Kaldor J, Day N E
International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France.
IARC Sci Publ. 1988(89):460-8.
The new methods for studying DNA damage in vivo offer cancer epidemiologists both a new study endpoint and a refinement of exposure measurement. Up to the present, they have not been applied in studies that satisfy standard epidemiological criteria. In particular, more attention must be paid to the selection of study samples and to ensuring adequate numbers of study subjects. There are substantial problems in studying the link between DNA damage and carcinogenesis at the individual level, including the long latency and the multifactorial etiology of most cancers. Acute leukaemia induced by alkylating agent therapy represents one of the few human situations in which such studies are feasible, since patients are exposed at carefully measured and recorded doses, the risk is high and specific, and follow-up is good. A considerable saving in resources could be achieved by storing samples from a large number of treated patients and carrying out analyses of DNA damage only in those from people who develop leukaemia and from suitably chosen matched controls.
体内研究DNA损伤的新方法为癌症流行病学家提供了一个新的研究终点和暴露测量的改进方法。到目前为止，它们尚未应用于符合标准流行病学标准的研究中。特别是，必须更加关注研究样本的选择和确保足够数量的研究对象。在个体层面研究DNA损伤与致癌作用之间的联系存在重大问题，包括大多数癌症的长潜伏期和多因素病因。烷化剂治疗诱导的急性白血病是少数可行此类研究的人类情况之一，因为患者接受了精确测量和记录剂量的暴露，风险高且具有特异性，并且随访良好。通过储存大量接受治疗患者的样本，并仅对患白血病的人和适当选择的匹配对照的样本进行DNA损伤分析，可以实现资源的大量节省。
