New markers for monitoring occupational cancer: the example of oncogene proteins.

Molecular epidemiology is making rapid strides in the area of biologic monitoring for occupational cancer. Approaches are being developed and applied at the level of internal dose indicators (eg, urinary mutagenicity), biologically effective dose indicators (eg, carcinogen adducts), and preclinical response indicators (eg, chromosomal alterations). However, significant questions remain to be answered before these markers can be applied on a wider basis. In particular, it remains unclear how these markers relate to the clinical outcome of significance, namely occupational cancer. Recent developments in the understanding of oncogenes and their protein products offer new opportunities for the molecular epidemiology of occupational cancer through the use of these markers which seem to be critically involved in the oncogenic process and closely related to disease outcome. Thus, for example, through the application of immunoblotting of urine or serum with monoclonal antibodies to various oncogene proteins in cohorts of workers with potential carcinogen exposure, it may be feasible to identify those individuals most at risk for the development of occupational cancer at a sufficiently early stage that the oncogenic process could be aborted.