Shi C Y, Seow A, Lin Y, Chia K S, Ong C N, Chan S H, Lee H P
Department of Community, Occupational and Family Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Ann Acad Med Singap. 1996 Jan;25(1):49-54.
The rapidly evolving field of molecular epidemiology represents a paradigm shift in medical research, illustrating the convergence of basic, clinical and epidemiologic research, as well as the application of laboratory methods to population studies. As a complement and improvement to traditional epidemiologic approaches, the use of biomarkers offers more accurate exposure assessment at an individual level, better understanding of the biological mechanism of carcinogenesis by tracking a continuum of events between exposure and disease, as well as the ability to discern host or genetic factors that may account for variations in cancer susceptibility among individuals or ethnic populations. Further, biomarkers have also proved useful in cancer diagnosis and prognosis. This article attempts to review the latest progress in molecular cancer epidemiology and to summarise the current state of research in Singapore.
分子流行病学这一快速发展的领域代表了医学研究中的范式转变，体现了基础研究、临床研究和流行病学研究的融合，以及实验室方法在人群研究中的应用。作为对传统流行病学方法的补充和改进，生物标志物的使用能够在个体层面提供更准确的暴露评估，通过追踪暴露与疾病之间一系列连续事件，更好地理解致癌的生物学机制，还能够识别可能导致个体或种族人群癌症易感性差异的宿主或遗传因素。此外，生物标志物在癌症诊断和预后方面也已证明很有用。本文旨在综述分子癌症流行病学的最新进展，并总结新加坡的研究现状。
