| Abstract: |
Literature pertaining to the genetic epidemiological studies of familial cancer has been reviewed from a historical perspective. During the early twentieth century, developments in the fields of genetics, statistics, and epidemiology provided concepts and methods that permitted investigators to recognize important deficiencies in past studies, and to design others in which the critical comparisons could be made between patient groups and control groups. Registries of cancer incidence in large populations became available in several countries in the middle 20th century providing a standard “control group” for comparison. Large surveys of site-specific cancer experience in families, rigorously designed and analyzed, found for most kinds of cancers a two- to threefold increased risk for close relatives of propositi. These studies also re-emphasized the great difficulty in obtaining even minimally complete family health history information and the importance of verifying all reported cases with medical or vital records. Segregation and linkage analysis and their present applications to family studies of cancer were also reviewed. As a result of the increasing number of DNA polymorphisms that are becoming available due to the developments in molecular biology, the human gene map can be expected to be well defined in the near future, and investigation of families using segregation and linkage analysis will then be instrumental in defining the role of heredity in the development of cancer in human populations. © 1986, Academic Press Inc. |
| Keywords: |
genetics; neoplasm; neoplasms; age factors; age; europe; history; epidemiologic methods; epidemiology; disease predisposition; linkage (genetics); genetic linkage; history of medicine; disease susceptibility; human; male; female; article; support, non-u.s. gov't; support, u.s. gov't, p.h.s.; history of medicine, 20th cent.; history of medicine, 19th cent.; history of medicine, ancient
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