Fig. 3: Dose-response and time-dependent associations between VCA-IgA levels and cancer risk in Zhongshan cohort.
From: Epstein Barr virus antibody and cancer risk in two prospective cohorts in Southern China
a Dose-response association of VCA-IgA antibody level with overall cancer risk. The horizontal dashed line represents the referent hazard ratio (HR) of 1. The vertical line indicates that the HR of 1 corresponds to a relative optical density (rOD) of VCA-IgA of 0.41; The shaded area represents the 95% confidence interval for the HRs. b Time-dependent associations of VCA-IgA antibody with overall cancer risk. The horizontal dashed line indicates a referent HR of 1. The vertical line signifies that elevated VCA-IgA antibody was significantly associated with overall cancer risk up to ten years before cancer diagnosis. The solid line depicts the variation in overall cancer risk with VCA-IgA antibodies over time prior to diagnosis. The shaded area represents the 95% confidence interval for the HRs. The HR and P values were calculated using cox regression models adjusted by age, sex (male and female), education level (classified as primary school or less, high school, and university or more), body mass index (normal weight: 18.5–22.9, underweight: <18.5, overweight: 23.0–27.5 and obese: >27.5 kg/m2), waist circumference (normal: <85 cm for male or <80 cm for female; abnormal: ≥85 cm for male or ≥80 cm for female), smoking history (categorized as never smoker, ex-smoker, current smoker), alcohol consumption (grouped into less than monthly, monthly or weekly, once or more a day) and physical activity (grouped into less than monthly, monthly or weekly, once or more a day). All the tests were two-sided.
