© 1999 by Oxford University Press
Journal of the National Cancer Institute Monographs, No. 26, 25-30,
1999
© 1999 Oxford University Press
II. GENE CHARACTERIZATION PANEL |
Case-Control Studies of Common Alleles and Environmental Factors
Affiliation of authors: Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD.
Correspondence to: Neil Caporaso, M.D., National Institutes of Health, Executive Plaza South, Rm. 7116, Bethesda, MD 20892 (e-mail: caporaso{at}nih.gov).
It is clear from descriptive and migration studies that most cancer is environmental in origin. Descriptive, case-control and cohort studies have provided the foundation for our understanding of the environmental component of cancer etiology as well as most major causes of morbidity and mortality. We propose that the same epidemiologic methods that have provided fundamental insight into the etiology of cancer in the general population are optimally suited to study the impact of relatively common polymorphisms on chronic disease incidence. In this article, we describe the role of case-control studies in assessing the effects of genes in disease. Some of the advantages and disadvantages of the case-control design, particularly as an alternative to case-control studies nested in a cohort in the context of the study of complex disease, are described.
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
J. Suazo, J.L. Santos, H. Carreno, L. Jara, and R. Blanco Linkage Disequilibrium between MSX1 and Non-syndromic Cleft Lip/Palate in the Chilean Population Journal of Dental Research, October 1, 2004; 83(10): 782 - 785. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
