title: Cohort studies for characterizing measured genes.
abstract: We describe the advantages of using established cohort studies that have collected blood samples to investigate the role of genes in the etiology of cancer. These studies include the cost-efficiency and reliability of nested case-control substudies from the cohort for exploration of gene-disease associations and gene-environment interactions as well as gene penetrance. Also, the cohort may serve as a well-defined "mini-population" from which to study population stratification and molecular markers of ethnicity. We conclude that cohort studies can play a significant role in assessing the role of genetic markers for common tumors or multiple cancer sites.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA. langholz@hsc.usc.edu
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Langholz
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rothman
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wacholder
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Thomas
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D004777:Environment; D005819:Genetic Markers; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers