Some aspects of cancer epidemiology.
Epidemiolgic studies have strongly suggested that a vast majority (80-90%) of cancers are caused by radiation, chemical and biologic agents; the remainder result from endogenous or genetic factors. Biologically, cancer is most probably the end result of a complex multistage process and therefore may be due to a sequence of exposures to different agents at each of these stages. This emphasizes the need to stress the study of interactions in epidemiologic studies to a greater extent than has been done thus far. Examples of the importance of interactions in several types of cancer are presented.
D002675:Child, Preschool; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007938:Leukemia / Q000209:etiology; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality; D012306:Risk; D012907:Smoking