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Related Experiment Videos

Gene-environment interactions in cancer: do they exist?

Kari Hemminki1, Asta Försti, Justo Lorenzo Bermejo

  • 1Division of Molecular Genetic Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 580, D-69120, Heidelberg, Germany. k.hemminki@dkfz.de

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
|November 23, 2006
PubMed
Summary
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Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) studies for cancer susceptibility face challenges due to cancer

Area of Science:

  • Genetics
  • Cancer Etiology
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are widely used in cancer case-control studies to identify inherited susceptibility genes.
  • Gene-environment studies, incorporating environmental factors alongside genetic markers, are increasingly common.
  • The heritability of most cancers is low, and environmental factors play a significant role in cancer development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the success likelihood of gene-environment studies in cancer etiology.
  • To determine conditions favoring gene-environment over traditional environmental approaches in case-control studies using simulation.
  • To address concerns regarding the indiscriminate use of genetic tools for predominantly environmental diseases.

Main Methods:

Related Experiment Videos

  • Review of existing data on cancer heritability and environmental factors.
  • Simulation techniques to model the power of gene-environment versus environmental approaches.
  • Analysis of factors influencing the success of SNP-based association studies.

    • Main Results:

    • Evidence suggests a minor heritable component in cancer etiology, potentially limiting the success of SNP-based studies.
    • Gene-environment studies may improve the detection of environmental disease determinants if using well-chosen candidate genes with low allele frequencies.
    • This advantage diminishes with an increasing number of underlying genes.

    Conclusions:

    • The success of SNP-based gene-environment studies is enhanced when testing established environmental risk factors on proven candidate genes.
    • Focusing on familial cases with higher genetic likelihood can increase study power but necessitates collaborative networks due to case rarity.
    • Caution is advised against the broad application of genetic tools for cancers with predominantly environmental origins.