Authors' Affiliations: Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences; Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute; Office of the Director, Information Resources and Services Branch, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland; and Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2014 Feb;23(2):223-33. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-13-0573. Epub 2013 Dec 10.
Epigenetics is emerging as an important field in cancer epidemiology that promises to provide insights into gene regulation and facilitate cancer control throughout the cancer care continuum. Increasingly, investigators are incorporating epigenetic analysis into the studies of etiology and outcomes. To understand current progress and trends in the inclusion of epigenetics in cancer epidemiology, we evaluated the published literature and the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-supported research grant awards in this field to identify trends in epigenetics research. We present a summary of the epidemiologic studies in NCI's grant portfolio (from January 2005 through December 2012) and in the scientific literature published during the same period, irrespective of support from the NCI. Blood cells and tumor tissue were the most commonly used biospecimens in these studies, although buccal cells, cervical cells, sputum, and stool samples were also used. DNA methylation profiling was the focus of the majority of studies, but several studies also measured microRNA profiles. We illustrate here the current status of epidemiologic studies that are evaluating epigenetic changes in large populations. The incorporation of epigenomic assessments in cancer epidemiology studies has and is likely to continue to provide important insights into the field of cancer research.
表观遗传学是癌症流行病学中的一个重要领域，有望提供有关基因调控的深入了解，并促进整个癌症护理过程中的癌症控制。越来越多的研究人员将表观遗传学分析纳入病因和结果的研究中。为了了解癌症流行病学中纳入表观遗传学的当前进展和趋势，我们评估了已发表的文献和美国国家癌症研究所（NCI）在该领域支持的研究资助情况，以确定表观遗传学研究的趋势。我们总结了 NCI 资助组合（2005 年 1 月至 2012 年 12 月）中以及同期发表的科学文献中的流行病学研究，无论是否得到 NCI 的支持。这些研究中最常使用的生物样本是血细胞和肿瘤组织，尽管口腔细胞、宫颈细胞、痰液和粪便样本也有使用。大多数研究都集中在 DNA 甲基化分析上，但也有一些研究测量了 microRNA 图谱。我们在这里说明了评估大型人群中表观遗传变化的流行病学研究的当前状况。将表观基因组评估纳入癌症流行病学研究已经并可能继续为癌症研究领域提供重要的见解。
