title: Biomarkers of susceptibility to chemical carcinogens: the example of non-Hodgkin lymphomas.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Genetic susceptibly to suspected chemical and environmental carcinogens may modify the response to exposure. The aim of this review was to explore the issues involved in the study of gene-environment interactions, and to consider the use of susceptibility biomarkers in cancer epidemiology, using non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) as an example.
  
  
  METHODS
  PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science were searched for peer-reviewed articles considering biomarkers of susceptibility to chemical, agricultural and industrial carcinogens in the aetiology of NHL.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results suggest a modifying role for genetic susceptibility to a number of occupational and environmental exposures including organochlorines, chlorinated solvents, chlordanes and benzene in the aetiology of NHL. The potential importance of these gene-environment interactions in NHL may help to explain the lack of definitive carcinogens identified to date for this malignancy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Although a large number of genetic variants and gene-environment interactions have been explored for NHL, to date replication is lacking and therefore the findings remain to be validated.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings highlight the need for novel standardized methodologies in the study of genetic susceptibility to chemical carcinogens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA MRC-PHE Center for Environment and Health, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Rachel S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.affiliation: MRC-PHE Center for Environment and Health, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK HuGef Foundation, Torino, Italy p.vineis@imperial.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vineis
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis*; D002273:Carcinogens / Q000633:toxicity*; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D005819:Genetic Markers; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D002273:Carcinogens; D005819:Genetic Markers
keywords: biomarkers of susceptibility; chemical carcinogens; gene–environment interaction; non-Hodgkin lymphoma; xenobiotic metabolism pathways