Hiatt Robert A
Am J Epidemiol. 2015 Apr 1;181(7):459-62. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwu476. Epub 2015 Mar 11.
The concept of translational cancer epidemiology has evolved since its early beginnings in 1937 with the establishment of the National Cancer Institute. Conceptual models of cancer control research have also evolved over the last 30 years, to the point where we now have 4 stages of translational research (T0-T4). The current review by Lam et al. (Am J Epidemiol. 2015;181(7):451-458) covers cancer epidemiology research supported by the National Cancer Institute and a selected sample of the cancer epidemiology literature. It suggests that most cancer epidemiology in the last 10 years has been in pure discovery research. Current "drivers" of cancer epidemiology research, including new technologies, team science multilevel research, and knowledge integration, are not strongly represented in the review. However, the use of epidemiology in the latter stages of translation may not have been captured by the scope of this review. The closer epidemiologists get to advanced stages of translation, the more likely they are to work with investigators in other disciplines in other sectors of society. An argument can be made that regardless of whether this kind of research is not happening or was just missed by the current review, the field of cancer epidemiology can expand its scope and further evolve towards more effective applications in population health.
自1937年美国国立癌症研究所成立以来，转化性癌症流行病学的概念不断发展。癌症控制研究的概念模型在过去30年中也不断演变，如今我们有了转化性研究的4个阶段（T0 - T4）。Lam等人的这篇综述（《美国流行病学杂志》。2015年；181(7):451 - 458）涵盖了由美国国立癌症研究所支持的癌症流行病学研究以及部分精选的癌症流行病学文献样本。它表明过去10年中大多数癌症流行病学研究都属于纯粹的探索性研究。当前癌症流行病学研究的“驱动因素”，包括新技术、团队科学的多层次研究以及知识整合，在该综述中并未得到充分体现。然而，该综述的范围可能未涵盖流行病学在转化后期阶段的应用情况。流行病学家越接近转化的高级阶段，就越有可能与社会其他领域的其他学科研究人员合作。可以说，无论这类研究是否未开展或只是被当前综述遗漏，癌症流行病学领域都可以扩大其范围，并进一步朝着在人群健康中更有效的应用方向发展。
