiology 2007;166(6):697-708.

Lim U and T Gayles, H Katki, R Stolzenberg-Solomon, S. Weinstein, P Pietinen, PR Taylor, J Virtamo, D Albanes. Serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Cancer Research 2007;67(11):5569-74.

Lim U, SS Wang, P Hartge, W Cozen, LE Kelemen, S Chanock, S Davis, A Blair, M Schenk, N Rothman, Q Lan. Gene-nutrient interactions among determinants of folate and one-carbon metabolism on the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma: NCI-SEER Case-Control Study. Blood 2007;109:3050-3059.

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