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Tone Bjørge

Tone Bjørge

Position

Professor, Director Centre for Translational Research in Epidemiology (TRACE)

Affiliation

E-mail
tone.bjorge@uib.no
Phone number
+47 55588530
Visitor address
Alrek helseklynge
5009 Bergen
Postal address
P.O. Box 7804
NO-5020 Bergen
Norway

Tone Bjørge

Position

Professor, Director Centre for Translational Research in Epidemiology (TRACE)

Affiliation

Research

Tone Bjørge, MD, PhD, is Professor of Epidemiology and Director of Centre for Translational Research in Epidemiology (TRACE) at the Epidemiology and Medical Statistics Section (EPISTAT), Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care (IGS), Faculty of Medicine, University of Bergen. She is a cancer epidemiologist, and has a part-time researcher position at the Cancer Registry of Norway. Bjørge is heading the Academic Panel for implementation of HPV primary screening in Norway, the Steering Committee of the Janus Serum Bank, has been member of the Scientific Council of WHO’s cancer agency, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) the last four years (2020-23), and has joined the group of Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factor Study (GBD) collaborators.

Bjørge has been working in the field of cancer epidemiology for more than 25 years, and have been engaged in studying the distribution of cancer in populations, examining the validity and strengths of associations between various exposures and different cancers, evaluating the efficacy of preventive measures (e.g., cancer screening), and the outcome and consequences of disease.

Teaching
Publications

10 selected publications

  1. Daltveit DS, Klungsøyr K, Engeland A, Ekbom A, Gissler M, Glimelius I, Grotmol T, Madanat-Harjuoja L, Ording AG, Sørensen HT, Troisi R, Bjørge T. Sex differences in childhood cancer risk among children with major birth defects: a Nordic population-based nested case-control study. Int J Epidemiol 2023; 52: 450-65. (IF 9.7)

  2. Sun M, Fritz J, Häggström C, Bjørge T, Nagel G, Manjer J, Engeland A, Zitt E, van Guelpen B, Stattin P, Ulmer H, Stocks T. Metabolically healthy and unhealthy obesity and risk of obesity-related cancers; a pooled study. JNCI 2023; 115: 456-67. (IF 11.8)

  3. GBD 2019 Cancer Risk Factors Collaborators. The global burden of cancer attributable to risk factors, 2010–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Lancet 2022; 400: 563-91. (IF 202.7)

  4. Kitahara CM, Daltveit DS, Ekbom A, Engeland A, Gissler M, Glimelius I, Grotmol T, Lagerros YT, Madanat-Harjuoja L, Männistö T, Sørensen HT, Troisi R, Bjørge T. Maternal health, in utero and perinatal exposures, and risk of thyroid cancer in offspring a Nordic population-based nested case-control study. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol 2021; 9: 94-105. (IF 44.9)

  5. Daltveit DS, Klungsøyr K, Engeland A, Ekbom A, Gissler M, Glimelius I, Grotmol T, Madanat-Harjuoja L, Ording AG, Sæther SMM, Sørensen HT, Troisi R, Bjørge T. Cancer risk in individuals with major birth defects: A large Nordic population-based case-control study among children, adolescents and adults. BMJ 2020; 371: m4060. (IF 96.2)

  6. Bjørge T, Häggström C, Ghaderi S, Nagel G, Manjer J, Tretli S, Ulmer H, Harlid S, Rosendahl AH, Lang A, Stattin P, Stocks T, Engeland A. BMI and weight changes and risk of obesity-related cancers: A pooled European cohort study. Int J Epidemiol 2019; 48: 1872-85. (IF 9.7)

  7. Stocks T, Bjørge T, Ulmer H, Manjer J, Häggström C, Nagel G, Engeland A, Johansen D, Hallmans G, Selmer R, Concin H, Tretli S, Jonsson H, Stattin P. Metabolic risk score and cancer risk: pooled analysis of seven cohorts. Int J Epidemiol 2015; 44: 1353-63. (IF 9.7)

  8. Stocks T, Rapp K, Bjørge T, Manjer J, Ulmer H, Selmer R, Lukanova A, Concin H, Tretli S, Hallmans G, Jonsson H, Stattin P. Blood glucose and risk of incident and fatal cancer in the Metabolic syndrome and Cancer project (Me-Can): Analysis of six prospective cohorts. PLoS Med 2009; 6 (12): e1000201. (IF 11.6)

  9. Engeland A, Tretli S, Bjørge T. Height, body mass index, and ovarian cancer - a follow-up of 1,1 million Norwegian women. J Natl Cancer Inst 2003; 95: 1244-8. (IF 11.8)

  10. Bjørge T, Dillner J, Anttila T, Engeland A, Hakulinen T, Jellum E, Lehtinen M, Luostarinen T, Paavonen J, Pukkala E, Sapp M, Schiller J, Youngman L, Thoresen S. Prospective seroepidemiological study of role of human papillomavirus in non-cervical anogenital cancers. BMJ 1997; 315: 646-9. (IF 96.2)

 

List of publications (from CRIStin)

2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996

See a complete overview of publications in Cristin.

Projects

Improving prognosis of patients with glioblastoma: Linking health registry and clinical data to basic brain tumour research (GlioLink)

The GlioLink project will combine basic brain tumour research with nationwide population-based health registry and clinical data in order to screen brain penetrating drugs for their anti-tumour effects where the aim is to identify novel targets and develop new treatment strategies for glioblastoma.

In this project, we will, based on information from the Cancer Registry of Norway, the Norwegian Prescription Database and other national databases, investigate whether the use of antipsychotics and antidepressants is associated with a prolonged survival among patients with glioblastoma. We will also investigate whether the use of these drugs is associated with a lower risk of developing glioblastoma. Several factors that affect the prognosis for patients with glioblastoma will be investigated in supplementary analyzes of clinical data. The drugs identified in the observational studies will be tested and further developed in the laboratory. Since it is likely that the newly developed drugs will not have an effect on all patients, we will also test the effect of the drugs in tissue samples from patients with glioblastoma.

 

Nordic Countries Linked Birth and Cancer Registries Cohort Project

Complex biological mechanisms promote carcinogenesis, and there is increasing evidence that pregnancy related exposures influence foetal growth cell division and organ functioning and may have a long-lasting impact on health and disease susceptibility in the mothers and offspring. Linking health registries, such as medical birth, cancer and patient registries, and pooling of data in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden) have provided opportunities to conduct epidemiologic research of pregnancy exposures and subsequent cancer development. Several studies are ongoing.

 

Metabolic Syndrome and Cancer project (Me-Can) http://me-can.se/

In 2006, cohorts from Austria, Norway and Sweden were linked to national registries in the Me-Can 1.0 project. Data from almost 600,000 men and women were used to study various metabolic factors in relation to cancer risk. The Me-Can collaboration continues within the Me-Can 2.0 project where the aim is to characterise the metabolic syndrome-cancer relationship in more detail by adding new variables from cohort questionnaires and new register linkages, and new participants from the cohorts, by updating linkages to national cancer and cause of death registers, and by implementing new statistical methods. Several studies are ongoing.

 

Long-term adverse health effects in cancer patients: Prescribing of drugs in survivors of adult-onset cancer 

In this study, we take advantage of nationwide population-based registries and databases to explore long-term adverse health effects in survivors of adult-onset cancer (≥20 years). Specifically, we aim to examine the use of prescribed drugs, as proxies for specific diseases, in cancer patients compared with the general population. In sub-analyses, we will also examine prescription of drugs shortly before and after cancer diagnosis. The linked dataset includes information from the Cancer Registry of Norway and the Norwegian Prescription Database, in addition to other national registries and databases. Prescribing of drugs may provide the most comprehensive assessment of long-term health-related outcomes among cancer survivors.

Kompetanse

Lege, spesialist i patologi

Dr. med. i kreftepidemiologi