Cancer is a multifactorial disease in which both environmental and genetic factors play a role. Biological markers have been perceived as a great improvement in terms of understanding the biological mechanisms of the association between a risk factor and cancer. Genetic markers have been used very extensively in epidemiological studies, mainly with the purpose of identifying high-risk subjects because of their genetic make-up. This review describes some of the issues concerned with the use of genetic susceptibility markers in epidemiology, such as the interaction between genetic and environmental factors. Some aspects of study design are also discussed.
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Emanuela Taioli (2005) studied this question.
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