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Individual Differences in Cancer Susceptibility
- CURTIS C. HARRIS, M.D.;
- JOHN J. MULVIHILL, M.D.;
- SNORRI S. THORGEIRSSON, M.D., Ph.D.; and
- JOHN D. MINNA, M.D.
Abstract
The major determinants of cancer risk are environmental carcinogens and predisposing host factors. Interactions between these determinants are now being studied by clinical-laboratory investigations. An individual may be predisposed to cancer by both genetic and acquired conditions. Genes related to malignancy and to carcinogenesis have been mapped to individual chromosomes in several species, including humans. Because most environmental chemical carcinogens require enzymatic activitation and a wide variation in carcinogen metabolism among people has been found, the ratio of metabolic activation to deactivation of carcinogens may ascertain, in part, a person's cancer risk. Additionally, cancer risk of chemical and physical agents can be qualitatively predicted by carcinogenicity tests in experimental animals. The emerging field of cancer ecogenetics is aiding efforts to prevent human cancer.
Article and Author Information
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▸An edited transcription of a Combined Clinical Staff Conference at the Clinical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, 16 November 1978, by the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
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▸Authors who wish to cite a section of this conference and specifically indicate its author can use this example for the form of reference:
MULVIHILL JJ. Clinical observations of ecogenetics in human cancer, pp. 809-13. In: HARRIS CC, moderator. Individual differences in cancer susceptibility. Ann Intern Med. 1980;92:809-25.
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▸Requests for reprints should be addressed to Curtis C. Harris, M.D.; National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health; Bethesda, MD 20205.
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- Received March 3, 1980.
- Accepted March 21, 1980.
