Summary
The proposed research is focused on the problem of disease control and prevention as key target areas for the public with the use of genetics. The purpose of the study is to explore and identify the genetic factors involved in cancer genetics by focusing on genetic epidemiology and population genetics. The results will be significant in contributing to the growing body of knowledge as well as enabling more evidence-based public health legislation. Research questions:
- How is a person’s genetic makeup significant in predicting the risk of cancer?
- What genetic factors have a correlational relationship with cancer development?
Literature Review
The body of literature on the topic is constantly expanding, but they come in specialized chunks making it difficult to conduct generalized categorizations. Studies suggest that there are genetic susceptibility markers for prostate cancer identifiable within a family unit (Rebbeck, 2017; Cott, 2020). Gene mapping revealed that there is the “recurrence of 301 unique resistance alleles across 1934 drug-resistant tumors” (Forbes et al., 2017, p 777). The current system of public health underuses genetic epidemiology and population genetics (Hinchcliff et al., 2019; Solomon, 2022). For example, “heritable factors account for approximately 35% of colorectal cancer (CRC) risk, and almost 30% of the population … have a family history of CRC” (Monahan et al., 2020, p. 411). A more prominent case of cancer genetics being critical is breast cancer, which is becoming under-prioritized in public health due to COVID-19 (Yin et al., 2020; Li et al., 2018). Similarly, hereditary genetic factors can be more prevalent in certain groups than others, such as Latino women being more vulnerable to breast and ovarian cancers (Correa-Cruz et al., 2017; Roy & Datta, 2020). Thus, the presence and influence of genetic factors are evident.
There is a need to develop and identify relevant biomarkers in cancer genetics epidemiology for Canada. A global study found that “cancer among women could be substantially reduced in both HICs and LMICs through the broad and equitable implementation of effective interventions, including tobacco control, HPV and HBV vaccination, and screening” (Torre et al., 2017, p. 444). A more action-oriented research concluded that “practitioners and clinicians may better help breast cancer prognosis be improved through exercise, anticipating physiological effects on cancer” (Kang et al., 2017, p. 355). It is important to account for tobacco products, especially newly modified tobacco products, as biomarkers as well (Chang et al., 2017). It might be useful to analyze the cancer treatment survival rates to identify their role in cancer genetics epidemiology (Bryant et al., 2017). Therefore, there is a range of biomarkers and factors which can be assessed in regard to cancer.
Methodology
It should be noted that the methodology for the research is quantitative, where data will be derived from PubMed, EMBASE, CENTRAL, CINAHL, and other databases. The selection will be focused on the Canadian population and its relevance to the research questions. Due to the heterogeneity of cancer as a collection of diseases, accounting for diagnostic sites of the human body might be more practical for the given research methodology (Noone et al., 2017). The sample will be dependent on the collected information, but it is expected to be large enough to make epidemiological conclusions. Variables will include biomarkers, hereditary factors, and other critical influencing elements. The instrument is not completely determined, but R software can prove to be useful for statistical assessments.
References
Bryant, A. K., Banegas, M. P., Martinez, M. E., Mell, L. K., & Murphy, J. D. (2017). Trends in radiation therapy among cancer survivors in the United States, 2000–2030. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 26(6), 963-970. Web.
Chang, C. M., Edwards, S. H., Arab, A., Valle-Pinero, A. Y. D., Yang, L., & Hatsukami, D. K. (2017). Biomarkers of tobacco exposure: Summary of an FDA-sponsored public workshop. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 26(3), 291-302. Web.
Correa-Cruz, M., Perez-Mayoral, J., Dutil, J., Echenique, M., Mosquera, R., Rivera-Roman, K., Umpierre, S., Rodriguez-Quilichini, S., Gonzalez-Pons, M., Olivera, M. I., & Pardo, S. (2017). Clinical cancer genetics disparities among Latinos. Journal of Genetic Counseling, 26, 379-386. Web.
Cott, C. V. (2020). Cancer genetics. Surgical Clinics, 100(3), 483-498. Web.
Forbes, S. A., Beare, D., Boutselakis, H., Bamford, S., Bindal, N., Tate, J., Cole, C. G., Ward, S., Dawson, E., Ponting, E., Stefancsik, R., Harsha, B., Kok, C. Y., Jia, M., Jubb, H., Sondka, Z., Thompson, S., De, T., & Campbell, P. J. (2017). COSMIC: Somatic cancer genetics at high-resolution. Nucleic Acids Research, 45(1), 777-783. Web.
Hinchcliff, E. M., Bednar, E. M., Lu, K. H., & Rauh-Hain, J. A. (2019). Disparities in gynecologic cancer genetics evaluation. Gynecologic Oncology, 153(1), 184-191. Web.
Kang, D. W., Lee, J., Suh, S. H., Ligibel, J., Courneya, K. S., & Jeon, J. Y. (2017). Effects of exercise on insulin, IGF axis, adipocytokines, and inflammatory markers in breast cancer survivors: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 26(3), 355-365. Web.
Li, C. C., Shen, Z., Bavarian, R., Yang, F., & Bhattacharya, A. (2018). Genetics and the role of precision medicine. Oral Cancer, 62(1), 29-46. Web.
Monahan, K. J., Bradshaw, N., Dolwani, S., Desouza, B., Dunlop, M. G., East, J. E., Ilyas, M., Kaur, A., Lalloo, F., Latchford, A., Rutter, M. D., Tomlinson, I., Thomas, H. J. W., & Hill, J. (2020). Guidelines for the management of hereditary colorectal cancer from the British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG)/Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland (ACPGBI)/United Kingdom Cancer Genetics Group (UKCGG). Gut, 69(3), 411-444. Web.
Noone, A. M., Cronin, K. A., Altekruse, S. F., Howlader, N., Lewis, D. R., Petkov, V. I., & Penberthy, L. (2017). Cancer incidence and survival trends by subtype using data from the surveillance epidemiology and end results program, 1992–2013. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 26(4), 632–641. Web.
Rebbeck, T. R. (2017). Prostate cancer genetics: Variation by race, ethnicity, and geography. Seminars in Radiation Oncology, 27(1), 3-10. Web.
Roy, M., & Datta, A. (2020). Cancer genetics and therapeutics: Focus on phytochemicals. Springer.
Solomon, B. D. (2022). Medical genetics and genomics. Wiley-Blackwell.
Torre, L. A., Islami, F., Siegel, R. L., Ward, E. M., & Jemal, A. (2017). Global cancer in women: Burden and trends. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 26(4), 444-457. Web.
Yin, K., Singh, P., Drohan, B., & Hughes, K. S. (2020). Breast imaging, breast surgery, and cancer genetics in the age of COVID-19. Cancer, 126(20), 4466-4472. Web.