© 2000 by Oxford University Press
Journal of the National Cancer Institute Monographs, No. 27, 147-156,
2000
© 2000 Oxford University Press
Chapter 9: Factors Critical to the Design and Execution of Epidemiologic Studies and Description of an Innovative Technology to Follow the Progression From Normal to Cancer Tissue
Affiliation of authors: M. Garcia-Closas, Environmental Epidemiology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD; S. E. Hankinson, Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health and Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; S. Ho, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Department of Surgery, Division of Urology, University Campus, Worcester; D. C. Malins, Molecular Epidemiology Program, Pacific Northwest Research Institute, Seattle, WA; N. L. Polissar, The Mountain-Whisper Light Statistical Consulting, Seattle, and Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Seattle; S. N. Schaefer, Y. Su, M. A. Vinson, Molecular Epidemiology Program, Pacific Northwest Research Institute, Seattle.
Correspondence to: Shuk-mei Ho, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts Medical School, Department of Surgery, Division of Urology, Office of Urologic and Translation Research, 55 Lake Ave., No., Worcester, MA (e-mail: Shuk-Mei.Ho{at}UMASSMED.EDU).
The results obtained from experimental studies of estrogen carcinogenesis need validation in epidemiologic studies. Such studies present additional challenges, however, because variations in human populations are much greater than those in experimental systems and in animal models. Because epidemiologic studies are often used to evaluate modest differences in risk factors, it is essential to minimize sources of errors and to maximize sensitivity, reproducibility, and specificity. In the first part of this chapter, critical factors in designing and executing epidemiologic studies, as well as the influence of sample collection, processing, and storage on data reliability, are discussed. One of the most important requirements is attaining sufficient statistical power to assess small genetic effects and to evaluate interactions between genetic and environmental factors. The second part of this chapter describes innovative technology, namely, Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectra of DNA that reveal major structural differences at various stages of the progression from normal to cancer tissue. The structural differences become evident from wavenumber-by-wavenumber statistical comparisons of the mean FT-IR spectra of DNA from normal to cancer tissues. This analysis has allowed distinguishing benign tissues from cancer and metastatic tissues in human breast, prostate, and ovarian cancers. This analysis, which requires less than 1 µg of DNA, is predicted to be used for detecting early cancer-related changes at the level of DNA, rather than at the cellular level.
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